Our Current SSE Target - CLIL
CLIL involves teaching another curriculum subject, or aspects of another subject through a second language which is not that of the learner’s mother tongue. Scoil Cholmáin will implement CLIL by teaching P.E through Irish.
Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been defined as a dualfocused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010, p. 1). It involves teaching another curriculum subject, or aspects of another subject through a second language, not that of the learner’s mother tongue (Irish in this instance). CLIL is recognised as a successful approach to language teaching and learning in Europe and internationally. Irish primary schools are a particularly favourable context for using CLIL as all primary teachers teach Irish.
Research evidence shows that language learning is more effective when it is combined with content learning in another subject other than the language being learned. CLIL has been shown to improve students’ language proficiency, without negatively impacting on the development of either the students’ first language, or their performance in the subject area being taught. CLIL enables learners to encounter language
in context and to use it for authentic communication.
The emphasis in CLIL is on learning the content of the subject and not
on grammatical accuracy in the target language. CLIL views language as the vehicle for learning.
