Examining Teacher Competencies in Content and Language Integrated Learning: Professional Profiles and Ways Forward

Abstract

Despite the upsurge of research interest in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teachers' professional competencies, very little evidence has been presented from the Chinese academia. To bridge this gap and understand Chinese CLIL teachers' status quo of competencies in relation to their demographic characteristics, the present study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative survey approach and investigated the differences in linguistic competence, content competence, pedagogic competence, CLIL fundamentals, interpersonal and collaborative competence, and reflective and developmental competence in a sample of 205 CLIL teachers from Chinese higher education providers. They had dissimilar genders, language expertise, content subject specialisation, affiliations, academic degrees, educational backgrounds, years of teaching CLIL and professional titles. Inferential analyses of the data obtained from a questionnaire indicated a high heterogeneity in the sample, allowing for the description of CLIL teachers' profiles of professional competencies in accordance with their demographic factors. It is concluded that professional training and ongoing research into CLIL teachers' needs are essential to achieve the homogeneity of competencies and that a supportive network should be established to encourage active partnership amongst CLIL teachers and educational institutions.