Mapping Out the Future: A Proposal of A CLIL Research Agenda in China

Abstract

This paper sets out to place the research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) within the border of Chinese academia. In considering the limited amount of empirical research in China, the author problematises the construction of a shared CLIL research agenda aimed at extending the scope of the current academic scenario. A conceptual model is formulated based on the constructive proposal brought forward by Coyle et al. (2010) that CLIL research should involve the examination and understanding of performance evidence, affective evidence, process evidence and materials and task evidence. Given that almost all the reviewed CLIL studies were conducted in the scope of English language education in higher education, this model is positioned within a broad multilingual and educationally diverse context in China. A more comprehensive, rich and evidence-based research scenario is expected from Chinese researchers whose work is not only to extend the CLIL research agenda but also to probe into it in the long way ahead.