Offering CLIL classes could be regarded as a means of profile building for German schools, which have often criticized for seemingly catering to academically well-performing students. It appears, though, that schools and teachers are increasingly prepared to open “CLIL for all”, which will be discussed in this paper.
In Germany, CLIL is offered by an increasing number of secondary schools. While the first CLIL programs that were established in Germany had a clear political agenda of reconciliation with France and hence were offered in French and predominantly in schools along the border with France in southwestern Germany, the majority of CLIL classes today are taught in English. At so-called European Schools (Europaschulen), where the intercultural orientation of CLIL is still evident in their pro-European commitment, bilingual education is an essential component of the school profile. CLIL is usually not compulsory for students but is offered in a bilingual stream where some content subjects are taught in a foreign language. Although there are no binding admission requirements and the decision to enter the bilingual stream is up to students and their parents, CLIL is usually recommended to students who have had above-average grades in language-related classes in primary school. The question that arises from the fact that CLIL traditionally has been regarded as a means of profile building for schools and is often criticized for catering to top-performing students, is whether schools and teachers are prepared to open “CLIL for all”. This paper reports on the German results of the ADiBE project and presents empirically based evidence on diversity in CLIL education. It is particularly interested in how schools and teachers address different aspects of diversity in CLIL classrooms and how their efforts are viewed by students and their parents. The term ‘diversity’ in this context covers both differences in terms of weaknesses and strengths, different talents and attainment levels. In this context, the study considers collaboration in multiprofessional teams, teaching methods and materials, learning arrangements, scaffolding, differentiation, and use of digital media.
