The intercultural turn brought about by the implementation of CLIL programmes in Spanish monolingual areas: a case study of Andalusian primary and secondary schools

Abstract

In monolingual areas such as the southern Spanish Autonomous Community of Andalusia, the progressive introduction of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes in a wide range of primary and secondary schools has probably produced the biggest turning point in Spain's modern educational history. CLIL is initially focused on enhancing learners’ language competences. However, the reflection on otherness considered to be implicitly embodied in CLIL education is thought to contribute to learners’ development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). This article looks into the relationship between CLIL and ICC by presenting a case study of Andalusian CLIL primary and secondary schools. The results show that there is some evidence that CLIL constitutes a framework for the implementation of interculturally-oriented methodological approaches and that it has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of learners’ intercultural communicative competence.