Disclaimer: this webpage is currently being updated
Training Schools
CLILNetLE organized three online-only Training Schools for Researchers, to offer basic training into key areas of the Action, i.e.;
- Quantitative methods and survey design
- Discourse analysis with a focus on cognitivediscourse functions
- Corpus Linguistics for language teaching
25-27 September, 2024
ICLON, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Teacher Training School:
Putting Cognitive Discourse Functions into Practice
Local organizer: Tessa Mearns
Co-Organiser: Ana Llinares
Trainers: Emine Adadan, Yasemin Bayyurt, Elene del Pozo,Talip Gülle, Silvia Minardi, Tarja Nikula, Silvia Rieder-Marschallinger
Overall 53 participants took part in this three-day event,which proved a highly successful way into BMDLs for those new to the topic andalso those with some familiarity with it. The organisers of the training schoolchose a focus on Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs) as an entry point to bridgelanguage and content teaching and give a focus to the discussions betweenteachers of diverse subjects. The coherent structure of the training schoolallowed for diverse angles to be investigated and also tried out in practice ata local CLIL school.
Co-Organiser: Ana Llinares
Trainers: Emine Adadan, Yasemin Bayyurt, Elene del Pozo,Talip Gülle, Silvia Minardi, Tarja Nikula, Silvia Rieder-Marschallinger
Overall 53 participants took part in this three-day event,which proved a highly successful way into BMDLs for those new to the topic andalso those with some familiarity with it. The organisers of the training schoolchose a focus on Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs) as an entry point to bridgelanguage and content teaching and give a focus to the discussions betweenteachers of diverse subjects. The coherent structure of the training schoolallowed for diverse angles to be investigated and also tried out in practice ata local CLIL school.
- Day 1: provided training on Cognitive Discourse Functions bytrainers who were language, science and history specialists. This was followedby the preparation of tools on CDFs to be used at a bilingual school the nextday: observation sheets, activities in different subject areas, and interviewswith teachers, students and school administrators.
- Day 2: featured a visit to the Wolfert bilingual school inRotterdam, where the tools and activities prepared by the trainees on day 1 were put into practice.
- Day 3: The tools were revisited based on thedata/information collected from the school.
Downloads
The CDF observation tool developed can be downloaded here https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2175076 and https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2175077.
If you want an interview guide for teachers on CDFs, here https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2120280 is a suggestion developed during the training school and here https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2120279 is one for students!
The training school was reported on at the University ofLeiden (link to https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2024/11/european-clil-community-gathers-in-leiden)and in a blogpost by Tessa Mearns: https://researchblog.iclon.nl/new-perspectives-on-disciplinary-literacies/.
It led to (at least two) publications, which are accessiblefor free:
Mearns, T.,Gerns, P., Minardi, S., & Janssen, F. (2026). Disciplinary perspectives meet disciplinary literacies: a heuristic toolbox forcontent-language integration. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 47(4), 2049–2065. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2026.2646262
OASIS summary here: https://www.oasis-database.org/details/p5kyuzl5q
If you want an interview guide for teachers on CDFs, here https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2120280 is a suggestion developed during the training school and here https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2120279 is one for students!
The training school was reported on at the University ofLeiden (link to https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2024/11/european-clil-community-gathers-in-leiden)and in a blogpost by Tessa Mearns: https://researchblog.iclon.nl/new-perspectives-on-disciplinary-literacies/.
It led to (at least two) publications, which are accessiblefor free:
Mearns, T.,Gerns, P., Minardi, S., & Janssen, F. (2026). Disciplinary perspectives meet disciplinary literacies: a heuristic toolbox forcontent-language integration. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 47(4), 2049–2065. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2026.2646262
OASIS summary here: https://www.oasis-database.org/details/p5kyuzl5q
23-26 September, 2025
Università per Stranieri, Perugia, Italy
Joint Training School on Bi-and Multilingual Disciplinary Literacies at Schools:
Research and Educational Foci
Local Organiser: Letizia Cinganotto
Trainers and Co-Organisers: Ana Llinares, Ana Cabrera, Katharina Ghamarian, Adrian Granádos, Talip Gülle, Julia Hüttner, Elena Kovaciková, Silvia Minardi, Craig Neville, Elena del Pozo
This training school brought together overall 53 teachers, teacher educators and researchers to engage more deeply with three areas of BMDLs that were focused on in the Action. In keynote presentations, all participants were brought up-to-date with the BMDLs-model (Talip Gülle), the integrated descriptors for CLIL teaching (Fran Lorenzo) and the role of AI within disciplinary and pluriliteracies (Letizia Cingonotto).
For a large part of the training school, participants could choose which area to work on. Alongside seminar-based sessions, the training school incorporated a programme of exchange and job-shadowing activities hosted by the Liceo Classico "Annibale Mariotti", allowing international participants to observe CLIL practice directly within an Italian secondary-school setting and to engage in structured dialogue with local subject and language teachers, as well as learners.
