Curricular models of CLIL education in Poland

Abstract

Bilingual education in Poland gained in popularity after the political changes in 1989 when Polish society started noticing the importance of foreign language learning. With the emergence of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in the 1990s, which in the Polish context is still termed as 'bilingual education', foreign languages other than English were introduced as a medium of instruction. To provide a comprehensive overview of practices and help to identify operational features of this type of education, four large-scale research studies were conducted, exploring CLIL sections with English, German, Spanish and French as languages of instruction. The data collected on the basis of classroom observations and interviews with CLIL teachers and students revealed a number of regularities recurring in the schools that were studied. It enabled the researchers to formulate four curricular models of CLIL education at secondary level. This article aims to present the models of content subjects teaching. The models depend on the proportions of L2 use, the perceived focal point of the teaching/learning process and the educational level at which CLIL is introduced. The adoption of a particular model entails different instructional choices, teaching practices and learning objectives in terms of both content and language learning.

CLIL and pedagogical innovation: Fact or fiction?

“…This lack of clarity and coherence particularly affects its methodology: “despite all the discussion and research on bilingual education, there is still no consistent theory for CLIL or its related didactic concepts” (Liberali, : 317). Czura and Papaja (: 330) also underscore the “lack of a coherent CLIL methodology” and echo the increasingly endorsed view that CLIL provision is characterized by excessive flexibility and diversified teaching environments in order to accommodate the linguistic diversity of the European landscape. CLIL practice is thus informed by what Hüttner and Smit (: 164) term “local realisations of language teaching methodologies” so that “no uniform teaching methodology” (Czura & Papaja, : 321) can be identified across CLIL contexts.…”

“…Czura and Papaja (: 330) also underscore the “lack of a coherent CLIL methodology” and echo the increasingly endorsed view that CLIL provision is characterized by excessive flexibility and diversified teaching environments in order to accommodate the linguistic diversity of the European landscape. CLIL practice is thus informed by what Hüttner and Smit (: 164) term “local realisations of language teaching methodologies” so that “no uniform teaching methodology” (Czura & Papaja, : 321) can be identified across CLIL contexts. Accruing from this, numerous calls have recently been made for the “development of a CLIL‐specific didactic and methodology” (Brüning & Purrmann, : 335), for establishing “clear […] criteria” and “uniform aims” (Czura & Papaja, : 332), and for characterizing “representative pedagogical practices” (Bruton, : 254) in order to allow the CLIL agenda to continue advancing strongly and steadily.…”

“…Four years later, Czura and Papaja () embarked on a more ambitious project involving four large‐scale research studies exploring CLIL sections with English, German, Spanish, and French as a medium of instruction. Language and content classes in 34 upper secondary schools and 26 lower secondary ones were observed and semi‐structured interviews were conducted with coordinators, teachers, and students in order to provide an overview of pedagogical practices and to profile the main types of programs applied.…”

ICT in Supporting Content and Language Integrated Learning: Experience from Poland

“…Furthermore, the education reform, which was conducted in 1999, opened the way for the creation of bilingual classes not only in secondary schools, but also in middle schools. Hence, by using the CLIL approach, youth can efficiently learn languages in the context of selected subjects (Czura & Papaja, 2013;Czura, Papaja, & Urbaniak, 2009). Following the changes in secondary education, an increasing number of Polish universities started to offer courses in English.…”

Secondary schools’ administration perspective on content and language integrated learning: the case of Lithuania

“…project level, school level and national level (Dalyko ir užsienio kalbos integruoto mokymo(si) gairės (Content and Language Integrated Learning Guidelines) 2010). This recommendation is based on the organisation and intensity of CLIL that learners are exposed to, while CLIL curricular models in Poland, where teacher training policy is similar to that in Lithuania, are categorised according to the amount of a foreign language used in a class (Czura and Papaja 2013). Three models of CLIL can be found in lower secondary schools, i.e.…”