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European languages. Thus learning this discipline through a foreign
language might be easier because many of the words are easily recognisable
and can be easily transferred to or from the mother tongue.
2.2 Which languages?
Various factors have to be kept in mind when choosing which language/s
should be used for CLIL. They concern:
a) the geo-political situation of the country or region where the school is
located
b) the degree of similarity between the foreign language and the students’
mother tongue
c) the subjects to be taught through the foreign language local resources.
Language policy
In terms of geographic convenience, it may be advisable to choose a
language spoken in near-by regions, as would be Italian for Austrian
students or French for Italian students living in Val d’Aosta. From the
viewpoint of a wider, continental language policy, other considerations
may become more relevant, such as the need to ensure language diversity
and the protection of minority languages in Europe. For these reasons,
English should not be the only language of CLIL, even though the pressure
of parents and society to use it may be very strong. This has to do with the
role of English as a language of international communication.
Linguistic similarity
The degree of similarity between the foreign language and the learners’
native language should be considered together with the choice of the
subjects to be taught through CLIL. It is widely believed that it is easier for
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