The three strands were:
Trainers and Co-Organisers: Ana Llinares, Ana Cabrera, Katharina Ghamarian, Adrian Granádos, Talip Gülle, Julia Hüttner, Elena Kovaciková, Silvia Minardi, Craig Neville, Elena del Pozo
This training school brought together overall 53 teachers, teacher educators and researchers to engage more deeply with three areas of BMDLs that were focused on in the Action. In keynote presentations, all participants were brought up-to-date with the BMDLs-model (Talip Gülle), the integrated descriptors for CLIL teaching (Fran Lorenzo) and the role of AI within disciplinary and pluriliteracies (Letizia Cingonotto).
For a large part of the training school, participants could choose which area to work on. Alongside seminar-based sessions, the training school incorporated a programme of exchange and job-shadowing activities hosted by the Liceo Classico "Annibale Mariotti", allowing international participants to observe CLIL practice directly within an Italian secondary-school setting and to engage in structured dialogue with local subject and language teachers, as well as learners.
The three strands were:
1) Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs) and Descriptors for CLIL
Strand 1 of the Training School focused on Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs) as a way of bringing together content and language learning in CLIL, and on how they support the development of learners’ bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies. Teachers and researchers worked together throughout the strand, in mixed trios that paired teachers with researchers from different countries.
On the first day, participants looked at curricular objectives, typical classroom prompts built around command verbs, and samples of student writing from subjects such as Geography, History and Science. This led into the CDF construct and its seven types: categorise, define, describe, evaluate, explain, explore and report. Subject-specific versions of the construct were also discussed. Participants then identified the CDFs that tasks were meant to elicit and those that students actually produced, and they picked out the language features that showed each CDF. A corpus linguistics session examined how CDFs appear in learner language. The day ended with participants rewriting existing prompts to target two or three CDFs, often more cognitively demanding ones, and sharing their versions in a gallery walk.
On the second day, participants analysed further language samples and checked whether they could judge the level of the students’ disciplinary language. In their trios, they then designed a 50-minute lesson plan on a topic of their choice, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. The plans used CDFs and included language scaffolding for each function in the activities and tasks. A gallery walk let the groups compare approaches and give each other feedback. In the afternoon, participants worked with the classroom observation tool developed at the previous Training School in Leiden. They used it to build an observation path suited to their goals for the school visit.
On the third day, participants visited the Liceo Classico e Musicale “Annibale Mariotti” in Perugia. They observed CLIL lessons, paying particular attention to how teachers used and elicited CDFs and how students carried them out in the language of instruction.
On the fourth day, participants discussed what they had observed at the school and reflected on their lesson plans. Each trio presented its plan, its reflections on it and the changes made after the observation. The strand’s work was then shared with the other strands in the poster session and the closing roundtables, recordings of which are available here.
On the first day, participants looked at curricular objectives, typical classroom prompts built around command verbs, and samples of student writing from subjects such as Geography, History and Science. This led into the CDF construct and its seven types: categorise, define, describe, evaluate, explain, explore and report. Subject-specific versions of the construct were also discussed. Participants then identified the CDFs that tasks were meant to elicit and those that students actually produced, and they picked out the language features that showed each CDF. A corpus linguistics session examined how CDFs appear in learner language. The day ended with participants rewriting existing prompts to target two or three CDFs, often more cognitively demanding ones, and sharing their versions in a gallery walk.
On the second day, participants analysed further language samples and checked whether they could judge the level of the students’ disciplinary language. In their trios, they then designed a 50-minute lesson plan on a topic of their choice, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. The plans used CDFs and included language scaffolding for each function in the activities and tasks. A gallery walk let the groups compare approaches and give each other feedback. In the afternoon, participants worked with the classroom observation tool developed at the previous Training School in Leiden. They used it to build an observation path suited to their goals for the school visit.
On the third day, participants visited the Liceo Classico e Musicale “Annibale Mariotti” in Perugia. They observed CLIL lessons, paying particular attention to how teachers used and elicited CDFs and how students carried them out in the language of instruction.
On the fourth day, participants discussed what they had observed at the school and reflected on their lesson plans. Each trio presented its plan, its reflections on it and the changes made after the observation. The strand’s work was then shared with the other strands in the poster session and the closing roundtables, recordings of which are available here.
2) Extramural learning of BMDLs
Strand 2 of the Training School focused on understanding and investigating learners’ extramural digital practices and teachers’ use of digital technologies in CLIL classrooms.
On the first day, participants explored the connections between the digital practices of teachers and learners, both inside and outside the classroom, and how these relate to the wider theoretical framework of bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies. Participants then divided into two groups, one focusing on classroom practice and the other on research.
The practice-focused group was introduced to key research on extramural language learning, considering how learners’ exposure to and use of languages outside the classroom, including the language of CLIL instruction, might influence their learning within the classroom. The research-focused group explored a range of tools and approaches previously used to investigate learners’ extramural digital practices.
