Culture in CLIL teaching through English between past, present and future

Culture – the 4th C in the 4Cs Framework (Coyle/Hood/Marsh 2010) which illustrates the components of CLIL teaching – has received increasing attention in CLIL literature over the last few years. However, the training of CLIL teachers with respect to culture is still an underinvestigated area (Porto 2019a). The pedagogic indications from theoretical works as well as from reports on specific CLIL projects can provide CLIL teachers with useful guidelines to incorporate the cultural dimension in their classes. However, the interest in culture has a much longer history in language teaching and reference to the principles underlying intercultural activities can contribute to a fuller comprehension of their significance and, consequently, to a better implementation in CLIL classes. Therefore, the present study aims to briefly illustrate intercultural activities in CLIL classrooms, with reference to the CLIL literature as well as to seminal works in language teaching. The study also aims to contribute to research on the training of CLIL teachers by exploring their perceptions of the intercultural dimension of CLIL. To this purpose, two questionnaires were administered to a sample of in-service Italian teachers qualifying as CLIL teachers through English. The perceptions by teachers of scientific and humanistic disciplines were contrasted to verify whether their training needs differ. The results of the questionnaires showed that the teachers needed guidance in identifying intercultural activities and suggested that they may benefit from training in planning partnerships with foreign schools. Future CLIL trainers may also use the questionnaires presented in this study or adapted versions of them to start a reflection on the 4th C in their own classes as well as to ascertain the specific training needs of their CLIL trainees.