CLIL IN FLANDERS

Freddy Cloet, Belgium, ID CLIL2016-701;      This paper does not report any research nor does it have any scientific pretences. It aims to describe the prehistory and early history of plurilingual innovation in (by now) in Belgium’s Flemish-speaking North. It is a process characterized by hesitation in policymakers and politicians, who were anxious not to let standards of Dutch (the language of instruction) go down a CLIL-created slope. On the other hand, we encouraged and witnessed great enthusiasm and dedication in pioneering schools, who accumulated experience and are growing to full CLIL-competence, some in French, even more in English, just a few in German. CLIL in Flanders may be both typical and atypical, but all conference attendants could recognize some of their own experiences and can learn from what 60 secondary schools are going through…

Method: playfully confronting a few Hamlet quotations with CLIL’s characteristics in its short history in Flanders: There is method in this madness - Words, words, words – Neither a lender nor a borrower be – nor do not saw too much with thy hands – the insolence of office … and the rest is silence…