Article published In:
AILA ReviewVol. 34:2 (2021) ► pp.240–261
(Re)conceptualizing “Language” in CLIL
Multimodality, translanguaging and trans-semiotizing in CLIL
CLIL focuses on the integration of content learning and additional language learning. However, it is increasingly recognized that the re/presentation and communication of discipline-specific content involve not only language, but also other semiotic modes (such as visuals and gestures). This is accelerated by the advancement of digital technologies and multiplicity of communication channels in recent years. This article points out the urgent need to revisit and reconceptualize the roles of “language” in CLIL. It argues that, to prepare students for the multimodal communication landscape in today’s societies and to truly value their linguistic and semiotic diversity in learning, the “language” dimension in CLIL needs to be reconceptualized as a multimodal dimension, and CLIL classroom practices need to adopt an updated pedagogy of multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996) rather than focusing on “mere language” practice. The article reviews the recent development of theories and studies of multimodality and trans-semiotics and discusses their implications for what to teach and how to teach in today’s CLIL classrooms. It proposes the notions of translanguaging and trans-semiotizing to emphasize a dynamic and dialogic process of meaning (co)making process drawing on multiple linguistic and semiotic resources to enable students to both gain access to and critically engage in meaning/knowledge co-making/co-design. Ultimately, it aims at reconceiving CLIL to contribute to a more equitable school and classroom culture.
Keywords: content and language integrated learning (CLIL), multiliteracies, multimodality, translanguaging, trans-semiotizing
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The multimodal communication landscape in education
- 3.Revisiting “language” in CLIL
- 4.Mode and multimodality
- 5.Studies of multimodality and their implications for CLIL
- 6.Languaging, translanguaging, and trans-semiotizing
- 7.Conclusion: (Re)conceptualizing “language” in CLIL
-
References
References (69)
Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2008). Writing in multimodal texts: A social semiotic account of designs for learning. Written Communication,
25
(2), 166–195. 
(2010). Changing text: A social semiotic analysis of textbooks. Designs for Learning,
3
1, 10–29.
Cenoz, J., Genesee, F., & Gorter, D. (2014). Critical analysis of CLIL: Taking stock and looking forward. Applied Linguistics,
35
(3), 243–262.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2015). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design. Palgrave Macmillan.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge University Press.
Dalton-Puffer, C. (2007). Discourse in content-and-language-integrated learning (CLIL) class-rooms. John Benjamins.
(2013). A construct of cognitive discourse functions for conceptualising content-language integration in CLIL and multilingual education. European Journal of Applied Linguistics,
1
(2), 216–253.
Dalton-Puffer, C., Llinares, A., Lorenzo, F., & Nikula, T. (2014). “You can stand under my Umbrella”: Immersion, CLIL and bilingual education. A response to Cenoz, Genesee, & Gorter (2013). Applied Linguistics,
35
(2), 213–218.
Donnelly, D. (2018). Contemporary multi-modal historical representations and the teaching of disciplinary understandings in history. Journal of International Social Studies,
8
(1), 113–132.
García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Wiley Blackwell.
García, O., & Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Guo, L. (2004). Multimodality in a biology textbook. In K. O’Halloran (Ed.), Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic functional perspectives (pp. 196–219). Continuum.
Gupta, K. C. L. (2020). Researcher-teacher collaboration in adopting critical content and language integrated learning (CLIL): Processes, challenges and outcomes. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada,
59
(1), 42–77.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Edward Arnold.
(1985). An introduction to functional grammar. Edward Arnold.
(2004). The language of science. In J. J. Webster (Ed.), The collected works of M.A.K. Halliday (Vol. 51). Continuum.
(2013). Languages, and language, in today’s changing world. Research seminar given at The University of Hong Kong, 23 October.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, context and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Oxford University Press.
Harwood, N., & Hadley. (2004). Demystifying institutional practices: Critical pragmatism and the teaching of academic writing. English for Specific Purposes,
23
(4), 355–377.
He, P., & Lin, A. M. Y. (2019). Co-developing science literacy and foreign language literacy through “concept + language mapping”. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education,
7
(2), 261–288.
Ho, C., Wong, J. K. Y., & Rappa, N. A. (2019). Supporting students’ content learning in Biology through teachers’ use of classroom talk drawing on concept sketches. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education,
7
(2), 233–260.
