CLIL in Anglophone contexts: applications for inclusion

This paper considers the potential of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) to contribute to the equitable provision of high-quality learning in Anglophone contexts. The global flow of migrants and refugees has resulted in diverse communities and multilingual schools. Typically, EAL learners tend to be disadvantaged until they have sufficient English to fully access the curriculum and to articulate their learning. CLIL offers the potential to bring content into the language classroom and thereby support not just learners of modern foreign languages but also learners who need proficiency in English in order to be able to become confident, strong learners across the curriculum in mainstream classes. This presentation draws on the authors' qualitative case study research in England and knowledge of CLIL and of EAL/D in Australia to consider why and how the CLIL pedagogical approach might be drawn on to promote multilingual progression in EAL/D and multilingual classrooms. It addresses questions regarding the context of language learning in predominantly Anglophone contexts, raising implications for EAL/D educators about working with modern foreign languages.  Through one EAL teacher in a case study school, it considers what it means as an educator to be thinking about not just the teaching of English or the foreign language but about all the different languages that are represented in the classroom as we deal with increasingly linguistic diverse settings. It begins to consider how CLIL might, play a role in this. Addressing these questions offers a contribution to the field by identifying the potential of using CLIL approaches to act as a leveller in the support of the progression of EAL/D leaners in multilingual settings. Key words CLIL in Anglophone contexts; EAL; cross curricular language learning; inclusion.