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CLIL research in Europe: Past,

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CLIL research in Europe: past, present,

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a
María Luisa Pérez-Cañado
a
Department of English Philology , University of Jaén , Jaén ,
Spain
Published online: 05 Dec 2011.

To cite this article: María Luisa Pérez-Cañado (2012) CLIL research in Europe: past, present,
and future, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15:3, 315-341, DOI:
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 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
Vol. 15, No. 3, May 2012, 315
341

CLIL research in Europe: past, present, and future

Marı́a Luisa Pérez-Cañado*

Department of English Philology, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain

(Received 16 March 2011; final version received 3 October 2011)

This article provides a comprehensive, updated, and critical approximation to

the sizeable literature which has been produced on the increasingly acknowledged
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European approach to bilingual education: content and language integrated

learning (CLIL). It begins by tracing the origins of CLIL, framing it against the
backdrop of its predecessors: North American immersion and bilingual education
programs, and European international schools. It then provides a synthesis of
the research which has been conducted on our continent into the effects of
CLIL programs. It transpires from this review that, while at first blush it might
seem that outcome-oriented investigations into CLIL effects abound throughout
our continent, there is still a well-documented paucity of research in this area.
The article concludes by identifying future research agendas to continue mapping
the CLIL terrain. The ultimate aim of this three-pronged examination of the past,
present, and future of CLIL is to depart from the lessons learned from recent
research and to signpost ways forward in order to guarantee a success-prone
implementation of this timely solution to European plurilingual education.
Keywords: content and language integrated learning; research; quantitative;
qualitative; Europe

1. Introduction
Although teaching content through language is nothing new and dates back some
5,000 years (cf. Mehisto et al. 2008; Tejada Molina, Pérez Cañado, and Luque
Agulló 2005), the concept of content and language integrated learning (CLIL)
emerged in the 1990s, and this decade has been considered that of ‘teaching and
learning through a foreign language’ (Marsh 2002, 54). The term was coined in 1994
and launched in 1996 by UNICOM, the University of Jyväskyla (Finland) and the
European Platform for Dutch education (Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido 2009;
Marsh 2006). Since then and especially in the late 1990s, its usage has soared and
it appears to continue accelerating as a ‘growth industry’ (Marsh 2002, 59). From
2003 onwards, as Dalton-Puffer and Nikula (2006) document, a truly international
research scene focusing on CLIL has started to evolve.
Stemming from communicative methodologies (Graddol 2006; Lorenzo 2007),
CLIL has been pushed forward by a series of driving forces (Coyle, Hood, and Marsh
2010): reactive reasons (responding to situations where there was a deficient foreign
language competence which needed to be strengthened) and proactive responses
(creating situations which would reinforce Europe’s levels of multilingualism). The

*Email: mlperez@[Link]

ISSN 1367-0050 print/ISSN 1747-7522 online

# 2012 Taylor & Francis
[Link]
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 316 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

advancements in second language acquisition (SLA) research and language teaching

have also substantially contributed to fueling the interest in CLIL (Järvinen 2005b).
Bolstered by the aforementioned circumstances, CLIL has had an exponential
uptake across Europe over the past two decades, gradually becoming an established
teaching approach (Järvinen 2006). Numerous authors testify to this rapid and
widespread adoption of CLIL in the European arena (Coonan 2005; Coyle, Hood,
and Marsh 2010; Dalton-Puffer and Nikula 2006; Marsh 2002; Lorenzo et al.
2007; Smit 2007), assimilating it to a veritable ‘explosion of interest’ (Coyle 2006,
2). It has furthermore embedded itself in mainstream education from preschool
to vocational education (Marsh 2002, 2005) rather swiftly, no longer being the
prerogative of the academic elite (Coyle 2009). In fact, several authors (Lorenzo
2007; Vez 2009) go as far as to claim that traditional non-CLIL ‘drip-feed education’
(Vez 2009, 8) involves moving on the slow track to language learning and that ‘CLIL
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is bilingual education at a time when teaching through one single language is seen
as second rate education’ (Lorenzo 2007, 35). CLIL, it thus seems, is ‘spreading fast
and here to stay’ (Deller 2005, 29).
However, the rapid spread of CLIL has outpaced measures of its impact, and
research on CLIL is still very much in its infancy (Wolff 2005). Tudor (2008, 55)
highlights this paucity of research: ‘The significant expansion of CLIL . . . in recent
years has not been supported by a comparable level of research.’ Indeed, the single
most widely consensual affirmation with respect to CLIL in the specialized literature
is the dire need for further research: ‘What is certain is that despite the recent surge
in evaluative reports, there is much, much more still to investigate’ (Coyle, Hood,
and Marsh 2010, 149). It is particularly relevant at this precise moment, as it appears
that we are currently at a crucial crossroads: if CLIL initiatives are expected to come
to fruition in 20 years (Hughes 2010b) and have now been running for approximately
a decade in our continent, ‘it would be possible to suggest that European CLIL/
EMILE might reach its watershed around 2010’ (Marsh 2002, 185). Thus, it is time
to undertake the much-needed stocktaking, as practitioners themselves are asking
for results to help defuse fears (De Graaff et al. 2007) and reinforce the connec-
tion between the academic world and classroom praxis (Infante et al. 2009).
This is precisely the aim of the present article: to carry out a comprehensive,
updated, and critical review of the way in which this new educational approach is
playing itself out on our continent in order to continue pushing forward a success-
prone implementation of CLIL programs.1 CLIL will initially be framed against
the backdrop of North American immersion and bilingual education programs,
and of European international schools, which are considered its antecedents. The
main differences between the latter and CLIL will be foregrounded. The article
will then canvass the research which has been conducted into its effects across
Europe, from North to South. It will conclude by underscoring the most outstanding
niches to be filled with future investigations and by providing concrete suggestions
to overcome unresolved issues in research practice, given the potential which this
type of program is currently held to have for European education (Lorenzo 2010).

