New methodologies: CLIL versus EMI

1. Introduction

Approaches like the communicative or the task-based one allow new methodologies to
arise. These methodologies are not only student-centred but they also focus on learning
both language and content at the same time. In this unit, we will talk about CLIL and
EMI.

2. CLIL

If you teach EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction), LAC (Language Across the
Curriculum), CBI (Content-based Instruction) or CBLT (Content-based Language
Teaching; if you work in Bilingual Education; if you're a subject teacher working
through the medium of a foreign language, or a language teacher bringing in
content into your English lesson, you work within the area of Content and
Language Integrated Learning.

(Phil Ball)

Let’s focus on CLIL first, since it is the best known in our schools and the one we have
been working on during this Master’s degree. As you already know, CLIL has a dual focus
and is aimed at being motivating for students, who will be learning content and language
at the same time.

We have already studied how 4Cs are relevant for CLIL: content, culture, cognition and
communication. When it comes to the upper levels, content becomes very specific and
the terms related to those contents, as well as the academic reading and writing, are
considered high level.

Let’s make now a brief review on some of the concepts related to CLIL that can be
interesting for this methodology. First of all, do you remember what the acronyms HOTS
and LOTS stand for? Exactly, HOTS stands for High Order Thinking Skills and LOTS stands
for Low Order Thinking Skills. If we are focusing on an adult audience, we could think
that HOTS (memorizing, understanding, applying) would be the ones taken into account
in the activities we design. However, when it comes to teaching in a second language
(especially if students have never been taught like this before), LOTS (analyzing,
evaluating, creating) cannot be forgotten.

All those skills are related to Bloom’s taxonomy and require scaffolding the activities.
First, students need to start with the simplest ones (either alone, in pairs, in groups…)
and then they keep moving to the most complex ones (also alone, in pairs, in groups and
so on).
We should also bear in mind the difference between BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). BICS are
relevant in daily situations and at a general level, but when we focus on the academic
world, knowing the different genres, structures, terms and so on that are applied to our
field becomes a must.

Another distinction we already made in previous modules is the one related to language
of learning, language for learning and language through learning.

One of the main strategies used to plan CLIL lessons, even at this level, is following the CLIL
pyramid, by Oliver Meyer (2010). This pyramid states that the first stage is the topic selection.
The second one is the choice of media. The third one is the task-design. And the final one is the
CLIL-workout.

3. EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction)

EMI is a wide concept that includes teaching contents through language, so English is a
content to be taught at the same time and is mainly used as a vehicle for instruction.

Let’s check now some of the main notions that we need to bear in mind when speaking
about EMI in the university context. First, we will take a look at the issues that may arise
in the EMI classroom:

In the EMI classroom, teachers might be facing problems related to the English level and
the particular characteristics of students, specially. There might be some students
willing to participate but with a poor level of English, some others might be very good
at English but not at interpersonal skills –that is, they may be correcting their mates or
even the teacher, for instance- and almost every possible combination can be found in
every class.

The use of different strategies to keep the attention of our students, to keep them
involved and participating and to make them feel sure about the topics and the structure
of the lesson, as well as the use of supporting materials such as audiovisual
presentations, can help us deal with these problems.

Teaching has to be interactive, promoting the students’ participation. One of the most
powerful resources is asking the students to do presentations in class. It can be an
anxiety-generator, of course, but it can also be a useful method for providing students
with the opportunity to speak in front of the class and participate in the same way more
skilled students do.
Secondly, there are many techniques and potential pitfalls that need to be dealt with in
the EMI classroom:

A content lecturer needs to take advantage of the multimodal materials in order to make
his/her message easy to understand. Sometimes, pictures and videos, for example, can
complement written texts and oral explanations and help the students understand the
message.
Also, explaining the concept (always putting it into its specific context) in more simple
words, that is, rephrasing and then moving back again to the more academic or
specialized explanation can be useful. Some of the strategies are summarizing and
providing students with a basic glossary and asking them to complete it, working in
groups, so that they collaborate with each other and negotiate the meaning of certain
words, since students may have different levels of linguistic competence, as I mentioned
in my presentation post.
Regarding the potential pitfalls, the differences between students, either linguistic or
cultural, together with students’ motivation are very important. The teacher can acquire
interaction and communicative competences through peer observation (even though it
is not a very common experience in general terms), training courses, and experience. He
or she may read and learn about different methodologies and activities to be used in
the class and implement them successfully. However, the group of students will always
be different and heterogeneous, and finding the right activities to reach everyone and
keep them motivated and engage will always be a challenge.

4. Teacher’s role

One of the main controversies in Bilingual Education can be summed up as follows: ‘I

am a content teacher and I will not teach language’ versus ‘I am a language teacher and
I will not teach content’. The teachers’ role, in general, is the same. However, it has
changed a lot during the last years, and teachers now need to be guides of the teaching-
learning process, more than ‘merely’ transmitting knowledge.

Teachers have to develop competences and help students develop theirs. They need to
design the learning itineraries and adapt them to students, guiding them and letting
them explore their own capabilities. They need to know about multiple intelligences and
design activities including them. Technologies have to be an essential part of the
teaching-learning process. Assessment is meant to be not just a test with a mark at the
end of the course, but a continuous process, so giving feedback is one of teachers’ main
functions. The difficulty for EMI and CLIL teachers is related to the fact that they might
be assessing both language and content, as well as explaining both of them.

Encouraging students to correct themselves when they are speaking, repeating their
words in the proper way, or even correcting the grammar and vocabulary directly (it
works for some people): any of these ways can be used in the class to allow students
improve their linguistic skills while they are learning content.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ball, P. What is CLIL? Available online at

http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/methodology/articles/article-what-is-
clil/500453.article

Meyer, O. (2010). Towards quality-CLIL: successful planning and teaching strategies.

Pulso, 33, 11-29. Available online.