Jewitt, C. (2008). Multimodality and literacy in school classrooms. Review of Research in Education,
32
(1), 241–267.
(Ed.). (2014). The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. Routledge.
Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Bourne, J., Franks, A., Hardcastle, J., Jones, K., & Reid, E. (2005). English in urban classrooms: A multimodal perspective on teaching and learning. Routledge.
Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Ogborn, J., & Tsatsarelis, C. (2001). Multimodal teaching and learning: The rhetorics of the science classroom. London: Continuum.
(2014). Multimodal teaching and learning: The rhetorics of the science classroom (2nd ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge.
Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values. Ablex.
(2003). Mathematics in the middle: Measure, picture, gesture, sign, and word. In M. Anderson (Ed.), Educational perspectives on mathematics as semiosis: From thinking to interpreting to knowing (pp. 215–234). Legas.
(2004). The literacies of science. In E. W. Saul (Ed.), Crossing borders in literacy and science instruction: Perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 33–47). International Reading Association.
(2016). Translanguaging and flows. Unpublished research manuscript.
(2021). Foreword by Jay Lemke. In K. S. Tang (2021). Discourse strategies for science teaching and learning: Research and practice (pp. x–xii). Routledge.
Lim, F. V. (2020). Designing learning with embodied teaching: Perspectives from multimodality. Routledge.
(2021). Towards education 4.0: An agenda for teaching multiliteracies in the English language classroom. In F. A. Hamied (Ed.), Literacies, culture, and society towards industrial revolution 4.0: Reviewing policies, expanding research, enriching practices in Asia (pp. 11–30). Nova Science.
(forthcoming). The multimodal turn in higher education. In V. Beltrán- Palanques & E. Bernad-Mechó (Eds.), Current trends in EMI and multimodality in higher education (tentative title). Routledge.
Lim, F. V., & Toh, W. (2020). How to teach digital reading? Journal of Information Literacy,
14
(2), 24–43.
Lin, A. M. Y. (2015a). Conceptualising the potential role of L1 in CLIL. Language, Culture and Curriculum,
28
(1), 74–89.
(2015b). Egalitarian bi/multilingualism and trans-semiotizing in a global world. In W. E. Wright, S. Boun, & O. García (Eds.), The handbook of bilingual an multilingual education (pp. 19–37). Wiley Blackwell.
(2016). Language across the curriculum & CLIL in English as an additional language (EAL) contexts: Theory and practice. Springer.
(2019). Theories of trans/languaging and trans-semiotizing: Implications for content-based education classrooms. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
22
(1), 5–16.
Lin, A. M. Y., Wu, Y., & Lemke, J. L. (2020). ‘It takes a village to research a village’: Conversations between Angel Lin and Jay Lemke on contemporary issues in translanguaging. In S. M. C. Lau & S. Van Viegen Stille (Eds.), Plurilingual pedagogies: Critical and creative endeavors for equitable language in education (pp. 47–74). Springer.
Liu, J. E., Lo, Y. Y., & Lin, A. M. (2020). Translanguaging pedagogy in teaching English for academic purposes: researcher-teacher collaboration as a professional development model. System,
92
1.
Liu, J. E., Lo, Y. Y., & Lin, A. M. Y. (forthcoming). Strategic translanguaging and trans- semiotizing in an English for Academic Purposes class: A multimodal analysis. In V. Beltrán-Palanques & E. Bernad-Mechó (Eds.), Current trends in EMI and multimodality in higher education (tentative title). Routledge.
Liu, Y. (2020). Translanguaging and trans-semiotizing as planned systematic scaffolding: Examining feeling-meaning in CLIL classrooms. English Teaching & Learning,
44
(2), 149–173.
Llinares, A., Morton, T., & Whittaker, R. (2012). The roles of language in CLIL. Cambridge University Press.
Lo, Y. Y. (2020). Professional development of CLIL teachers. Springer.
Lo, Y. Y., & Lin, A. M. (2015). Designing multilingual and multimodal CLIL frameworks for EFL students. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
18
(3), 261–269.
(2019). Teaching, learning and scaffolding in CLIL science classrooms. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education,
7
(2), 151–165.
Martin, J. R. & Rose, D. (2008). Genre relations: Mapping culture. Equinox.
Ministry of Education. (2018). English Language Syllabus 2020: Primary & Secondary (Express/ Normal [Academic]). Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore.
