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Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is generally recognised as a fruitful example of bilingual education. However, success in CLIL may not be straightforward and may require the establishment of coordination between content and language teachers. The aim of this study is to investigate if content and language teachers are able to plan a number of different types of coordination at the curricular level: between the foreign language (FL) subject and the content subjects, between the language subjects (L1 and FL) and between the content subjects. Lesson plans from 27 primary schools have been analysed paying attention to this three-level coordination to determine to what extent the objectives, contents and activities of the language and content subjects are common and, consequently, reflect these three types of coordination. Results show that teachers are aware of the potentiality of this three-level coordination, and that they easily coordinate objectives and contents but they find more difficulties in designing activities in a coordinated way. Results in this study thus suggest that teachers can plan effectively curricular organisation and provides useful recommendation on how this coordination should be made.

When analysing the main drivers for the success of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), interest has been paid to the significance of coordination between language teachers and content teachers to promote an effective integration of content and language. A decisive factor in teaching seems to be teachers’ perception of their own professional identity, pedagogical standpoints, and performance. The aim of this study is to investigate their understanding of how CLIL influences content and language teachers’ perceptions on the roles they take and on their own professional development. It endeavours to gain insight into CLIL teachers’ opinions and their understanding of the importance of establishing coordination processes. The results obtained show that teachers believe that working in a CLIL programme benefits their professional profile, and that coordination between foreign language (FL) teachers and content teachers at different levels is fundamental.

The implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) means significant changes in the way in which teaching is planned, sequenced and carried out. The adoption of a new curriculum, which integrates linguistic and nonlinguistic material, as well as the linguistic and methodological needs that come with the introduction of this type of teaching, have generated feelings of concern and uncertainty. This paper reports those concerns and uncertainties in the Andalusian context, and strives for clarifying issues related to the theoretical assumptions, teaching implementation and creation of teaching units in CLIL.

This article presents the results of a study on teachers’ perceptions regarding specific work with tasks in the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) classroom, a context where academic content and a foreign language are learnt simultaneously. A questionnaire consisting of closed and open questions was administered to 25 teachers working in a school participating in an innovative project based on the implementation of tasks used as an instrument to promote cooperative learning. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the teachers worked in collaboration to design tasks that were organised and linked around a common topic. These crosscurricular themes were selected in the different subjects with the objective of making students work towards a common final goal through several developmental stages. The results of the study show that the teachers are concerned about the methodological difficulties that the use of tasks entail, about their own ability to cope with them, and about the problems that they encounter to collaborate. However, the teachers also value the benefits of this strategy in terms of achievement of learning objectives, and display a high degree of motivation to continue working with this model.

The necessity to develop the language proficiency of students in higher education and to equip them with the necessary professional and multicultural competences has become a priority in higher education. Irrespective of the different kind of proposals available, it is a fact that, today, English-taught programs are raising a great deal of interest. However, very little attention is being given to the pedagogical dimension, not only to what concerns the specific methodologies, but also to the resources with which they work. In this chapter the authors will review the basic principles that should encourage the development of materials adapted for bilingual teaching, and more specifically, they will analyse the properties and most relevant characteristics that these materials must possess, ending up by offering a practical instrument regarding the criteria that should encourage the design and development of didactic materials for bilingual education at the tertiary level.

Task-based learning is a methodological strategy which can be of use in the integrated learning of language and subject matter, and its appropriateness for CLIL has been reported in different contexts (Cendoya & di Bin, 2010; Escobar & Sánchez, 2009; Poisel, 2012; Tardieu & Doltisky, 2012). This study investigates the perceptions that teachers and students have of the use of task-based learning as an instrument to favour participation and interaction in CLIL. Particularly, the objective is to analyse these areas in a special context, with students exhibiting a low linguistic proficiency in a language school specifically oriented to the application of CLIL.