2. The backdrop: Canadian immersion, North American bilingual education, and

European international schools
CLIL is considered to be a descendent of French immersion programs and North
American bilingual teaching models. Both Canada and the USA have an extensive
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 317

and well-acknowledged tradition of bilingual education, dating back to the late

1950s, when the impact of French immersion began to be investigated in the English-
speaking community in Montréal. The effects of these programs have been vastly,
rigorously, and systematically researched, yielding outcomes which, as Pérez-Vidal
(2007, 44) underlines, ‘are extremely revealing for the design and implementation of
programmes in Europe.’
The numerous studies into North American bilingual education (Cummins and
Swain 1986; Cummins 1989; Dulay, Burt, and Krashen 1982; Genesee 1987, 1994,
2004; Genesee and Jared 2008; Greene 1997, 1998; Krashen 1996, 1997, 1999;
Lambert and Tucker 1972; Lapkin, Hart and Swain 1991; Lyster 1987; Swain and
Cummins 1982; Wesche 2002; Willig 1985) attest to the success of these programs
at the linguistic, subject content, cognitive, and attitudinal levels:
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“ To begin with, they have consistently demonstrated that children in immersion

programs acquire impressive amounts of the second language, attain native-
like receptive skills but not in oral or written production, and develop much
higher levels of proficiency than nonimmersion students. In this sense, late
immersion students have been found to attain the same level of L2 proficiency
as early immersion students, despite having received significantly less exposure
to the L2, perhaps due to their greater cognitive maturity and learning
efficiency. Even children with limited proficiency end up performing better on
standardized tests than children taught in a monolingual context.
“ They also perform satisfactorily in the subject matter taught in the second
language, assimilating this knowledge at the same high level as the mono-
lingual control groups.
“ The development of the native language is not at all curtailed, as these
students do not evince significant problems in their first language skills.
“ The children’s cognitive growth is furthermore not impaired, providing
quite
on the contrary
cognitive advantages for bilingual learners, with transfer
across languages being documented.
“ The attitudes they harbor towards the L2 and its native speakers are
overwhelmingly positive.

However, less positive results have surfaced for productive skills (especially
speaking), which, although functionally effective, are attained at lower levels of
performance than receptive skills. Further weaknesses have been diagnosed for
grammatical competence and vocabulary knowledge (Navés 2009), something which
has led certain key figures in the field to posit that experiential learning approaches
need to be balanced with more analytical approaches that focus on form (Pérez-
Vidal 2007, 2011). Genesee (1994) is one such author, who calls for instructional
plans in which language objectives are systematically integrated with academic
objectives. Lyster (2006, 2007) also makes a strong case for some inclusion of focus
on form, involving noticing activities, increase in metalinguistic awareness, and
opportunities for production practice. Exposure and authentic communication, he
maintains, are not sufficient to push interlanguage development forward.
Although not backed up by a comparable body of research, European interna-
tional schools have also been object of empirical research, conducted primarily
by Baetens Beardsmore and collaborators (Baetens Beardsmore and Swain 1985;
Baetens Beardsmore and Kohls 1988; Baetens Beardsmore 1990; Housen and Baetens
 318 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

Beardsmore 1987). In these schools, students have different L1s and more than
50 languages are spoken on the playground. The L2 is introduced in first grade and the
L3, at the beginning of grade seven. The research outcomes have been exceedingly
positive, as the L2 literacy, L1 development, and subject matter learning of these
students have been found to be the same as those of monolingual control cohorts.
Furthermore, as Wode (1999) points out, when Canadian early total immersion and
Brussels European schools were compared, the latter outperformed the former.
Thus, the overriding conclusion which can be reached from the precursors of
CLIL education is that L2 instruction which is integrated with content matter has
proved to be more effective than L2 instruction in isolation (Genesee 1994). Research
in North American and European contexts seems to substantiate Joshua Fishman’s
famous dictum ‘bilingual education is good for education’ (in Marsh 2002, 70).
However, despite the valuable lessons which can be learned from the research
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outcomes in these settings, they cannot be simply transferred or transposed to the

European scenario, as they are highly context-specific (Marsh et al. 1998; Marsh
2002; Wolff 2002b) and their generalizability from one situation to another is
thus severely limited: ‘[ . . . ] most of the immersion conditions [ . . . ] bear little
resemblance to the study of English through CLIL programmes in Europe,
particularly in terms of the sociolinguistic and sociocultural context in which the
L2 is learned and the authenticity of the input’ (Gallardo del Puerto, Gómez
Lacabex, and Garcı́a Lecumberri 2009, 65).
Indeed, numerous authors distill those traits which differentiate content and
language learning from bilingual education. CLIL is considered ‘the European label
for bilingual education’ (Lorenzo 2007, 28), as it is deeply rooted in the linguistic
needs of the EU (Muñoz 2007) and thus strongly European-oriented (Wolff 2005).
Its distinctiveness lies in that it integrates language and content along a continuum,
in a flexible and dynamic way, without an implied preference for either (Coyle
2006, 2007). Language is taught in CLIL, as it holds a central place (Wolff 2003),
although not as much contact is offered with it as in immersion settings, where
the language of instruction is often an official language (Dalton-Puffer 2008; Pérez
Vidal 2011). In this sense, it aims at achieving a functional as opposed to a
(near) native-like competence (Muñoz 2002, forthcoming). It is conceived for the
majority group of any European country learning content through another
European language to increase mobility and achieve higher standards of the L2
without altering national curricula (Jáimez Muñoz 2007). Further differences
between CLIL and immersion education reside in the lesser command of the
language of instruction which CLIL teachers evince in general, in the later starting
age and lower amount of exposure to the target language in this type of program, in
its use of abridged rather than authentic materials, in the fact that the content taught
is taken from academic subjects or disciplines rather than from everyday life or the
target language culture, in the greater absence of immigrant students within them,
and in the comparatively meager amount of research into its effects, as opposed to
those of immersion (Dalton-Puffer, Nikula, and Smit 2010a; Lasagabaster and
Sierrra 2010).
Hence, CLIL is clearly distinct from its predecessors: it is ‘[ . . . ] not just a new
expression of educational bilingualism. The time when it has appeared, the places
where it has been adopted and the learning theory behind it turns CLIL into a
successful attempt at language and social change in 21st century Europe’ (Lorenzo
2007, 27). It thus merits attention in its own right, as it is no longer considered
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 319

a mere offshoot of other types of bilingual programs, but an increasingly acknowl-

edged trend in foreign language (FL) teaching.

3. The present: CLIL research in Europe

3.1. Introduction
Having traced the origins of CLIL, it becomes necessary to canvass the research which
has been conducted into its effects and the attitudes it is generating in stakeholders.
The main strands around which CLIL investigations have been articulated, according
to Wolff (2005), involve its effects on the acquisition of the FL, the L1, and content
subject competence, and the evaluation of dual-focused education by teachers and
students.
In Europe, priority is currently given to foreign language education in the
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curriculum (Madrid and Hughes 2011a, 2011b). At present, considerable strides have
been taken with regard to FL education and it is compulsory to offer a second foreign
language in almost all EU countries, albeit optionally for students. Bilingual
education and European sections have also increasingly begun to come to the fore
across the continent to teach one or more subjects. As Wolff (2002b) documents, CLIL
is being implemented in almost all the educational systems of Europe; it is already
much ‘more than a trendy acronym’ (Ullmann 1999, 104). CLIL practice has spread
rapidly in the past 10 years (Marsh 2002), currently spanning the continent from
North (Finland) to South (Italy), and from East (Bulgaria) to West (Spain). The
2006 Eurydice survey CLIL at School in Europe provides data on CLIL provision in
30 European countries. Most have some involvement in this educational approach
as either part of mainstream education (the vast majority) or within pilot studies.
Only six (Portugal, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, and Iceland) are not
applying CLIL in any way. Although space precludes the detailed description of
CLIL implementation in each of these European countries, a broad overview will
be provided of the general traits of CLIL provision across the continent (cf. Eurydice
2006; Maljers, Marsh, and Wolff 2007; Marsh 2002; or Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-
Garrido 2009 for a fine-grained portrayal).