New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review,
66
(1), 60–92.
O’Halloran, K. L., (Ed.) (2004). Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic functional perspectives. Continuum.
(2005). Mathematical discourse: Language, symbolism and visual images. Continuum.
O’Halloran, K. L., & Lim, F. V. (2014). Systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis. In S. Norris & C. Maier (Eds.), Texts, images and interactions: A reader in multimodality (pp. 135–154). De Gruyter.
O’Toole, M. (1994). The language of displayed art. Leicester University Press.
Rose, D., & Martin, J. R. (2012). Learning to write/reading to learn: Genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney School. Equinox.
Roth, W. M., & Tobin, K. (1997). Cascades of inscriptions and the re-presentation of nature: How numbers, tables, graphs, and money come to re-present a rolling ball. International Journal of Science Education,
19
(9), 1075–1091.
Schleppegrell, M. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Routledge.
Simpson, Z., & Archer, A. (2019). Semiotic technologies: A case study of discipline-based practices and pedagogy. Social Semiotics,
29
(4), 524–542.
Tang, K. S. (2021). Discourse strategies for science teaching and learning: Research and practice. Routledge.
Tang, K. S., & Danielsson, K. (Eds.). (2018). Global developments in literacy research for science education. Springer.
Thibault, P. J. (2011). First-order languaging dynamics and second-order language: The distributed language view. Ecological Psychology,
23
(3), 210–245.
Turner, M., & Lin, A. M. (2017). Translanguaging and named languages: Productive tension and desire. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
23
(4), 423–433.
Unsworth, L. (2001). Teaching multiliteracies across the curriculum: Changing contexts of text and image in classroom practice. Open University Press.
(2007). Image/text relations and intersemiosis: Towards multimodal text description for multiliteracies education. In L. Barbara & T. Sardinha (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd International Systemic Functional Congress (pp. 1165–1205). PUCSP.
Wu, Y. (2021). Translanguaging (TL) and trans-semiotizing (TS) in the flow of knowledge co- making in a CLIL biology class: A classroom discourse analytic study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Hong Kong.
Wu, Y., & Lin, A. M. (2019). Translanguaging and trans-semiotizing in a CLIL biology class in Hong Kong: Whole-body sense-making in the flow of knowledge co-making. Classroom Discourse,
10
(3–4), 252–273.
Zhao, S., Djonov, E., & van Leeuwen, T. (2014). Semiotic technology and practice: A multimodal social semiotic approach to PowerPoint. Text & Talk,
34
(3), 349–375.
Cited by (9)
Cited by nine other publications
Frank Schmid, Silvia
2024. Lesson study in Content and Language Integrated Learning: making young case pupils’ learning visible through English alongside translanguaging and trans-semiotising. International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies 
Lai, Cheng-Ji
2024. Examining the impact of multimodal task design on English oral communicative competence in fourth-grade content-language integrated social studies: A quasi-experimental study. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education 9:1
Lin, Angel M. Y.
2024. Can the Monkey King break through the ‘Jin-Gang-Quan’ (金剛圈)? Overcoming the multiple contradictions in EMI education. Language and Education 38:1 ► pp. 139 ff.
Liu, Jiajia Eve & Yuen Yi Lo
2024. Multimodality in CLIL assessment: implications for teacher assessment literacy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff.
Liu, Shuwen & Rui (Eric) Yuan
2024. “Part of me is teaching English”: probing the language-related teaching practices of an English-medium instruction (EMI) teacher. Applied Linguistics Review 15:5 ► pp. 2303 ff.
Querol-Julián, Mercedes
2024. CLIL teacher online professional development in translanguaging and trans-semiotizing: a pedagogy of multiliteracies. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff.
Wen, Yihai
2024. Unpacking multilingual learners’ creativity in the TBLT classroom: a translanguaging perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff.
Nazari, Mostafa & Sedigheh Karimpour
2023. “Teacher, Man Mitoonam …?”: Translanguaging and English Language Teacher Emotion Labor. Journal of Language, Identity & Education ► pp. 1 ff.
Ou, Amy Wanyu & Hans Malmström
2023. ‘It becomes increasingly complex to deal with multiple channels’: materialised communicative competence and digital inequality in English-medium higher education in the digital era. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.