The Challenges of CLIL in Chinese Schools and Universities

周原琦

Abstract：In recent decades， bilingual teaching or CILI is becoming a popular teaching method in some Chinese schools and universities. The popularity of CLIL will bring this course huge market demands and personal needs because it is widely recognized that bilingual or CILI might be a reasonable way to improve students proficiency both in subjects and English. However， implementing CLIL methods into normal education will still encounter many challenges in Chinese schools and universities. If CLIL teachers or educational administrations can solve the challenges they meet in certain contexts， this teaching method might have a brighter future.

KeyWords：Challenges；CLIL；Bilingual；Chinese schools and universities；Implications

1. Introduction

The definition and history of CLIL in China.

The trend of globalization has led to English being perceived as a key to promoting international exchange， acquiring scientific knowledge and technological expertise， fostering economic progress， and participating in international competition.

Since late 1980s， there has been a movement from top to down， the government to the educational institutions， to improve English language teaching in China. Over the last three decades， new teaching methods， such as communicative language teaching（CLT） approach， language immersion method and Content and Language integrated learning（CLIL）， have been introduced to China in order to improve English language teaching （ibid）. In recent years， there has been some talk over whether CLIL would be an effective and suitable teaching methodology for Chinese universities.

CLIL is a dual- focused educational strategy using a language that is not a students native language as a medium of instruction and learning for other subjects. For example， a subject such as Geography is taught in English rather than in native language. This method was first coined in 1994 in Europe with the aim of enhancing the peoples language competences in general in order to facilitate the exchange of talents and techniques between different European countries. However， the implementation of CLIL has faced various challenges. According to Dalton- Puffer， the hopes and expectations placed into CLIL have received argumentative back- up in many places.

Recently， an increasing number of universities in China have implemented CLIL on certain courses in developed areas. However， this method is largely still in an experimental stage and few universities have introduced it into mainstream general education. In different Chinese universities， the CLIL method is practiced in different forms. In some of the top universities， which are supported by central government or international universities， which have close relationship with foreign universities， the CLIL approach is practiced in a strong form. In these institutions， much of the subject and language work is covered through the foreign language. However， in some other universities， where CLIL is quite new， CLIL might be carried out in a weak form， where the subject matter is taught for only one or two sessions per week in the foreign language. Recently， the suitability of this methodology in Chinese education has generated some debate.

2. Challenges of CLIL

The lack of qualified CLIL teachers and

the difficulties in training teachers.

Both language teachers and subject teachers can be CLIL teachers. Different teachers may have different challenges. Language teachers need learn more about the subject content； subject teachers need to learn about language needed foe their subject. Most Chinese universities， the subject teachers， who may have high levels of expertise in the subject matter， may not be very proficient in English， especially English communication skills. As to the English teachers， who have mastered English well， they are unlikely to have a deep understanding of certain subjects. In China， language teaching and learning involve much greater attention to grammatical accuracy and much less to communicative competence. As a consequence， many university educated teachers， who possess an MA or PH.D， may be perfectly capable of reading and comprehending English research articles and can write essays in English， but are often not confident in their listening and speaking skills.

To solve this problem， some universities have tried to employ native English speakers as subject teachers. However， hiring such foreign teachers is very expensive and some universities do not have the financial resources to do so. Moreover， some argue that native English speakers are not necessarily better CLIL teachers. Instead， since it is important for teachers to adapt their language to the studentslevel of competence， non- native speakers are often considered more suitable than those native speakers who would not understand the students mother tongue.

In recent years， some key universities are likely to hire young teachers who have an overseas educational background， because they have both professional knowledge in certain subjects and a sound English proficiency. Teachers with just a high English proficiency are not sufficiently qualified. CLIL teachers should use different strategies to optimize students input， stimulate students thinking and encourage communication. Nevertheless， some teachers are not able to motivate students or teach effectively because of a lack in teaching experience. CLIL teacher training is therefore deemed to be necessary. Lack of training as well as inadequate competence in the CLIL language has been identified as factors that have led to the failure of CLIL programs. Therefore， in some key universities， CLIL training programs have recently started to be offered to teachers so that current subject teachers can qualify as CLIL teachers.

However， CLIL teacher training is not a simple matter of upping teachers English language competence so they can do it in English but must provide teachers specific strategies and linguistic resources that will enable them to deal with the cognitive fatigue resulting from using a foreign language. However， systematic training programs for cultivating qualified CLIL teachers are not present in my university in China. Moreover， the assessment system for measuring whether a teacher has been adequately trained to teach with a CLIL approach has not yet been established. Therefore， there is much the Chinese educational authority can do to improve the quality of CLIL at universities.

The lack of appropriate CLIL textbooks.Appropriate textbooks for CLIL teaching and learning are limited in China. In recent years， with the scarcity of good teaching materials or textbooks， some universities have put forward two solutions to solve this urgent problem. The first one is directly importing original textbooks for specific subjects from western countries. As to the second solution， the teaching materials might be translated from the L1 curriculum as CLIL course books.

When it comes to the first solution， importing and using original edition textbooks would maintain the original characteristics of the books， guaranteeing the purity of English language. Meanwhile， the latest ideas of academic developments and research results in the original edition materials will also benefit studentsunderstanding of these disciplines， shortening the gap between the developed countries and China.

However， there are also some challenges associated with using original edition books. Firstly， published resources from Europe can rarely be used in their entirety in the English classroom due to the different cultural approaches associated with particular subject content， complex language which may be inaccessible to the learners or mismatched content. Meanwhile， these books may contain numerous unfamiliar lexical items， which are not suitable for CLIL classrooms. If students prefer to use their first language to help them understand， the effectiveness of CLIL approach will be negatively affected.

