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Classroom
language in CLIL
Creating connections, building bridges
Learn a new language and get a new soul.
Czech proverb
Classroom interaction fosters
language learning
The concept ‘classroom language’ refers to any
type of language in any situation in the classroom.
It can be talk between the teacher and the
learners or among the learners themselves.
Teachers can control some part of this language,
but what students learn in the end often depends
on the spontaneous and unpredictable.
The most frequently used interpersonal language
in the classroom is language used to give
instructions (“Come here please!”); to praise and
encourage (“Well done!”); to control the class
(“Please be quiet!”) and so on. These are the most
common examples, but classroom language can
be much richer and it deserves special attention
in CLIL classes.
hey, wake up,
your head is in
the clouds!
If you do use your students’ mother tongue more
than English in your spontaneous, interpersonal
communication with students remember that:
• using the mother tongue is easier in the short
term, but the effort you make to use English
will bring better results in the long run.
• for many learners the teacher is their only
contact with English.
• learners should perceive English as authentic,
real and natural.
Remember!
Don’t limit yourself to just a few old expressions.
It might be a good way to develop routines at
the beginning, but eventually you will become
repetitive. Add variety. Surprise your students
with new expressions!
Yes, sorry, I
couldn’t drag
myself out of
bed today!
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How to exploit classroom ➜ Be consistent in your repetition

language effectively
Have a look at these ideas about how to use
classroom language effectively and help your
students benefit to the maximum.
➜ Sound natural
Appropriate stress and intonation can be more
effective in getting meaning across than the
perfect pronunciation of individual sounds.
When using new expressions speak clearly and
not too quickly, but don’t forget to link words
naturally.
➜ Add variety gradually
As learners become familiar with expressions in
English, introduce a bit of variety, for example:
• “Close the door, please!”
• “Could you close the door, please?”
• “Do you think you could close the door?”
• “This noise is terrible! I think it’s high time we
closed the door!”
• “How can you stand this noise?! We can’t work
with the door open!”
➜ Don’t worry about
perfect comprehension
Try to get used to speaking English in the
classroom even when you know your students
will not be able to understand you completely.
It’s amazing how much they will understand
without you using their mother tongue.
Don’t expect your learners to hear an expression
once and remember it. We all need to hear
something many times before it sticks in our
memory. Always accompany the new expression
with appropriate facial gestures and body
language to make it more memorable. Get you
students to repeat occasional expressions in
chorus, as this builds up confidence.
➜ Don’t over-pressurise
After the students repeat the new expressions
in chorus, you can ask for individual repetition,
but don’t over-correct or over-pressurise
learners into production before they are ready.
This is a sure way to make students lose any
confidence they have with the language.
➜ Accept ‘hybrid’ forms
at the beginning
Accept students’ efforts to use English with
a positive attitude, even if they use a hybrid,
‘Spanglish’ form at the beginning. ‘Spanglish’
structures are the evidence of progress and
a normal characteristic of bilingual learning.
However, don’t let your students get lazy.
When you know that they do know how to say
something, don’t let them off and accept it in
Spanish. Don’t allow them to ask their classmate
for a ‘lápiz’ when they know the word ‘pencil’
perfectly well.

➜ Use the Sandwiching Technique

In general, always try to avoid translating, but if

you see that lack of comprehension provokes
frustration, use ‘sandwiching’ to get your
meaning across. Say the expression in English,
say it in the students’ mother tongue, and then
say it in English again:
“Fold it in half … Dóblalo en dos … Fold it in half!”
As soon as they get familiar with the expression,
eliminate the mother tongue.

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➜ Use wall displays
As learners get older, introduce some of the
expressions they are already familiar with in
written form. Make cardboard strips with the
expressions clearly written on them , for
example: “Can I go to the toilet, please?”
Then stick them on the wall, and simply point
to them when you or a pupil uses the expression.
This will help them to associate the written form
with the already-familiar spoken form, making
the task of learning to read in English easier.
➜ Strategies to avoid teacher
translating
• Young children enjoy ‘playing’ with language.
Find a puppet or mascot who only
understands and speaks English.
• Another good strategy is to give individual
students the right to translate. If you see that
one student obviously has understood quickly,
get him/her to explain it to the rest of the
class in the mother tongue. In this way, you as
the teacher avoid using the mother tongue.
Classroom language in CLIL
Classroom management tip
Give the children English names
in your CLIL classes!
This new identity will help them
to distance from possible negative previous
learning experiences in the subject you are
teaching them. Start your first CLIL class with
a list of most common English first names.
Once each student chooses their name tell
them to write it on a piece of cardboard.
Attach a length of string to each card, so that
the children can wear them around their necks.
Remember!
Refining and enriching students’ language is one
of the main challenges facing a CLIL teacher.
Purposeful, easy to understand and easy to
remember classroom expressions are a rich
source of new language for learners.
All that is needed is a little effort on our part
to incorporate these expressions into teaching
and to exploit them to the full.