3.2. Characterization
The first conspicuous feature which transpires is, unsurprisingly, that CLIL imple-
mentation in Europe is highly variegated: ‘[ . . . ] CLIL approaches vary considerably in
different European countries and [ . . . ] this variation is due, among other things, to
the educational and linguistic background of each specific country’ (Wolff 2002b,
48). Coyle (2007) documents 216 different types of CLIL programs based on such
variables as compulsory status, intensity, age of onset, starting linguistic level, or
duration. As Lasagabaster (2008) rightly claims, the CLIL situation in one European
country cannot be extrapolated to another, given the very different circumstances
surrounding language teaching across the continent.
However, despite this heterogeneous panorama, certain common characteristics
can be identified in European CLIL application (Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido
2009; Marsh 2002). Practically all CLIL models involve stepping up the presence
of the target language in the curriculum, as well as incorporating a number of
subjects taught through it for at least four years. The number of subjects can be
 320 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

increased in Primary Education and decreased at Secondary level or the other way
round, although dual-focused education is frequently discontinued in the upper
grades owing to the washback effect of university entrance exams.
The most common CLIL provision is by means of combining foreign languages
with regional and/or minority languages, and English comes across as the most
widely taught language, along with French and German. Trilingual CLIL instruction
is also provided in some countries, such as Spain, Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands,
Austria, or Sweden.
Whereas some countries have no admission criteria for CLIL in mainstream
education (e.g., Spain or Germany), others take into account students’ subject
knowledge (e.g., the Czech Republic or Bulgaria), the target language level (e.g.
France or Romania), or both (e.g., The Netherlands or Hungary). While some
have centralized CLIL measures (e.g., Austria or France), others present more
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de-centralized systems (e.g., Spain or Finland).

Although a vast gamut of subjects can be taught through CLIL (primarily
depending on teacher qualifications), the scope tends to narrow down and focus on
History, Geography, Science and Social Sciences, particularly in Secondary Educa-
tion. Materials are primarily adapted from authentic ones or originally designed with
the invaluable support of information and communication technology (ICT). The
evaluation of CLIL application in schools is practically nonexistent.
Finally, at Tertiary level, the lack of research into CLIL programs is also
prominent: no studies quantify the influence of CLIL approaches in European
universities (Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido 2009). Here, English is again the
most widely employed target language across a variety of disciplines: Business,
Engineering, Law, and Humanities. Isolated experiences of CLIL in Higher Education
have thus far been reported in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria,
Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, and Bulgaria.

3.3. Research outcomes

What effects has this CLIL provision exerted? An overview of the main studies
conducted at all educational levels is now provided, together with the main figures
who have contributed to moving CLIL implementation forward. They are grouped
by areas into Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe.2
In Northern Europe (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia), CLIL programs have
been vastly employed. In these countries, research has been carried out primarily into
the effects of CLIL on foreign language and mother tongue competence, on subject
matter learning, and into stakeholder perspectives. In Finland, Marsh comes to the
fore as possibly the most renowned figure. He has amply extolled on the virtues of
CLIL and characterized it from a chiefly theoretical perspective. His leadership has
also been pivotal for the establishment of networks across Europe at all educational
levels, the creation of the CLIL Consortium, the development of materials, and the
organization of conferences (Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido 2009). However,
it is other authors (Merisuo-Storm, Jäppinen, Södergard, Bergroth, or Järvinen) who
conduct and report on actual research, addressing all the major questions recurrent
in CLIL debates (Mehisto and Asser 2007): L1 and L2 development, subject
learning, and participants’ attitudes.
Indeed, scholars such as Bergroth (2006) target all these dimensions except
stakeholder attitudes via a quantitative study into the effects of Swedish CLIL on
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 321

L1 (Finnish), L2 (Swedish), L3 (English), and content learning (Mathematics) with

pupils taking the Finnish matriculation examination after Secondary schooling. The
outcomes reveal that the mother tongue and content knowledge are not threatened
by dual-focused education, as the CLIL students perform as well as their
monolingual peers. Languages (L2 and L3) are, however, positively affected, as the
CLIL stream outstrips its traditional counterpart.
L2 development
in this case, English
is the focus of Järvinen’s research,
which specifically centers on syntax via the acquisition of subordination and
relativization (1999, 2005a) by English Medium Instruction (EMI) and monolingual
students in grades 1 through 6. Although the homogeneity of the groups is not
guaranteed in either of the two studies, the author claims that there are statistically
significant differences in favor of the bilingual group in the acquisition of
relativization, as it produced significantly longer, more complex, and more accurate
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sentences than the control group.

Merisuo-Storm (2006, 2007), in turn, compares the L1 literacy skills of CLIL
tracks and regular students at the outset of Primary Education, and this research is
particularly interesting on two counts: it is longitudinal (the tests were administered
at the beginning of first grade and at the end of second grade) and it considers
school readiness and gender as intervening variables. No statistically significant
differences were detected between both cohorts in terms of mother tongue literacy
skills or when considering school readiness, but the CLIL strands were found to
harbor more positive attitudes towards language learning than the mainstream
group. However, these differences were not sustained when the genders were factored
in: they leveled out in CLIL groups, as opposed to monolingual ones, where
statistically significant differences continued to surface in favor of girls. This finding
is consistent with those of other studies (Marsh 2002; Schmidt, Boraie, and Kassagby
2007), where CLIL programs have been found to cancel out gender differences,
thereby being more beneficial for male students.
The final curricular aspect central to CLIL evaluation is explored by Jäppinen
(2006): this author examines the effects of CLIL environments on thinking and
content-learning processes with more than 600 7- to 15-year-old learners from 2001
to 2003. The data indicate that such environments succeed in creating favorable
conditions for the development of both processes. CLIL thus seems to have positive
repercussions on subject matter acquisition.
Finally, two Finnish scholars have approached the evaluation of CLIL programs
from a qualitative perspective, probing the students’ points of view at Primary
level (Romu and Sjöberg-Heino 1999; Södergard 2006). On both counts, the results
have been extremely encouraging: positive attitudes, satisfaction, and increased
confidence have emerged on the part of pupils involved in these programs.
Turning now to Sweden, Airey (2004) reports a lack of significant differences
between monolingual clases and CLIL branches with regard to general FL
competence. He points to two investigations by Knight (1990) and Washburn
(1997) (cited in Airey 2004 ) which measured such linguistic competence and matched
students for intelligence, motivation, and sociocultural variables but detected no
statistically significant differences between both groups. When it is on reading
proficiency (Norway, Hellekjaer 2004) and incidental vocabulary acquisition (Sweden,
Sylvén 2004) that the effects of CLIL are gauged, however, such differences do emerge.
In the latter study, it was found that Swedish upper Secondary school CLIL
learners outstripped their peers in all the vocabulary areas tested over the course of
 322 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

