Implementing ESP through a CLIL perspective: Materials development for university courses

This article explores how a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) perspective can be used to develop classroom material for an undergraduate module for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in social sciences. CLIL has become an important current trend in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and general education and can be combined with ESP with interesting results. The pedagogical methodology underlying CLIL has been carefully explored and exposed (e.g., Ball et al., 2015; Coyle et al., 2010) as has that of ESP (e.g., Anthony, 2018; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). The article compares some important aspects of ESP and CLIL to find convergence and divergence points. The course material was developed following CLIL and ESP principles. The material was then employed in undergraduate classes for students of one particular field of the social sciences: a Social Work degree course. Results, although partial, suggest that the approach is valid and that employing CLIL principles in ESP course design can be beneficial in structuring lessons and motivating students.