Integrating language and content into the classroom effectively

Abstract

In light of the importance being placed on internationalization by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), universities all over Europe have to find ways of introducing foreign language, particularly English, into their core curricular competences. Student mobility has become a central focus and universities are strongly encouraging students to study and work abroad in order to prepare them for the global world they will soon need to compete in. One of the methodologies currently in use for this is “Content and Language Integrated Learning” or CLIL. It is particularly successful in motivating students to want to learn English, as they are learning language through content they consider “more relevant” to their future. However, this methodology can easily fail, causing demotivation in teachers and students alike. This paper summarizes the CLIL experience at UEM (Universidad Europea de Madrid) from the time of its first implementation in 2005, to the present-day. It intends to give insight into how to integrate CLIL into the classroom effectively by studying activities used by professors, as well as feedback from both professors and students. Results will show that CLIL works when teachers have proper support and activities are engaging and compatible with student abilities.