two years with three separate test rounds. The author attributes this difference to
heightened extramural reading exposure on the part of the bilingual stream, but since
she does not consider intervening variables or employ discriminant analysis, her
claim remains empirically unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, she continues exploring
this issue in a subsequent study (Sylvén 2006), where she compares the extracurri-
cular exposure of CLIL and non-CLIL students again at upper Secondary level,
only to find that her initial hypothesis is refuted: similar extramural exposure is
detected for both groups, with the CLIL section being, if anything, more exposed to
Swedish (their mother tongue). In a subsequent investigation, however, Sundqvist
and Sylvén (forthcoming) document the significant impact of extramural exposure
(especially via computer games, television, music, films, and the Internet) on the
English language proficiency of Swedish fifth-grade CLIL students, something which
leads the authors to conclude that ‘extramural English activities must be acknowl-
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edged in research as well as in education.’

In Sweden (Airey and Linder 2006) and Norway (Hellekjaer 2010), interesting
studies have also been conducted into CLIL at tertiary level. The investigations in
both countries concur in finding problems with lecture comprehension in English-
medium instruction. The former worked with 23 Swedish university-level Physics
students and primarily employed lecture observation to ascertain that the learners
experienced difficulty in note-taking, were reluctant to ask and answer questions,
developed compensatory strategies, increasingly relied on preparatory reading,
and engaged in follow-up reading and discussions to ensure comprehension of
lectures in English. More recently, the latter investigation has polled 391 students
from three Norwegian Higher Education institutions via questionnaires to find
that 42% of the respondents
both domestic and exchange students
experienced
English-medium lectures as more challenging than those in their L1. The chief
areas of difficulty diagnosed included unclear pronunciation, unfamiliar vocabulary,
problems following lectures’ lines of thought, and note-taking. These outcomes
bear potentially revealing insights into the issues which should be addressed in
course design and which affect honing the language skills of these students and
ensuring effective lecturing behavior on the part of professors.
The qualitative counterpoint to these studies is provided by Mehisto and Asser
(2007) in Estonia. They conduct research into stakeholder perspectives in CLIL
programs, using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and lesson observation
with principals, experienced and inexperienced teachers (two years of teaching
being the cut-off point to differentiate between them), and parents of grade 4 and
5 CLIL pupils. The results attest to the success of CLIL programs, as high levels
of satisfaction, commitment, and engagement are registered for all the stakeholders.
The parents, however, consider there is room for improving home-school coopera-
tion; the teachers request increased dialog with parents, more support, and
heightened training; and school managers admit to requiring a greater knowledge
base and more collaboration with other stakeholders.
Moving West from Scandinavia, the UK, while being a Northern European
country, merits separate attention, given its peculiar situation with respect to
CLIL. It is startling, on the one hand, to note that a country with a figure who has
become a beacon in guiding good CLIL practice
Do Coyle
has once again
consistently failed to produce substantial empirical research. And, on the other,
it is no less surprising to observe that the nation whose language is by far the most
widely adopted in CLIL programs
English
is lagging so far behind in its
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 323

implementation. As Ullmann (1999, 104) puts it, ‘Britain has been slow off the
mark.’ Despite not being monolingual (Coyle 2009 alludes to Welsh and Scottish
Gaelic), the UK is experiencing marked disincentives to learn languages (owing to
the ‘island mentality,’ as Coyle 2009, 174 terms it) which are causing language
learning in the UK to be ‘in crisis’ (Coyle 2009, 173). A by-product of this situation
is the scarcity of CLIL initiatives: ‘Though interest in bilingual education is
increasing across Europe, bilingual sections are rare to find at the best of times
and are almost unheard of in the United Kingdom’ (Ullmann 1999, 96).
What CLIL provision there is, is evaluated via basic interviews and classroom
observation (Ullmann 1999; Wiesemes 2009). The first of these authors interviewed
ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-grade pupils involved in a French CLIL program at
a Hockerill state comprehensive school. Her results were exceedingly positive: the
students reported increased concentration, enhanced subject matter learning, and
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a preference to take exams in French. The outcomes obtained by Wiesemes (2009)

also lend credence to the success of CLIL. In this case, the Content and Language
Integration Project (CLIP) was being assessed, an initiative funded by the National
Languages Center, in partnership with the University of Nottingham, and which
recruited eight successful Secondary schools to teach certain subjects through
the medium of French, German, or Spanish (Coyle 2006). Using interviews and
observation, the author concludes that CLIL comes across as an example of good
teaching and learning practices. For teachers and learners alike, it enhances
motivation and fosters a reconceptualization of classroom pedagogy, as well as
the breaking of traditional departmental barriers. This scholar goes on to make a
series of strong claims which unfortunately are not substantiated by the research
methodology employed (a quantitative control/experimental group design with
cohort matching would be called for here): CLIL raises standards in language
teaching, has no negative effects on subject learning, and develops better thinking,
strategic, comprehension, and speaking skills. It also increases learner achievement,
according to Wiesemes (2009), even in less able pupils.
Central European countries (The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and
Austria) have been no less active in investigating the way in which CLIL is playing
itself out. Both exploratory and experimental studies have been developed across
these nations in order to gauge the effects of CLIL.
The Netherlands stands out particularly prominently as an example of remarkable
CLIL investigation. In addition to the Maastricht-based research group led by
Wilkinson which has focused primarily on Higher Education, another set of scholars
at the University of Utrecht (Admiraal, Westhoff, De Graaff) have conducted some
of the most empirically solid studies into the topic to date in Europe. Admiraal et al.
(2006) carried out a longitudinal study with Secondary Education students who had
received four years of CLIL education through English in five Dutch schools. They
measured receptive vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and oral
proficiency and considered gender, entry ability level, home language, language
contact outside school, and motivation as covariates. A total of 1,305 students were
comprised in the sample, subdivided into experimental and control groups. Higher
scores were obtained for the oral and reading components of the study, but no
differences emerged for receptive word knowledge. No negative effects were found for
subject matter achievement and the L1 either. The only flaws presented by this
otherwise stalwart piece of research concern the lack of initial matching of the
 324 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

