PROFILING EUROPEAN CLIL CLASSROOMS

The Content Dimension
CONTIX
Provide Opportunities to Study Content through
Different Perspectives
Languages, and the cultures associated with them, sometimes reveal differing world-views
that can be seen in the ways in which some content is taught. One obvious example lies
with how educational curricula in different countries may describe shared historical events.
However, traditions in the different disciplines can lead to significantly diverse ways of
approaching and understanding similar phenomena. CLIL enables learners to study through
these different perspectives, which can lead to achieving a deeper understanding of the
subject matter.
Key CLIL Features
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Accessing content information through different languages can provide added value
to the subject matter itself
Particularly suitable for certain topics within subjects
Helps broadens horizons through providing opportunities for critical thinking
Examples
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In a module which examines the same topic in a contrastive way using materials from
different language perspectives
In medium to high exposure for older learners, this focus may have special relevance
because these students are likely to engage in higher education studies in the target
language
I believe that looking through a different pair of glasses gives you a different
perspective and looking at the same thing through another language is like putting
on a new pair of glasses and seeing things through a different perspective (InterTalk)
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