Opportunities to implement content and language integrated learning (Clil) approach in indian technical higher education

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an innovative educational approach emphasizing authenticity, active learning, cooperation and real-world language use (Ball et al., 2015; Uemura, 2017). CLIL is more relevant in higher education than in primary or secondary education, as certain criteria have to be met for its successful implementation (Ball et al., 2015). The criteria include learners’ L2 ability, exposure to L2 and Literacy and Cognitive Skills (CALP) (Ball et al., 2015). In addition, a plethora of research on CLIL has already been done at the primary and secondary levels. However, very little has been researched about the effectiveness of CLIL at the tertiary/higher education level, especially at technical higher education (Aguilar & Munoz, 2014; Uemura, 2017). This paper strives to identify the opportunities available in Indian technical higher education to implement the CLIL approach by examining the engineering subject teachers' willingness to collaborate with the language teacher to develop and implement a CLIL program. This research employs a cross-sectional survey research design. The data collection tool incorporated was a questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended questions, which was administered online. 23 engineering subject and science teachers from Tier 1 and Tier 2 engineering institutes of Telangana, India, participated in the survey. The data is statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results show that a significant number of engineering teachers are willing to collaborate with language teachers to develop a CLIL programme.