cohorts and of statistical analyses which would allow the outcomes to be attributed
to CLIL instructional practices, as the authors themselves acknowledge (2006, 91).
A year later (De Graaff, Koopman, and Westhoff 2007; De Graaff et al. 2007),
these same researchers complement their previous study with a qualitative
investigation aimed at identifying effective L2 pedagogy in CLIL settings via an
originally designed observation tool. The latter comprises five basic assumptions
related to effective language teaching performance and gives rise to what these
scholars term the ‘SLA penta-pie’: the teacher facilitates exposure to input at a
challenging level, both meaning-focused and form-focused processing, opportunities
for output production, and strategy use. After observing, videotaping, and analyzing
nine lessons across six different CLIL subjects employing this instrument, they arrive
at the conclusion that the whole range of teaching performance indicators can be
observed in Dutch teaching practice, thereby resulting in what they consider effective
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CLIL pedagogy.
In the remaining three Central European countries, research is not as robust as in
the Netherlands. In Germany, Wolff (2002a) already points to the need for more
empirically based program evaluation, particularly in terms of language outcomes, as
existing research on CLIL in his country is mainly action research which sheds light
on the difficulties which teachers are experiencing. What quantitative studies there
are, however, once more report statistically significant target language gains for
CLIL groups in terms of vocabulary (Wode 1999) and general communicative
competence (Vázquez 2007). Wode (1999) also notes that CLIL cohorts perform as
well as
if not better than
monolingual groups in subject matter (History and
Geography) learning. Without doubt, however, the most statistically solid investiga-
tion in this country is conducted by Zydatiß (2007) with 180 16-year-old students in
Berlin. It tested grammatical, lexical, and communicative competences, as well as
subject-matter literacy, and its results attested to a significantly higher overall
language competence of CLIL students by a substantial difference. The CLIL stream
was at an advantage particularly on lexical and grammatical range, accuracy,
propositional richness, and syntactic maturity.
Switzerland, in turn, has mainly seen the proliferation of exploratory studies
based on lesson excerpts, observation, and the analysis of narratives. The focus has
fundamentally been on the effects of CLIL on oral competence. Stotz and Meuter
(2003), for example, developed a study into the English listening and speaking skills
of Primary school CLIL students in the Canton of Zurich. They also complemented
it with questionnaires and classroom observation which revealed that teachers largely
followed implicit, embedded use of English in CLIL sequences and that few
productive opportunities for classroom discourse were provided for the learners, with
interaction patterns largely resembling those of most frontal classrooms. In turn, the
results obtained on the two oral competence tests they administered support the
decision of introducing English at Secondary level as well, as the CLIL strand
outperformed the nonimmersion stream. The outcomes for language production and
interaction were, however, more inconclusive.
These results do not tally with those reported by Gassner and Maillat (2006),
who, working with 11th-grade students in a French CLIL program in Geneva and
using three excerpts from a Biology course, counter the claim that immersion
education does not improve productive skills, arguing that, in their study, CLIL led
to considerable advances in terms of pragmatic and discursive competence. Yet, other
outcomes are obtained by Serra (2007): in the longitudinal study which this author
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 325

conducted with three public Swiss schools from grades 1 through 6, the experimental
and control groups performed equally well on the Italian and Romansch languages,
although the CLIL stream outperformed their mainstream peers in Mathematics.
However, no statistically significant differences were found between CLIL and non-
CLIL students on the acquisition of subject content knowledge in Stehler’s (2006)
research. Working with an extremely heterogeneous
and, hence, questionable

sample (French and German learners, six different grades and subjects, diverse areas
of Switzerland, private and state-financed schools, with different conventions for
nonlinguistic subject teaching, and with diverse ages of onset) and basing himself on
videotaped subject classes, this scholar concludes that CLIL has neither a positive
nor a negative influence on the acquisition of knowledge.
Finally, in Austria, interest has chiefly centered on narrative competence and
lexical proficiency, with some qualitative appraisal as well. All the studies presented
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here, while valuable approaches to the study of CLIL and its effects, share common
flaws: they do not guarantee the homogeneity of the experimental and control
cohorts, they do not perform statistical operations to account for the possible causes
of the superior performance ascertained, and, on some occasions, they do not even
calculate the existence of statistically significant differences between the groups
considered.
Ackerl (2007) analyzed a total of 10 essays in the Austrian university entrance
exam (5 from Vienna Bilingual Schooling students and 5 from mainstream education
pupils) and found that CLIL learners did not make fewer mistakes but did produce
more complex sentences, a greater variety of tenses, and more diversified vocabulary.
These outcomes are in keeping with those obtained by Hüttner and Rieder-
Bünemann (2007, 2010), who studied the effects of CLIL on seventh-grade Austrian
students through the use of a picture story, concluding that these pupils had a more
advanced command over micro-level features (linguistic cohesion) and some macro-
level features (thematic coherence) of the narrative. Seregély’s (2008) results also
concur with those of Ackerl (2007) in terms of lexical competence. This author
administered 4 types of lexical tests to 11th-grade control and experimental groups of
students in Vienna, as well as questionnaires to teachers and learners involved in
CLIL experiences. It transpired that CLIL students had a vaster and more complex
English vocabulary than traditional students, that male learners outstripped their
female counterparts, and that extramural exposure and time spent in English-
speaking countries significantly impacted both groups’ lexical competence. The
greater intrinsic motivation of the CLIL branch also surfaced, together with the
teachers’ satisfaction with the CLIL method in their school, which they hoped would
become standard practice across Austria. Finally, Jexenflicker and Dalton-Puffer
(2010) have more recently examined the effects of CLIL on English language skills in
upper-secondary engineering schools in Austria. The CLIL branch was invariably
found to outstrip its EFL counterparts on general language ability and writing skills
both for the total sample and when the two schools were analyzed separately. The
effects of CLIL were more clearly felt on accuracy, vocabulary range, spelling, and
task fulfillment, but were less marked in the field of organization and structure.
In Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary), mainly descriptive
accounts can be found in the literature available in English, geared at identifying
the most outstanding models being applied in CLIL education across each country.
This is done by Novotná and Hofmannová (2007) in The Czech Republic, by
Luczywek (2009) in Poland, and by Kovács (2005) in Hungary. In addition to
 326 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

