PROFILING EUROPEAN CLIL CLASSROOMS

The Culture Dimension
CULTIX
Build Intercultural Knowledge & Understanding
The concept of Intercultural education has become popular recently because of the
pressures of global mobility and European integration. There are many ways in which
‘intercultural knowledge and understanding’ can be learnt in schools. One problem has
been related to the impact of this type of education because transforming knowledge into
understanding often needs to be realised through experiential methods. CLIL has been
identified as one way to achieve positive results in this respect.
Key CLIL Features
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Often realized in short courses, particularly in preparation for trans-national projects,
student mobility (virtual through ICT and physical), and exchange programmes
Sometimes the main aim is to tackle problems of racism and other forms of prejudice
in an ‘indirect way’
Generally involving interactional (e.g. group work) methods, and not transactional
(e.g. teacher monologue), which provide a forum for experiential learning
Sometimes linked to building self-confidence for learners who intend to develop
contacts with people in another country, and mostly linked to developing attitudes
rather than simply the giving and receiving of information
Examples
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Module within psychology on ethnic prejudice for older learners
Module within language learning on cultural features of language use
Not internationalisation for the sake of it, but multi-skilling for a new world
(VocTalk)
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