Subject learning includes the development of specific literacies in students with various subjects imposing varying requirements. Identifying and respecting those requirements for L2 learners when developing curricula for CLIL-teaching could further boost the programs’ success and become one of the first standards in this field.
Not only in Europe but also in Germany, CLIL teaching has become increasingly popular (Rumlich 2016: 309) throughout the past decades with a wide range of subjects on offer. With the benefits and general challenges currently adressed, one key factor is not yet well researched: required language literacies in the specific subjects. Today, the humanities and especially History are “celebrated” as the prototypical subjects for CLIL teaching, but History already imposes linguistic challenges on students in their L1 that often overstrain their competences (Handro 2013: 325). Consequently, critics of the CLIL approach in History mostly in Germany strongly oppose the idea of CLIL teaching (Hasberg 2004). With the benefits of CLIL teaching being undeniable, a suitable sequence of subjects taught as CLIL subjects needs to be found. Although still in its infancy, this study looks at the linguistic requirements of all subjects by analyzing teaching material, in-class phrases for typical tasks (in German “Operatoren”) and conducts a study on the identified requirements at various CLIL-teaching schools. Students’ subject-area literacy will be analyzed by looking at in-class communication, e.g. at code-switching and its frequency, the use of BICS and CALP (Cummins 1984), and the level of language used by students according to the CEFR (2017). Analyzing student communication in class is expected to yield findings on the linguistic requirements of each subject and a ratio of BICS and CALP in the respective subjects observed. Each subject could then be placed on a continuum of both BICS and CALP taking all findings into consideration. The presentation will give an insight into first findings, a subject-related comparison of the in-class phrases and first ideas on how to proceed with these. The development of a a spiraled curriculum is targeted in the long run.