describing the chief prototypes of CLIL implementation in Poland, Czura, Papaja,

and Urbaniak (2009) also report on the outcomes of a qualitative project
coordinated by the National Center for Teacher Training and the British Council
(known as the Profile Report), whose aim was to probe bilingual scheme results
throughout the country. It provided an overview of CLIL practice in 19 schools,
using classroom observation and interviews with students and staff. Teachers came
across as involved, committed, and eager, and saw CLIL as a challenge and a source
of professional satisfaction. Greater networking with schools abroad, increased
teamwork, external support, and teacher training were called for. Students regarded
it as prestigious and as a purveyor of enhanced learning conditions. They
complained, however, about the lower standard of content subjects, the use of
traditional methodology, and the unsystematic code-switching in class. Finally, the
lack of curriculum and ICT availability and the poor access to materials in English
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were all documented. The only other qualitative appraisal of CLIL programs is
provided by Bognár (1999) in Hungary, who highlights the dearth of actual research
but documents that 65%
100% of CLIL students are accepted by Higher Education
Institutions and that the most prestigious universities have recognized the value of
bilingual projects by awarding extra exam points.
A very similar research panorama can be detected in Italy, the first Southern
European country considered here. As Infante et al. (2008) note, no centralized CLIL
actions have been enforced and no systematic monitoring of its implementation has
been conducted, something which has led to its slow flourishing, most conspicuously,
in Northern Italy. Again, the types of studies carried out are qualitative attempts at
checking the pulse, in this case, of teacher attitudes to CLIL programs. Coonan
(2007) uses interviews, focus group sessions, questionnaires, and teacher logs to
scrutinize the perceptions of 33 secondary school teachers enrolled in a postgraduate
training program. The indirect information they provide indicates that CLIL
positively affects the way students learn content, their motivation, and their degree
of attention in lessons. The interviewees consider that this educational approach
increases cognitive complexity and flexibility in content and language integration,
but does not result in the simplification of learning objectives. It fosters a greater
awareness of the student on the part of the teacher, who is no longer a mere
information provider, but a key figure in actively involving and engaging the learner.
In turn, Infante et al. (2009) interview 11 experienced CLIL teachers through
questionnaires and follow-up telephone conversations on their trajectory with dual-
focused education. The overall results which emerge are once again positive, with
CLIL impacting methodological innovation and level of reflection. In hindsight, the
participating instructors regard their experience as extremely satisfactory, as, despite
the notable number obstacles they have had to overcome, they believe in the
effectiveness of this approach and consider it improves their teaching and allows
them to view the subject in a different light. They acknowledge the increased
workload it has involved and the lack of materials as two of the main hurdles they
have had to face. Methodologically, however, the benefits have been manifold: more
attention is now devoted to oral communication and fluency rather than accuracy;
activities which develop thinking skills are favored; cooperative learning techniques
are adopted; and active participation is fostered. The result is more motivated
students.
The situation of Spain starkly contrasts with that of Italy in terms of CLIL
provision and research. This country particularly stands out within the European
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 327

landscape, since, as Coyle (2010, viii) contends, ‘Spain is rapidly becoming one of the
European leaders in CLIL practice and research.’ As had been the case with the
broader continental ambit, this educational approach has blossomed particularly
over the course of the past ten years (Ruiz de Zarobe and Lasagabaster 2010a: ix).
Indeed, all regional education authorities are now endorsing plurilingual policies, as
Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido (2009) or Fernández Fontecha (2009) document.
In Spain, CLIL is distinctive on two counts. First, it encompasses a diversity of
models practically tantamount to the number of regions where it is applied, given the
decentralization of our educational system, which transfers educational powers to
each autonomous community. Thus, in our context, the gap between EU policy and
CLIL grassroots action (Dalton-Puffer 2008) is bridged via regional rather than
national educational initiatives and no single blueprint exists. And second, dual-
focused education has been developed in Spain with both second (co-official) and
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foreign (other European) languages, and in both bilingual communities where

English is a third language taught through CLIL (The Basque Country, Catalonia,
Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Galicia) and in monolingual communities conspic-
uous for their lack of tradition in foreign language teaching (e.g. Extremadura,
Castilla-La Mancha, or Andalusia). For these reasons, Spain could well serve as a
model for the multiple possibilities offered by the broader CLIL spectrum and thus
for other countries seeking to implement it (Coyle 2010; Ruiz de Zarobe and
Lasagabaster 2010a).
Thus, ‘drawing an uncomplicated, homogeneous picture of CLIL policy in Spain
is an impossibility’ (Lasagabaster and Ruiz de Zarobe 2010, 284). As these authors
underscore, it is difficult to narrow down the exact number of schools which are
implementing it, as a large number of teaching institutions in the private sector are
also running CLIL programs. The only trait common to the entire national
panorama seems to be that English holds the hegemonic position and that CLIL
is no longer an elitist approach in our country. However, discrepancies abound and
vast outnumber possible similarities. Differences can be discerned in the minimum
and maximum amount of FL content teaching established in each community, in
terms of the number of subjects taught through CLIL, in the language level
established for teachers and/or students to partake in a bilingual stream, or regarding
the amount of CLIL experience, as bilingual communities have been working with it
for more than 25 years.
In this sense, the Basque Autonomous Community (henceforth, BAC) is
prominently positioned within the Spanish CLIL scenario, given its long and
entrenched tradition in bilingual teaching and research. A large body of research
literature has developed in the Basque country, with landmark studies being
conducted by prominent figures like Garcı́a Mayo, Garcı́a Lecumberri, Cenoz
Iragui, Lasagabaster, Sierra, or Ruiz de Zarobe within the REAL research group
(Research in English Applied Linguistics). In the BAC, studies have proliferated on
the impact of CLIL on general language competence, on the numerous aspects which
make up this general faculty (oral skills, pronunciation, receptive and productive
vocabulary, written production, tense and agreement morphology, and syntax), and
on subject knowledge. Overall, research results in this context again attest to the
success of CLIL programs, as they positively affect vehicular language learning, are
not detrimental for content mastery, and foster favorable attitudes towards
trilingualism (cf. Alonso, Grisaleña, and Campo 2008; Gallardo del Puerto, Gómez
Lacabex, and Garcı́a Lecumberri 2009; Lasagabaster 2008, 2009; Lasagabaster and
 328 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

Sierra 2009; Ruiz de Zarobe 2007, 2008, 2010; Villarreal Olaizola and Garcı́a Mayo
2009).
Catalonia is, alongside the BAC, the other major exponent of CLIL implementa-
tion and research in a multilingual setting. However, the lack of continuity of these
programs in general has caused Catalonia to be far from having a sound CLIL policy
(Navés and Victori 2010). This occurs much the same way with research which
monitors performance and investigates possible language and content gains: it is
nowhere near that of the Basque country. The work carried out by the GRAL
Language Acquisition Research Group in Barcelona, led by Carmen Muñoz, has
been particularly prominent, but has especially focused on the effects of age of onset
on the acquisition of English as a Foreign Language (through the BAF
Barcelona
Age Factor
Project).
Carmen Pérez-Vidal, head researcher of the ALLENCAM (Language Acquisi-
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tion from Multilingual Catalonia) Group, Cristina Escobar Urmeneta, coordinator

