2021 International STEM Education Conference (iSTEM-Ed 2021)
November 10-12, 2021, Pattaya, THAILAND
A STEM CLIL Pilot Project in Ecuadorian High
Schools
Helen Johnson
Center for Preparatory Studies
Nazarbayev University
Nur-Sultan, Kazahstan
e-mail: HelenJohnson@HelenJ.com
Abstract— Following changes to education regulations
in Ecuador, schools have had to increase their English
language teaching provision, and CLIL has become a core
requirement. As a result, there has been an increase in the
number of schools teaching STEM subjects in English to
predominantly Spanish-speaking students. Oxford
University Press commissioned materials to help support
2021 6th International STEM Education Conference (iSTEM-Ed) | 978-1-6654-3600-7/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ISTEM-ED52129.2021.9625068
and market their English language STEM textbooks to
Ecuadorian schools. Two STEM events were developed, a
science show for younger students and a biology workshop
for older students. Both projects were piloted successfully.
The science shows were launched at four high schools, and
the biology workshop was offered as a teacher training
event. All of the pilot events were well-received.
Unfortunately, the project is currently paused due to
schools moving to virtual teaching during the COVID-19
pandemic. However, it is hoped that it can be reinstated
when schools fully return to in-person classes.
Keywords—STEM, CLIL, Ecuador, high school
I. INTRODUCTION
Two CLIL STEM events were developed to
support schools in Ecuador providing STEM teaching
in English to predominantly Spanish-speaking
students. A science show was provided to younger
students and a biology workshop was developed for
older students. The project was commissioned by
Oxford University Press though their local
representative, Books and Bits, to produce additional
materials to help promote and support the use of their
range of STEM textbooks.
II. CLIL
Although the concept of teaching content classes
in a foreign language has been around for many years,
it became increasingly popular in mainstream
education in the 1990s. Marsh named it Content and
Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in 1994 [1].
CLIL encompasses a wide range of classroom
experiences, from one or two subjects being partially
taught in a foreign language, through to multiple
subjects being taught entirely in a foreign language.
However, the key feature of CLIL is that classes
should be dual-focussed. That is, as students are
taught new content in a foreign language, they are
learning both the content and the language
simultaneously [2].
The CLIL approach became more widely used in
European schools after 1995 when the European
Commission documented the need for people to be
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trilingual [3]. In 2003, the European Commission
included CLIL as a recognized method of language
learning [4].
However, the use of CLIL is not restricted to
European classrooms. It has also been gaining traction
in South America [5]. Teaching content in English
in South America is not without difficulties, including
numerous issues around teacher training, [6] and
yet it remains a popular approach.
Regardless of foreign language use, the
importance of classroom discourse in STEM teaching
and learning has been extensively reported [7] [8].
It is also recognized that learning and using scientific
language represents a significant cognitive challenge
for many students, even when they are working in
their native language [9]. Naturally, this can create
additional difficulties for students studying in foreign
language [10].
Despite these issues, globally, STEM subjects
have been a popular choice for CLIL programs
[11]. This is partly due to the importance of English
as a Lingua Franca in scientific publication, both in
terms of educating future scientists who may
eventually need to publish in English, and the more
immediate need of being able to access existing
materials written in English [12]. Students’ spoken
language skills become increasingly important in this
context, as the use of oral questions and responses are
a common method of clarification for both teachers
and students [13].
III. LOCAL BACKGROUND
In 2016, The Ministry of Education in Ecuador
introduced a new curriculum for elementary and high
schools [14]. It listed CLIL a core principle of
teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in
Ecuadorian schools. This effectively made the use of
CLIL mandatory.
In 2017, the Council of Higher Education in
Ecuador made it a requirement for all university
graduates to learn an additional language [15]. It was
initially proposed that all students would have to reach
the level of B2 according to Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
[16]. However, this was reduced to a B1 requirement
in 2019 [17].
As a result, many private high schools increased
their language teaching provision, both to meet the
 2021 International STEM Education Conference (iSTEM-Ed 2021)
November 10-12, 2021, Pattaya, THAILAND
CLIL provision of the new school curriculum, and to
improve their students’ prospects at the university
level. Some high schools opted to do this by moving
certain subjects towards CLIL in lower years and
English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) models in
higher years.
This led to more high schools teaching at least
some STEM subjects in English, especially in schools
that were offering or working towards an international
baccalaureate (IB) program.
Oxford University Press (OUP), produces a range
of textbooks for IB and International Baccalaureate
Middle Years Programme (MYP) students. OUP
commissioned additional materials to help promote
their range of English language STEM textbooks to
Ecuadorian schools.
The initial remit for the materials was broad: to
provide fun and interesting STEM activities in English
that aligned with OUP books. The materials would be
used for educational and marketing purposes and to
add value for schools purchasing OUP books.
IV. BITS OF SCIENCE
‘Bits of Science’ was created to meet this remit.
Two events were developed: A general science show
for younger students, and a DNA extraction biology
workshop for MYP students. The marketing focus for
the science show covered a range of EFL and science
titles and series. The DNA extraction workshop was
aligned with MYP Biology: a Concept Based
Approach, which is aimed at students in MYP 4 and 5
(ages 14-16 years) [18].
