Education of the republic of uzbekistan termiz state university department of english language and literature

Characteristics of CLIL
The above definition of CLIL points to its basic characteristic: „the acronym CLIL is used as a generic term to describe all types of provision in which a second language (a foreign, regional or minority language and/or another official state language) is used to teach certain subjects in the curriculum other than language lessons themselves “. A more precise definition is given by Coyle, Hood and Marsh „Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language.

That is, in the teaching and learning process, there is a focus not only on content, and not only on language. Each is interwoven, even if the emphasis is greater on one or the other at a given time. “ Having dual focus in a CLIL lesson means that learning subject content and improving language competences happen simultaneously, making CLIL „neither an approach that belongs to language learning nor one that belongs to subject teaching. It is a unique approach which develops whenthe two teaching methodologies are merged “(Ioannou-Georgiou and Pavlou 2010, 5). Ioannou-Georgiou and Pavlou (ibid.) argue that implementation of this approach results not only in improvement of

language skills and subject knowledge, but also promotes multiculturalism, intercultural knowledge and understanding, the development of diverse learning strategies, the application of innovative teaching methods and techniques, and increases learner motivation. Moreover, content related instruction supports how the brain makes connections and how learning takes place, thus facilitating students’ cognitive development (Curtain & Dahlberg 2010, 3). These characteristics of CLIL make it potentially beneficial in promoting learning in general. Nowadays CLIL appears in many different forms and models and under different names, depending on the context in which it is being implemented. Ramirez Verdugo (in Ioannou-Georgiou and Pavlou 2010, 16-17) distinguishes four broad CLIL varieties which go from content oriented to language-oriented: 1. immersion, from partial to total, where some, most or all subjects are taught in a target language; 2. Subject courses, where curricular subjects (like citizenship, environmental studies, design and technology) can be taught through the target language; 3. language showers for pre-primary and primary children, where there is a regular, short and continuous exposure to CLIL in one subject area taught in the target language for 15 or 30 minutes several times a week; 4. language classes based on thematic units, where lesson plans involve a topic-based approach including specific content from other curriculum subjects. Often, two terms are used to distinguish two broad varieties of CLIL: soft CLIL, which refers to contexts where topics from the curriculum is taught as part of a language course, and hard CLIL, in which almost half the curriculum is taught in the target language (Bentley 2010, 6). All these varieties are based on integrated approach, can be adapted to specific conditions and language levels, and promote the development of learning skills. These core characteristics make CLIL adaptable to teaching young learners.

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