Bilingual education and CLIL in the Netherlands: The paradigm and the pedagogy

Abstract

The Netherlands is often held up an example of a ‘success story’ in terms of practices and research regarding the teaching and learning of subject content in a second language (de Graaff & van Wilgenburg, 2015; Pérez-Cañado, 2012). Nearly 30 years after its initial beginnings, bilingual secondary education in the Netherlands continues to thrive and to evolve in fitting with educational demands, as does the research associated with it. This Special Issue includes contributions addressing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a pedagogical approach in the context of bilingual education as a curricular paradigm, both specifically within the Dutch context. The issue contains six research articles from different perspectives, supported by discussions both from an international research standpoint and from the educational field. It is hoped that the publication of this issue will not only indicate a next stage for bilingual education policy and practice, but also give impetus to new areas for research.