Call for paper

English CLIL programs : teaching geography in English or English in geography?

The aim of this conference is to bring together specialists in didactics, linguistics, geography, and second language acquisition, as well as teacher trainers and secondary school teachers to discuss the teaching and learning of English as a Second Language (ESL) using a CLIL approach, in geography classes more specifically.

Over the last 20 years, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) programmes have been widely developed in France and in the rest of Europe to strengthen both language and content knowledge (Goris, 2019; Pérez Cañado, 2018). By combining the learning of disciplines such as history, geography, economics, management, health, sales, etc., with a foreign language, CLIL aims to enrich learners' educational experience. CLIL learning thus covers both subject content and linguistic skills, particularly English for specific purposes (ESP).

This conference will focus on the challenges associated with teaching geography in English, which involves the use of ESP, as well as on the semiotic language specific to the discipline. The complex nature of ESP discourse as used in the CLIL classroom was identified by Cummins (1999) who highlighted the significant differences between everyday language (BICS) and academic language (CALP). The latter is characterised by specific features linked to the subject area - lexis, syntactic structures and grammatical elements, discourse genres - which are essential to the construction of meaning. Even though CLIL teachers’ general foreign language skills are tested (CEFR level B2), they are not experts in ESP. What is more, history and geography are taught by the same teachers in France, yet 91% of French teachers of geography studied history as their main subject, and are therefore not geography specialists. In addition, Dalton-Puffer (2011) notes that discourse in the foreign language (L2) tends to be pragmatically less varied and nuanced than in the language of schooling (L1). When it comes to pronunciation, teachers often struggle, particularly in English (Martín del Pozo, 2016).

Conversely, Gajo & Grobet (2008) point out that many discursive episodes, which appear to be mainly geared towards linguistic problems (explanation of vocabulary, organisation of discourse), also serve to clarify and reinforce some concepts of the discipline taught in a foreign language. Therefore, the mediation and remediation phases linked to the foreign language are likely to facilitate the integration process (integrated construction of knowledge) specific to CLIL. 

The CEFR (2001, 2018) promotes an action-oriented perspective for the teaching of foreign languages and considers learners as social actors. This approach aims to engage students in tasks that include collaborative and interactive work. However, task-based teaching is not familiar to all geography teachers, particularly regarding language practice and the key role it plays in the construction of knowledge. Because of a lack of specific training in CLIL, a large proportion of students use their mother tongue during talk-in-interaction, which prevents them from building solid skills in the foreign language.

CLIL geography classes do not have a dedicated program that defines curricular expectations. As a result, teachers have to design their programs according to the objectives they set for their classes, whether in terms of knowledge or know-how. However, geography in France differs from its counterpart in English speaking countries, not only in its history, but also in the way it constructs its fields of interest and its concepts (Hancock, 2002; Claval, 2008; Gintrac, 2012). Concepts widely used in French school geography do not necessarily have an equivalent in English, or do not occupy the same place within the English-speaking discipline, for example (Gonin, 2024). These considerations raise questions about the content taught in CLIL geography.

Students should be trained to understand and comment on the graphic representations used to study geography (maps, diagrams, photos and satellite images), and to perform geographical reasoning: how to analyse spatial organisation, spatial differentiation, change of scale or the role of actors. Relevant linguistic resources are required both in the geography course and in the English one. We therefore need to look at who teaches these resources and at the form of language practice that mediates this content. 

This conference is taking place as research carried out in Europe, and looking into primary, secondary and higher education, generally shows positive results from CLIL teaching in terms of learner motivation and academic results. However, several studies have pointed out that the apparent “CLIL effects” are perhaps exaggerated, and partly attributable to the selection of pupils and students that are already high achievers and highly motivated (Sylvén, 2010), as is the case in France. Large-scale studies in Spain have reported an increase in language skills for all CLIL groups (Pérez Cañado, 2018), but research on that topic is still scarce in France.

We are expecting presentations which could, for example, provide some answers to the following questions:

• What are the characteristics of the specialised language of geography, in French and in English? Who should teach it and how?

• What classroom language practices are specific to these CLIL programmes in geography ?

• How do the concepts taught in geography help students understand the differences between English and French perspectives on global issues?

• Which approach to geography should be favoured when teaching it in English? The French approach or the approaches of the English-speaking world? How do these approaches differ?

• How do teachers interact and adapt their classroom discourse to support linguistic and conceptual learning in English?

• How do the students’ language skills develop as a result of CLIL teaching?

• What are the synergies and differences between EFL lessons and CLIL lessons? How can the integrated construction of knowledge be scaffolded?

• Is there such a thing as CLIL didactics?

These questions and themes are not, of course, exclusive. While the French context is the starting point for our questions, proposals relating to other education systems around the world are welcome.