The show was intended to primarily entertain and
build confidence in working on science topics in
English. It was hoped that this would encourage the
younger students to be excited and enthusiastic about
their future studies. The show format was chosen
because of the emphasis on spoken language [7]. It
featured simple experiments that students could
participate in during the show, and many that could be
repeated later at home. This aligned it with the current
trend towards incorporating more practical science in
modern STEM teaching [19].
The science show provided students with an
opportunity to experience practical science in a low-
stakes English language context, rather than teaching
the theory behind it at this stage. However, schools
were provided with an education pack to help them
align the experiments with their classes when they
were covering a relevant topic.
The DNA extraction workshop was a more typical
education event. It covered the basic theories of cell
structure, DNA and DNA extraction through a lecture
format as well as formally teaching basic laboratory
skills and protocols. It aligned with sections of units 2,
3, 4 and 9 of MYP Biology [18]. This was followed
by a practical science session, where students could
extract DNA from their saliva. One of the key aims
here was for students to produce a tangible result in
the form of a visible sample of their own DNA.
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V. PILOTING
The science show was piloted in 4 Ecuadorian
schools, 1 in Quito, 1 in Guayaquil and 2 in Salinas at
the end of 2018. The students in two schools typically
had a higher level of English, while language levels
were lower in the other two schools.
Each show lasted around 40 minutes, and schools
were offered 3-5 shows each for 20-50 students,
depending on the space they had available. Most
shows had around 25 students. Participating schools
were chosen by the OUP representative. Schools were
free to decide which students or classes attended the
shows, but the children had to be 9 to 14 years old
(5to to 10mo de basica).
The show started with a health and safety briefing
where the safety signs used throughout the show were
explained. These included the signs indicating which
experiments children could safely try at home, which
ones could be conducted at home with adult
supervision, and which could only be conducted at
school with a teacher. This segment of the show was
translated to Spanish, if necessary, to ensure that all of
the students understood.
Throughout the show, keywords were presented
on bilingual signs introducing the main themes (for
example, pressure/presión, resistance/resistencia). The
rest of the show was conducted entirely in oral
English.
The show was designed to be interactive, with
children able to volunteer to participate in most of the
experiments. In order to ensure inclusivity, certain
experiments were identified as being particularly
appropriate for children with additional educational
needs. These were discussed with the teachers in
advance, and they were able to encourage those
students to volunteer for those experiments if they
wished.
The DNA extraction workshop was piloted as a
teacher training event in Quito in 2019, and fifteen
teachers from seven high schools attended.
Completion certificates were issued to attendees, and
the workshop could be counted as a half-day of the
mandatory requirement for continuing professional
development. Although the intention was to
eventually give the workshop directly to students, it
was also seen as an opportunity to help address the
perceived lack of teacher training and support for
schools offering STEM classes in English in South
America [6].
VI. OUTCOMES AND RESPONSES
The response to all of the events was
overwhelmingly positive. During the shows, students
were keen to volunteer and successfully demonstrated
all of the experiments. This was seen regardless of
language level, and despite instructions being given
only in English.
In addition, there were frequent unprompted verbal
interactions, with students asking clarification
questions about the science throughout the shows. In
 2021 International STEM Education Conference (iSTEM-Ed 2021)
November 10-12, 2021, Pattaya, THAILAND
almost all cases, these questions were reflected back
to the class, encouraging other students to voice their
opinions on what was happening. This led to students
discussing topics between themselves, dipping in and
out of both English and Spanish, with stronger
students providing vocabulary support to weaker
students.
Immediately after the shows, students could be
seen discussing the experiments in the schoolyards
and communal areas, and in some cases, miming
experiments they had seen. Typically, these
discussions would happen in Spanish, requiring
students to explain the experiment in their own words.
One school expressed an interest in developing a
science contest in which the students could design and
test their own vinegar rockets.
After the shows at the first school, follow-up
conversations were conducted with several students.
They were able to give details about many of the
experiments, as well as recalling the health and safety
information about which demonstrations they could
try at home. They described the show as ‘fun’ and
‘exciting’, and one boy said he couldn’t wait to be
able to take part in practical science classes at school
the following year.
The children were largely unconcerned about the
English language aspect of the show. However, this
was at a school that had higher language levels, and it
would be useful to establish if students with lower
language levels had a different experience.
The DNA extraction workshop was also
successful. All of the teachers were able to extract
visible samples of their own DNA. In the post-
workshop evaluation, teachers were pleased with how
robust the process was and that the procedures were
relatively simple, so even students with weak
laboratory skills would be able to complete them.
All of the teachers felt that their students would be
able to follow the procedure and successfully extract
their DNA. There were concerns that students with
weaker English might struggle to understand some of
the theoretical content. However, it was recognized
that regardless of language level, the workshop could
only be considered as educational support, and that the
underlying theoretical content would still need to be
formally taught in class as well.
Unfortunately, the project then had to be paused
due to the COVID pandemic. Ecuadorian schools
switched to online delivery in early 2020, and many
have still not fully returned to in-person classes. As
schools had to adapt quickly to online presentation,
they were not in a position to implement any further
major changes, such as adopting a new English STEM
program. However, it is hoped that the program will
continue once the situation stabilizes, and that it will
encourage more Ecuadorian schools to convert to
English STEM classes in the future.
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