【Book Review】

CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning.
Do Coyle, Philip Hood, and David Marsh. Cambridge UniversityPress, 2010. X + 173pp.
Kevin ThomasThis book aims to give the reader an overview of CLIL (Content and Language IntegratedLearning), its history, theoretical basis and practice. The first two chapters discuss the history of andcurrent trends in CLIL. The third chapter explores the theoretical underpinning of CLIL. Chaptersfour to seven provide a guide to putting CLIL into practice, including curriculum design, selection,creation of CLIL materials, evaluation, and assessment. Finally, chapter seven devotes itself to a
discussion of the possible future of CLIL. CLIL has increasingly been adopted by Japanese
universities, with content being taught in English with the expectation of language being learnt
during the process (Brown & Bradford, 2017). However, to the authors’ knowledge, instructors onsuch courses are often not made explicitly aware that they are expected to teach CLIL and lackknowledge of the theoretical basis for and principled practice of such courses. This could be a danger
as the unprepared teacher may overlook the importance of either the language or content element
when planning or teaching. This book could be of great value to curriculum designers and instructorsof any course in which content is taught in English as a second or foreign language, and increased
proficiency is expected as a result of the course in addition to content knowledge.
Chapters one and two define CLIL and explain why many higher education institutions havedecided to adopt it to a lesser or greater extent. CLIL is defined as a teaching and learning process
in which content provision and language learning are intertwined. Although greater focus may beplaced on one or the other at different times, both elements must always be present. It is describedas not a pedagogy in itself but as an approach that allows the course designer or teacher (provider)to choose the best language supportive methodologies while delivering content in the desired second
or foreign language.
CLIL provision in English is argued to be attractive to university program designers as they
increasingly recognize the role of English in a globalized world, with English as a lingua franca. It has
been seen as a way of increasing students’ exposure to language in a context where time for explicit
language instruction is limited. Language educators, meanwhile, have been keen to employ it aslearning language. Content has been seen as aiding cognitive flexibility and encouraging language
retention. It has also been seen as increasing authenticity both in the method of language learning,which moves away from grammar-based curriculum, and the authenticity of materials used in class.
Unit three shows how a wide range of theory can be seen to support CLIL provision. Arguably,
the most useful theoretical approaches that can be employed when deciding how to put CLIL into
practice are “The Language Triptych” and “The 4Cs framework”. The language triptych can be used
to aid selection of the language presented and activities used in class to enable students to tackle
content and retain language. One point on the triptych is language of learning, which refers tolanguage students requiring access to the meaning of content. Teachers instead of relying on
grammatical instructions should consider the functional and notional levels of difficulty demanded by
the content. The second point of the triptych is Language for learning, which is the language students

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will need to employ in the process of learning such as asking questions and debating. The third,
language through learning, focuses on how language retention can be encouraged through theinclusion of interactive activities in which students meaningfully engage with content.
The 4Cs framework, which has been described as providing principled and effective guidance toCLIL providers (MacGregor, 2016), uses the concepts of communication, content, cognition, andcontext to help providers plan and put CLIL into practice. The 4Cs are used to guide teachers in theirinterweaving of content and language provision and allow them to analyse whether there is a gap
between student’s language ability and the demands of content material selected.
Chapters four to seven concern themselves with putting CLIL theory into practice. Chapter 4
presents a six-stage toolkit that can be used when designing a CLIL curriculum. It includes things toconsider when selecting content and material, how to analyse materials for generic traits that learners
need to be aware of and the language and skills student will need to engage with the content. How
best to develop needed skills and language is outlined, asking the provider to consider whether thisis best done through example, tasks or explicit language instruction. It is often repeated that there isno one way of teaching CLIL and that CLIL is a principled approach to integrating content andlanguage that can take many forms.
Chapter five gives guidance on the selection and possible adaptation of authentic materials to beused in CLIL classes which is usually necessary due to the lack of available commercial material,
especially in Japan (Griffiths, 2019). It is advised to consider the suitability of materials from various
viewpoints considering any adaptions to be made and activities that will be needed to meet thecontent input such as awareness-raising activities on either language or content. Chapters six andseven are concerned with how to assess students and how to evaluate the course for future
improvements. How assessment should be weighted between content knowledge and language use
is discussed. Evaluation of the course is also framed in such terms, discussing how the different
strands of CLIL should be considered together when deciding how successful a course was.
The final chapter discusses the possible future of CLIL. As this book was first published over a
decade ago, some ideas might be out of date and superseded Do Coyle and Oliver Meyer’s Beyond
CLIL published in June 2021.
This book is thoroughly recommended for teachers who are attempting to teach content andlanguage at the same time, maybe unknowingly practising CLIL. The approach to detailed teachingis flexible in the fact that it isn’t a pedagogy, allowing the teacher to put their teaching style into theCLIL classroom. However, the guidelines provided will allow the teacher to supplement their teachingstyle with principled and focused frameworks for effectively integrating content and language
provision.

References
Brown, H., & Bradford, A. (2017). EMI, CLIL, & CBI: Differing approaches and goals. In P. Clements,A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), Transformation in language education. Tokyo: JALT. ISBN: 978-4901352-54-3.
Griffiths, M. (2019) Adapting and Scaffolding Texts in CLIL Material. In R. Debopriyo & J. Blake(Eds.), PanSIG Journal 2019 (pp. 117-131). Tokyo: JALT. ISBN# 978-4-901352-58-1.
MacGregor, L. (2016). CLIL Focus: An Interview with Professor Makoto Ikeda. The Language
Teacher, 20(1), 18-21. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTTLT40.1.

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