Based on my personal experience， some English articles of tourism that my teacher chose for us were too difficult. These articles contained many new words and terminologies. Moreover， the expressions were also difficulty for us to understand because of many complicated clauses. In these cases， teachers had to translate them for us and focus on each sentence. This grammartranslation teaching method ignored the needs of developing language skills. Additionally， articles in original edition books were sometimes not relevant to my context. Secondly， some materials or texts in the original edition books did not meet the requirements of local Chinese policies because of the different views to politics or culture. Therefore， authentic books may be not appropriate in certain circumstance.

To overcome the limitations mentioned above， Bentley suggests that CLIL teachers could use L1 textbooks， which follow the normal curriculum. Meanwhile， teachers have to make their own decisions in choosing appropriate materials for supplementary use. According to Coyle， Hood and Marsh ， CLIL materials need to cover both the linguistic and content aspects of CLIL. The roles of learners and teachers， the affective factors and the cognitive factors should also be given much attention to in CLIL materials. However， some textbooks translated from L1 curriculum lack the coverage of language and cognitive skills and instead， mainly focus on the content. Moreover， the supplementary materials chosen by teachers often lack the coverage of language skills， mainly focusing on the content. Therefore， selecting appropriate textbooks and teaching materials might pose a challenge in my context.

Incompetent English proficiency

In CLIL lessons， students play a central role in the teaching. They are the recipients and beneficiaries of CLIL lessons. Their English proficiency and the ability to absorb information directly affect the real achievement in CLIL lessons. For some students， who have a higher English proficiency， CLIL lessons can improve their English proficiency， broaden their horizons and enhance their thinking ability in English. As to others， whose English is not so competent， CLIL lessons might be a burden to them. Moreover， such lessons may negatively affect their subject learning. Based on my experience， in the tourism course， we English major students were more proficient in English； this helped us to comprehend the content more easily and thereby build our confidence in learning the subject. However， the others felt more confused about the content and struggled with the meaning of new words. They always regretted choosing this CLIL course as optional course.

Most Chinese students learn English with instrumental motivation because of the examination- oriented education mode. The consequence of this is that there is greater focus on teaching grammar than communicative skills. Therefore， many Chinese university students are not confident in their English listening and spoken proficiency， which does not really make them effective language users. Therefore， whether they can adapt to CLIL lessons and obtain good achievements， is still maintaining suspect.

3. Implications

Firstly， as mentioned above， many CLIL teachers can manage to read and write in English very well. However， their speaking and listening skills may not be proficient enough. Although my previous tourism teacher had overseas study experience， he also had a Chinese accent， which confused us sometimes. This may negatively affect students understanding and may demotivate students. Therefore， in the teachertraining course， it is necessary to offer these teachers with systematic English training in order to improve their English speaking ability.

Additionally， subject teachers could collaborate with language teachers： they can watch each others teaching and have a meeting after each lesson. I suppose that discussion sessions after each lesson are important because the teaching methods， strategies and troubles in teaching can be discussed. Moreover， as mentioned above， based on my context， CLIL is new in China. Teachers need to try to understand how students would be motivated in CLIL class. Adjusting CLIL curriculum according to the students needs may help CLIL teachers choose appropriate materials and improve the quality of teaching. If CLIL becomes more popular in the future， these attempts would benefit the development of CLIL teaching.

Secondly， as for the materials， they should be interesting enough to motivate students. Interesting teaching materials and activities“are more likely to arouse students interest”and make them activate in CLIL class. As to teaching materials， the most important part is the course book， which may influence the activities teachers use in the class. As previously mentioned， CLIL teachers could use L1 course books， which are designed according to the standard set curriculum. Meanwhile， teachers can use other materials for supplementary use in CLIL class. Therefore， the learners needs will be taken into account. I suppose this type of books could be suitable for use in CLIL lessons.

Finally， based on my context， there is no specific assessment system for checking students achievements in CLIL lesson because teachers do not know how the exam should be designed and what principles or requirements should be followed. As CLIL lessons are different from traditional courses， it might be better to have a specific curriculum and assessment system. The assessment system should be designed according to the main characteristics of CLIL lesson， focusing on both language and content aspects. For example， I suggest that the oral test section could be adapted so that students answer questions posed by teachers or be prepared to talk about a given topic in English. As to the examiners， at this stage， new CLIL teachers can cooperate with professional English teacher to check the answers in oral test.

From the discussions mentioned above， it is clear that there might be no standard formation of CLIL lessons. The CLIL courses should be designed according to the specific context because the challenges may change. In my previous university， CLIL teachers are experiencing a new teaching approach， which is different from the traditional methods. It would be better for CLIL teachers and university to well understand the importance of CLIL course， contextualize CLIL teaching methods and maximize the benefits. As Duan indicates， an increasing number of Chinese universities will implement CLIL methods into normal education. The popularity of CLIL will bring this course huge market demands and personal needs. If CLIL teachers can solve the challenges they meet in certain contexts， they will be more competent in the future career.

References

[1] Duan F. 2009. Problems and countermeasures of bilingual teaching in Chinese universities. Market Modernization， Vol. 2009（23）， pp.134-135.

[2] Graaff R.D. Koopman， G.J.， Anikina， Y.， and Westhoff， G.， 2007. An Observation Tool for Effective L2 Pedagogy in Content and Language Integrated Learning（CLIL）. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism， Vol. 10（5）， pp. 603-624.

[3] He F. 2011. Problems and suggestions on bilingual education in universities.Business Economy， Vol. 2011（7）， pp.123-124.