of the ArtICLE (for the evaluation of collaborative learning in CLIL classrooms)
and MFP (Model de Formació del Professorat) Projects, and Teresa Navés, co-
coordinator of the AICLE-CLIL BCN European Project, all come to the fore as
outstanding figures in the Catalonian research panorama, but only two outcome-
related studies in this context are registered by this last author (Navés and Victori
2010; Navés 2011), both conducted by the GRAL group: one on the effects of CLIL
on general language proficiency and the other on writing competence. The former
worked with a total of 837 students in 5th to 9th grade and the latter, with 695
learners from 5th to 12th grade. In the first of them, CLIL learners in all four grades
surpassed their non-CLIL counterparts. In the second, the CLIL strand obtained
statistically significant differences in its favor on fluency, syntactic and lexical
complexity, and accuracy. Furthermore, when compared to superior grades, 7th- and
9th-grade CLIL learners tended to obtain similar results to those of foreign language
students one or two grades ahead.
Research diminishes in monolingual communities, where the CLIL tradition is
much more recent and thus not as firmly ingrained as in bilingual ones (Fernández
Fontecha 2009; Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Garrido 2009): there is ‘a shortage of
research on CLIL and related practices in Spanish monolingual communities’
(Fernández Fontecha 2009, 15). This is perhaps due to the fact that attaining
bilingualism in monolingual settings poses much more of a challenge, as Luque
Agulló (2009) highlights, since there is little or no extramural exposure to the target
language, which is ultimately confined to the CLIL classroom.
Within this bleak panorama, the autonomous community of Madrid stands out
among other monolingual areas of our country. Here, more than in any other
autonomous community, research has been guided by and channeled through certain
research groups based at the local universities. Three particularly come to the fore in
the dissemination of the research they have conducted: the CLIL project led by Ana
Halbach at the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) (cf. Pena Dı́az and Porto
Requejo 2008); the UAM-CLIL Project at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,
with Llinares and Whittaker at the forefront (cf. Llinares and Whittaker 2006,
Llinares and Whittaker 2010; Whittaker and Llinares 2009); and the UCM-CLUE
Project (Content and Language in University Education) at the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid, directed by Emma Dafouz Milne (cf. Dafouz Milne
2006, 2007, 2011; Dafouz Milne and Llinares 2008; Dafouz Milne et al. 2007; Dafouz
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 329

Milne, Núñez, and Sancho 2007; Dafouz Milne and Núñez Perucha 2010; Núñez
and Dafouz Milne 2007).
In La Rioja, the GLAUR research group (Grupo de Lingüı́stica Aplicada de la
Universidad de La Rioja), with Jiménez Catalán, Ojeda Alba, or Agustı́n Llach, has
conducted interesting joint research with the Basque Country, particularly into
vocabulary acquisition (cf. Agustı́n Llach 2009; Jiménez Catalán, Ruiz De Zarobe,
and Cenoz Iragui 2006; Jiménez Catalán and Ruiz de Zarobe 2009; Ojeda Alba
2009). Finally, Andalusia has also recently produced interesting quantitative research
via two projects led by Lorenzo in Sevilla (Casal and Moore 2008; Lorenzo, Casal,
and Moore 2009; Lorenzo et al. 2009) and Madrid Fernández in Granada (cf. Roa,
Madrid and Sanz 2011 for the description of the study; Ramos Garcı́a, Ortega
Martı́n, and Madrid 2011 for the effects of CLIL on L1 competence; Villoria,
Hughes and Madrid 2011 for the effects of CLIL on L2 competence; Madrid 2011
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for the effects of CLIL on subject-content learning; and Ramos Garcı́a 2011 for the
effects of CLIL on cultural aspects). Both have again evinced the supremacy of CLIL
over language-driven instruction, as Primary and Secondary students outperform
their mainstream peers at statistically significant levels in terms of both linguistic
outcomes and competence levels. In the remaining communities where CLIL
publications can be located, there is a total absence of results. What meager
publications there are simply provide descriptive accounts of CLIL implementation
in that particular region.

3.4. Conclusion
In sum, a personal yet unbiased reading of the literature on CLIL in Europe allows
us to extract several overriding conclusions. A first of them is the fact that CLIL has
engendered widespread discussion on the continent and spawned an inordinate

almost infinite
amount of publications on the topic. A series of key figures have
spurred the latter on (e.g. Coyle in the UK, Marsh in Finland, Mehisto in Estonia,
Wolff in Germany, Dalton-Puffer in Austria, Langé in Italy) and have engaged in
extensive theorizing on CLIL, its principles and models, recommendations for its
implementation, or reviews of the research conducted on it. However, solid empirical
studies have been sparse. As Navés (2010) underscores, in the last two decades,
whereas North America has been busy researching the features and effects of
successful bilingual programs, Europe has merely been occupied in describing their
benefits. This is in fact another significant conclusion which can be reached
regarding European CLIL: although the number of studies tapping into the
implementation and effects of CLIL has been growing steadily (Seregély 2008),
few are robust accounts of outcome-oriented research where pertinent variables are
factored in and controlled for. The unfortunate consequence of this is that ‘seriously
flawed studies bias the results in ways it is impossible to predict or correct’ (Genesee
1998, 10).
What studies have been conducted provide unequivocal support for a CLIL
route, as a recurrent outcome reported in them is the supremacy of CLIL tuition over
language-driven instruction. According to Dalton-Puffer (2008, 2009) and Ruiz de
Zarobe (2011), research unquestionably indicates that CLIL clearly affects L2/FL
language learning outcomes. Significantly higher TL levels have been reported for
CLIL tracks than for conventional language classes. The positive effect is felt on
global communicative competence, on receptive skills, speaking (a greater fluency is
 330 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

displayed), morphology (with increased automatization and appropriacy of use being

found), vocabulary (particularly technical and semi-technical terms), writing (fluency
and lexical and syntactic complexity), creativity, risk-taking, and emotive/affective
outcomes (learner motivation). Furthermore, students with average FL talents and
interest have also been shown to benefit from CLIL instruction, so that this sort of
program seems to make language learning more accessible to all types of achievers.
However, pronunciation, syntax, writing (accuracy and discourse skills), informal
and nontechnical language, and pragmatics remain largely unaffected, perhaps owing
to an insufficient focus on form in CLIL classrooms. Finally, content outcomes have
been equally positive: CLIL learners possess the same amount of content knowledge
as peers taught in the L1, sometimes even outstripping them.
Thus, in the light of these results, it is not surprising that CLIL has been
championed across Europe. These success stories seem to provide a real rebuff to
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critics and to encourage embarking on bilingual education in order to make it the

norm and not the exception. However, these outcomes should be interpreted with
caution, given their methodological flaws: ‘[ . . . ] the unfortunate reality is that the
vast majority of evaluations of bilingual programs are so methodologically flawed in
their design that their results offer more noise than signal’ (Genesee 1998, 10). As has
been ascertained throughout the course of this section, most of them are stand-alone
qualitative pieces and what quantitative investigation there is rarely guarantees the
homogeneity of the treatment and comparison groups, factors in moderating
variables, or performs statistical analyses to determine whether the gains observed
are truly ascribable to CLIL practice. On occasions, it does not even determine the
existence of statistically significant differences between cohorts. We clearly stand in
need of solid empirical research which builds in rigorous assessment of the variables
under scrutiny: ‘[ . . . ] there remains insufficient empirical evidence of the impact of
differing types of CLIL/EMILE across Europe’ (Marsh 2002, 185). The final verdict,
thus, is not yet in (Marsh 2002): ‘There is not yet solid empirical evidence from EU
countries on which to base definitive claims about the educational (or other)
advantages of multilingual education’ (Vez 2009, 18).