On the second day, both groups came together to begin developing research instruments and lesson plans. These activities aimed to explore how learners’ extramural digital practices could be brought into the CLIL classroom to support learning, as well as how these practices could be investigated through research.
As opportunities to implement and evaluate these materials in classrooms during the Training School were limited, the third day focused on classroom observation. Teachers and researchers observed CLIL lessons, paying particular attention to instances of extramural and other digital practices. They considered how these practices were incorporated into teaching and learning and their potential contribution to the development of learners’ bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies.
On the first day, participants explored the connections between the digital practices of teachers and learners, both inside and outside the classroom, and how these relate to the wider theoretical framework of bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies. Participants then divided into two groups, one focusing on classroom practice and the other on research.
The practice-focused group was introduced to key research on extramural language learning, considering how learners’ exposure to and use of languages outside the classroom, including the language of CLIL instruction, might influence their learning within the classroom. The research-focused group explored a range of tools and approaches previously used to investigate learners’ extramural digital practices.
On the second day, both groups came together to begin developing research instruments and lesson plans. These activities aimed to explore how learners’ extramural digital practices could be brought into the CLIL classroom to support learning, as well as how these practices could be investigated through research.
As opportunities to implement and evaluate these materials in classrooms during the Training School were limited, the third day focused on classroom observation. Teachers and researchers observed CLIL lessons, paying particular attention to instances of extramural and other digital practices. They considered how these practices were incorporated into teaching and learning and their potential contribution to the development of learners’ bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies.
3) Multisemiotic resources (MSRs)
Strand 3 of the Training School focused on MSRs and their role in disciplinary meaning-making in CLIL. SRs are the resources beyond spoken and written language that teachers and learners use to build knowledge, such as visuals, diagrams, gesture, material artefacts and spatial arrangements. The strand looked at how these resources work together with language to support learners’ bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies. Throughout the Training School, teachers and researchers collaborated to develop tools for observing MSRs in classroom practice.
On the first day, participants were introduced to research on MSRs in education. Topics included the multimodal nature of disciplinary knowledge, the different affordances of different modes, and the challenge of moving meaning between everyday and academic discourse. Participants were also introduced to the Multimodalities–Entextualisation Cycle (MEC) and the CDF construct. A discussion followed on how MSRs and CDFs are linked, including whether CDFs, usually understood as verbalizations, can also be realized through other semiotic means.
The second day was devoted to developing an initial version of an MSR observation grid, which participants would trial at the school the next day. Working in small groups, teachers and researchers built on a draft grid prepared by the strand facilitators, adapting it in light of their own research and teaching expertise. The groups then combined their work into a shared version of the grid to be used during the school visit.
On the third day, participants visited the Liceo Classico e Musicale “Annibale Mariotti”. They observed CLIL lessons using the grid, paying attention to which MSRs teachers and students used, what those resources did, and how they related to the CDFs.
On the fourth day, participants reflected together on what they had observed. They analysed which MSRs elicited which CDFs, and which CDFs drew on which MSRs. Based on these insights, they produced the final observation grid in three versions: a checklist for quickly identifying MSRs, and two versions for taking more extended notes on how MSRs are used and what they do. The strand’s work was then shared with the other strands in the poster session and the roundtables on reflective practice. The observation grids are available here.
Recordings of the Round-Table discussions from Day 4 as well as some interviews with participants can be found here.
Some of the training materials of the training school can be found ##here## and some of the teaching materials developed can be found ##here##.
On the first day, participants were introduced to research on MSRs in education. Topics included the multimodal nature of disciplinary knowledge, the different affordances of different modes, and the challenge of moving meaning between everyday and academic discourse. Participants were also introduced to the Multimodalities–Entextualisation Cycle (MEC) and the CDF construct. A discussion followed on how MSRs and CDFs are linked, including whether CDFs, usually understood as verbalizations, can also be realized through other semiotic means.
The second day was devoted to developing an initial version of an MSR observation grid, which participants would trial at the school the next day. Working in small groups, teachers and researchers built on a draft grid prepared by the strand facilitators, adapting it in light of their own research and teaching expertise. The groups then combined their work into a shared version of the grid to be used during the school visit.
On the third day, participants visited the Liceo Classico e Musicale “Annibale Mariotti”. They observed CLIL lessons using the grid, paying attention to which MSRs teachers and students used, what those resources did, and how they related to the CDFs.
On the fourth day, participants reflected together on what they had observed. They analysed which MSRs elicited which CDFs, and which CDFs drew on which MSRs. Based on these insights, they produced the final observation grid in three versions: a checklist for quickly identifying MSRs, and two versions for taking more extended notes on how MSRs are used and what they do. The strand’s work was then shared with the other strands in the poster session and the roundtables on reflective practice. The observation grids are available here.
Recordings of the Round-Table discussions from Day 4 as well as some interviews with participants can be found here.
Some of the training materials of the training school can be found ##here## and some of the teaching materials developed can be found ##here##.
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