CLIL in English
What is CLIL?
Since September 2014, secondary schools in Flanders can offer the choice of studying school subjects through the medium of a foreign language. In this way pupils can, for instance, take Biology classes in German, Economics in English, or PE in French. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an educational approach in which French, English or German are used as the language of instruction for another non-language subject. In Wallonia this approach, known by the name of ‘immersion’, has already been used for years.
In order to start out as a CLIL teacher one should meet a number of requirements. First of all, one needs to have the legal qualifications to teach the subject. On top of that, one should have a proven knowledge of CLIL methodology and be proficient in the language of instruction. In Belgium these languages are limited to English, French, German or Dutch (for those who wish to teach in Wallonia).
UC Leuven-Limburg is the first university college in Flanders to offer a full-fledged programme in CLIL by means of this post-graduate. An increasing number of schools are starting up a CLIL stream and are looking for suitable teachers. Therefore, this certificate may prove to be an important asset for a future-oriented career!
Aims of the programme
Our post-graduate offers to aim a substantial and well-balanced programme for both individual teachers and teams who have recently started a CLIL programme or who are considering doing so in the near future. The programme’s scope is sufficiently broad to appeal to coordinators and school management, next to dedicated CLIL teachers.
We aim to offer general insights as well as concrete concepts that can be used by the participants in their classroom practice. Next to practical workshops and didactics, theoretical courses and managerial aspects of CLIL will be covered as well.
Target audience
First and foremost, our programme is aimed at subject teachers and language teachers as well as and non-teaching school staff in secondary schools who have recently started a CLIL trajectory or who are considering doing so, and who experience a need for extra training in this field.
The programme is aimed at CLIL teachers in Flanders and in the Netherlands, as well as at immersion teachers in Wallonia.
Teachers who are not active in a CLIL context, but who wish to discover new methodologies that provide a richer language environment in the classroom, can enrol for the entire programme or for specific courses.
Beginning teachers considering taking up an additional course fall within our target audience as well. Those who are already qualified as language teachers can combine the post graduate programme (17 SP) with a reduced bachelor course that leads to an additional qualification in a non-language subject (45 SP). In this way they can improve their employment opportunities in just under a year.
Good to know: UCLL also offers a bachelor-after-bachelor programme in Multilingual Education. For further information: www.ucll.be/meertaligheid
How the programme is set up
The post-graduate programme consists of 5 courses, combining a total of 24 credits, which will help the student meet the two legal requirements needed to start out as a CLIL teacher : a solid knowledge of CLIL didactics and proficiency in the language of instruction (C1 level of the CEFR).
The programme contains the following courses with respective credits:
- CLIL didactics - 4 ECTS in fall & spring
- CLIL linguistics - 3 ECTS in spring
- Organising CLIL - 3 ECTS in fall
- Linguistic environments - 4 ECTS in fall
- Language, code and culture - 3 ECTS in spring
- Language *: choice of English, French, German or Dutch as a foreign language - 7 ECTS in fall & spring
* The language course can be taken in a school or language centre of one’s own choice (or through self-study) or at the Centrum voor Levende Talen (CLT) in Leuven. Candidates who already have the required level of proficiency (C1 level) are exempt from this course.
One can also decide to enrol for individual sessions (in-service training) or for individual courses.
Practical information
The programme covers one academic year (October to June) but it can be spread over two or more years.
Candidates who do not succeed in achieving the required language level by the end of the programme will not be awarded their certificate, as this can only be awarded after the language certificate has been obtained.
The courses will be taught in English and French. A passive knowledge of these languages should suffice to be able to follow the courses.
The courses are planned on Wednesday afternoons and/or evenings (1.45-8.30pm) and take place in our campus in Heverlee. During the first semester of 2022-2023, six sessions are also planned on Thursday afternoon (4pm-6pm). Most of the lessons can be followed online.
Fees
The enrolment fee is 680 euro. This fee does not include the cost of the language course.
Those who wish to enrol at the CLT in Leuven will pay an additional 180 euro for the language course.
Enrolment and information
For more information or to enrol, please contact liesbeth.martens@ucll.be