4. The future: pushing CLIL forward

Thus, further research is clearly called for in painting a comprehensive and
empirically valid picture of where CLIL schemes stand in our continent. This final
section expounds on the salient features which future studies into CLIL should have
in order to ensure a sufficient evidence base to make secure judgments in this field.
To begin with, future research avenues should address the major questions
recurrent in all CLIL debates (Mehisto and Asser 2007) and which the specialized
literature considers should figure prominently on current research agendas. These are
the effects of CLIL on L1 and L2 development (Jiménez Catalán and Ruiz de Zarobe
2009), content-related results (Coyle, Hood, and Marsh 2010; Lasagabaster and Ruiz
de Zarobe 2010), a longitudinal perspective (Björklund 2006; Lasagabaster and Ruiz
de Zarobe 2010; Lasagabaster and Sierra 2010), the causes behind the differences
between CLIL and non-CLIL strands (Fernández Fontecha 2009; Muñoz, forth-
coming), and attitudinal and affective factors, together with the main needs and
problems stakeholders face in their daily practice (Fernández Fontecha 2009; Pérez-
Vidal 2007). All in all, they should attempt to respond to the long-acknowledged
need expressed by Marsh (2002, 186) as ‘A single major [ . . . ] study on primary and
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 331

secondary level, medium and low exposure
with key variables controlled
could be
of fundamental importance in terms of showing evidence to satisfy the question does
it work?’
In this sense, the recent specialized literature has identified key areas in urgent
need of research within this field, which should be addressed in future studies:

“ To begin with, research-based empirical studies into the linguistic outcomes of

CLIL education are considered a major niche to be filled, according to a
plethora of authors (Junta de Andalucı́a 2005; Madrid Fernández 2006; Langé
2007; Lasagabaster 2008; Lyster 2007; Pérez-Vidal 2007; Ruiz de Zarobe 2008;
Ruiz de Zarobe and Lasagabaster 2010a).
“ Longitudinal studies are also thin on the ground and should be given top
priority, in Lasagabaster and Ruiz de Zarobe’s (2010), Jexenflicker and
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Dalton-Puffer’s (2010), Lasagabaster and Sierra’s (2010), and Ruiz de Zarobe’s

(2011) opinion.
“ Assessment concerning both language and content knowledge should become
a preferential objective (Hüttner and Rieder-Bünemann 2010; Lasagabaster
and Ruiz de Zarobe 2010; Sierra, Gallardo del Puerto, and Ruiz de Zarobe
2011).
“ Analyses of the methodology used and CLIL teacher observation should
equally be factored in, as Admiraal et al. (2006), Lasagabaster (2008), and
Lasagabaster and Ruiz de Zarobe (2010) endorse.
“ Canvassing teachers’ language training, linguistic command, the support they
receive, the methods and assessment procedures they employ, and their
collaboration and coordination strategies is another major challenge which
Lasagabaster and Ruiz de Zarobe (2010) consider should figure prominently
on researchers’ agendas.

In doing all this, future studies should attempt to remedy the most outstanding
shortcomings and flaws of previous research, pinpointed throughout our critical
appraisal of the literature review as regards variables, research design, or statistical
methodology. In terms of variables:

“ The homogeneity of the sample should be guaranteed, matching students

within and across schools for verbal intelligence, motivation, level of English,
and sociocultural studies, thereby overcoming a limitation which all other
similar studies have thus far presented and which could skew or invalidate
their results. This is particularly necessary given the well-documented level of
self-selection normally found in CLIL streams (Dalton-Puffer, Nikula, and
Smit 2010b; Hughes 2010a, 2010b).
“ An important amount of moderating variables should be factored in (verbal
intelligence, motivation, sociocultural status, gender, type of school (public

private
semi-private), setting (urban
rural), province, performance in the
English as a Foreign Language subject, exposure to English outside school,
time of exposure to English a formal school context, linguistic competence of
the teacher).
“ The L1 and content knowledge of the subjects taught through CLIL should be
worked in as dependent variables.
 332 M.L. Pérez-Cañado

Vis-à-vis the research design:

“ Longitudinal, as opposed to cross-sectional, studies are required, where a

follow-up testing phase is incorporated alongside pretesting and posttesting
ones.
“ An eclectic or mixed research design (Madrid and Bueno 2005) should be
favored, combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
“ Within the qualitative part of the study, multiple triangulation is highly
advisable (Denzin 1970). For example, questionnaires should be administered
alongside interviews and observation to foster methodological triangulation.

Finally, concerning statistical methodology:

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“ Statements should be made on the basis of statistical confirmation. For

example, the effects of CLIL on the L1 or subject content acquisition should
not be based, as has previously been the case, on teacher’s appreciations, but
on an empirical analysis with three different types of variables.
“ Inter-rater reliability and inter-coder agreement should be calculated among
correctors and interviewers.
“ ANOVA and the t test should be employed, together with multivariate
procedures (factor analysis and discriminant analysis) and not merely
descriptive statistics. The causes of the possible linguistic gains will thereby
be identified, not merely assuming they are due to CLIL.

Large-scale investigations of this nature will provide additional relevant research

findings about the effects of CLIL instructional practices which will contribute to the
sustainability and future development of dual-focused programs. They will also
supply researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers with a set of valid and reliable
quantitative and qualitative instruments which will allow replication globally,
thereby fostering comparability and cross-disciplinary application, something which
Björklund (2006) underscores as a central area for CLIL advancement in the future.
They will furthermore set the basis for further replications and establish models of
program evaluation disseminable in future studies. The ultimate aim is to address an
area in dire need of research and to ascertain whether the considerable financial
allocation of resources which many European countries are making to incorporate
CLIL is cost-effective and worthwhile in terms of the linguistic gains it is generating.
By making the necessary readjustments and curricular reorientations in line with
their results, such studies will hopefully be instrumental in keeping the process on
track and in paving the way for a success-prone implementation of CLIL schemes in
Europe, something crucial as CLIL could well become the lynchpin to tackle the
current language deficit on our continent.

Notes
1. Given the amply documented predominance of English as a CLIL language (cf. Dalton-
Puffer, Nikula, and Smit 2010a; Hüttner and Rider-Bünemann 2010; Madrid and Hughes
2011a; Sierra, Gallardo del Puerto, and Ruiz de Zarobe 2011) and the preference for this
language on the research scene (to the extent that Dalton-Puffer, Nikula, and Smit 2010b
speak of CEIL
Content and English Integrated Learning), this article will focus on
studies in which English is the CLIL L2 or L3.
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 333

2. The grouping of European countries is a personal one, based both on geographical

proximity and on the affinity of the research conducted into the effects of CLIL.

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