Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2025

This study is a scoping review of research conducted on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in Kazakhstan. A total of 26 studies were selected, including journal articles and master’s theses. The selected studies were thematically analyzed to identify key aspects and shared aspects. Three main thematically organized areas for CLIL research emerged from the reviewed studies: (1) Dominant perceptions and beliefs about CLIL, (2) Positive outcomes and challenges in CLIL, and (3) CLIL pedagogy and methodology. The majority of the reviewed studies primarily focused on students’ English language skills, investigated the affective and cognitive experience of CLIL, and addressed challenges, practices, and concerns related to CLIL. These themes capture the current landscape of CLIL research in Kazakhstan and contribute to a more holistic understanding of CLIL’s impact on language acquisition and educational practices, thereby informing approaches to language education in Kazakhstan’s trilingual education system.

This systematic review examines scaffolding practices in science instruction within Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) environments, where English as a foreign language is the medium of instruction (L2). Adopting PRISMA guidelines, 1,052 records were identified, of which 19 were eligible for inclusion. Our analysis shows the essentiality of rediscursification (modifying instructional discourse) and transsemiotization (combining semiotic resources to enhance the message). It also shows variability in the discourse around translanguaging (the fluid use of languages) across contexts, and that preferences for scaffolding practices are shaped by cultural dispositions. The majority of the studies were non-experimental and focused on vocabulary, with only a minority applying heuristics designed for integrating content and language. We raise the question whether some multimodal resources and students’ first languages truly promote science literacy in CLIL. Finally, we provide research-based implications for science CLIL teachers and trainers to support deeper learning in the L2 science classroom.

The present quasi-experimental study explores the effects of instruction on secondary students’ scientific argumentative writing in a Basque medium of instruction program. Secondary students (N = 105) completed written tasks before and after a unit on energy in their science class as part of this investigation. The experimental group (n = 61) additionally took part in three, one-hour sessions focused on scientific argumentation via instruction in cognitive discourse functions (Dalton-Puffer, 2013), while the control group (n = 44) completed the unit on energy without the additional instruction on argumentation. The final corpus of 210 texts was analysed using Toulmin’s Argumentation Pattern (1958). ANOVAs showed that the experimental group’s use of argumentation strategies increased significantly, while the control group’s use of such strategies did not increase. Thus, the results show that instruction on argumentation helps students to write better argumentative compositions. These findings suggest that instruction in the use of Cognitive Discourse Functions allows for academic language learning in bilingual education contexts. The pedagogical implications and future research directions of this study’s findings are discussed.

Dual language and immersion (DLI) teaching requires knowledge and pedagogical skills focused on language and content integration (e.g., Cammarata & Tedick, 2012; Lyster, 2007; Tedick & Cammarata, 2023). Recent scholarship has begun to articulate how best to prepare DLI teachers with such knowledge and skills (e.g., Cammarata & Haley, 2017; Tedick et al., 2024; Tedick & Zilmer, 2018). This study adds to this work by exploring how a DLI-specific teacher assessment rubric mediates the learning process. Researchers created a DLI-specific rubric to aid pre-service teacher candidates (TCs) in developing skills related to content and language integration. The case study explores one TC and one supervisor’s experiences with the rubric. Data sources include audio “diaries” and video-recordings of post-observation conferences between the two participants. Qualitative inductive analysis led to sociocultural concepts (Vygotsky, 1978) as explanatory tools for understanding the role of the rubric in the TC’s learning and supervisor’s mentoring.

Whilst the prevalence of English in STEM-related fields is well established, less is understood about the opportunities to study these subjects in languages other than English. This study examined pupils’ likelihood of studying STEM-related subjects in Welsh-medium secondary schools in Wales, their linguistic choices around these subjects and their attitudes towards learning such subjects in English and/or in Welsh. The results revealed a general impression among pupils of the importance of English for STEM, which, mediated by their own linguistic backgrounds, abilities and experiences, influenced pupils’ linguistic choices and desires. Since the propensity towards monolingual engagement with these subjects — in Welsh or in English — may limit the scope for scaffolding their learning across languages and the benefits that incur, we propose alternative bilingual approaches to STEM-related subject teaching.