Fay Chen

This chapter explores English language teaching in a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) context, through the lens of entanglement and assemblage theories. We argue for an ‘entangled approach’ to education, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of various elements in the teaching and learning process. Using the auto-narrative as a methodological tool, Keith reflects on his experiences teaching CLIL courses at a university in Taiwan. The chapter highlights the complexities and relational dynamics involved in implementing English medium instruction (EMI) in Taiwan, including challenges in teacher pedagogy, student agency, and self-efficacy. It underscores the necessity of moving beyond reductionist and dichotomous educational policies to embrace more holistic and inclusive frameworks. Keith’s reflections reveal how collaborative teaching can foster deeper student engagement and agency and how personal narratives can provide rich, nuanced insights into educational practices. We advocate for a multilingual, ELF-informed approach to CLIL, promoting a more holistic and dynamic understanding of teaching and learning processes.

Chapter 5 focuses on the second phase of the Literacy Approach of CLIL Planning: task-based assessment design. The chapter opens with a review of the literature on backward design and assessment guidelines and challenges in Taiwan. Drawing on insights from CLIL implementation in Europe (Rutgers et al., 2020), it suggests using tasks to facilitate knowledge articulation and assessment rubrics to separate content and language criteria while sequencing learning. Examples of Simen’s assessment designs are discussed to illustrate the practices.

Chapter 9 explores how CLIL teachers can facilitate the development of visual literacy in primary education. Literacy in visual arts encompasses the practices and strategies that enable individuals to understand, synthesize, and communicate about artists, artworks, audiences, and art practices (Victoria State Government, 2021). The chapter begins with a review of studies on disciplinary literacy in visual arts and an overview of Taiwan’s national curriculum guidelines for primary visual art education. It then analyzes Simen’s CLIL art lessons with the Literacy Approach to CLIL Planning framework to identify best practices and opportunities for supporting young learners’ development of visual literacy in the arts.

Chapter 8 explores how teachers can facilitate young learners’ development of mathematical literacy, defined as an individual’s capacity to reason mathematically and to formulate, employ, and interpret mathematics to solve problems in various real-world contexts (OECD, 2023). The chapter begins with a review of studies on mathematical literacy and an overview of Taiwan’s national curriculum guidelines. It then analyzes Simen’s CLIL math lessons to identify best practices and offers suggestions for designing ILOs, assessments, and scaffolding to facilitate young learners’ development of mathematical literacy.

Chapter 6 focuses on the third phase of the Literacy Approach to CLIL Planning, demonstrating how CLIL teachers can support young learners in developing disciplinary language. While scaffolding is essential to all aspects of CLIL, the current discussion focuses on L2 disciplinary language development, as it is a key component of disciplinary literacy. The discussion is guided by the Multimodalities/Entextualization Cycle (MEC), a three-step process that CLIL teachers can use to support the development of learners’ disciplinary language (Lin, 2015). Simen’s lesson plans are analyzed to illustrate how teachers can leverage multimodal resources and translanguaging to facilitate learner participation, enhance comprehension, and support the production of disciplinary language with explicit instruction informed by the Genre Egg Framework (Lin, 2012).

Chapter 7 examines how CLIL science planning and teaching can be guided by the principles of scientific literacy, particularly its focus on scientific ways of knowing and the development of critical and creative thinking (Maienschein, 1998). It begins with a discussion of research and curricula related to scientific literacy, followed by an overview of Taiwan’s national curriculum guidelines for primary science education. The chapter then reviews and analyzes Simen’s CLIL science lessons, focusing on intended learning outcomes (ILOs), assessment design, and scaffolding strategies to highlight best practices and identify opportunities for fostering deeper learning.

Chapter 10 examines how CLIL teachers can foster the development of historical literacy. Historical literacy refers to the practices and strategies that enable individuals to understand, synthesize, and communicate historical content knowledge (Victoria State Government, 2021). To connect learning with young learners’ life experiences, primary school teachers in Taiwan are encouraged to design lessons that help students explore their local communities. Given that Simen’s CLIL lessons often reference the community’s rich history in global trade, this chapter focuses on the historical dimension of CLIL learning. The chapter begins with a review of disciplinary literacy in history and an overview of Taiwan’s national curriculum guidelines for primary history education. It then analyzes Simen’s CLIL lessons with integrated themes, using the Literacy Approach to CLIL Planning framework to identify best practices and opportunities to enhance young learners’ historical literacy development.

Chapter 11 describes the support and resources Simen’s CLIL teachers have co-created and can draw on. It begins with a review of research on CLIL program management, including school administration, teacher collaboration, and professional support. Then, it reports on the beliefs and the CLIL journeys of Simen’s teachers and the support from the internal and external stakeholders. This chapter concludes with implications for how CLIL schools can facilitate the collaboration of classroom teachers, students, and teacher educators to foster a collaborative ecology.

Chapter 4 explores the first phase of the Literacy Approach to CLIL Planning, focusing on how teachers can formulate intended learning outcomes (ILOs) that support the development of students’ disciplinary literacy in English. The chapter begins with an overview of disciplinary literacy, recommending that CLIL teachers refer to Dalton-Puffer’s (2013) Cognitive Discourse Functions when crafting ILOs. Drawing on European implementation experiences (Rutgers et al., 2020), the chapter also emphasizes the importance of ILOs informed by learner progression across grade levels and guiding students toward independent learning in CLIL classrooms. Simen’s CLIL science lessons are used to illustrate these practices.