Over the last two decades, integrated learning of foreign languages and so called non-linguistic subjects, known as the educational approach of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), has established itself in the European landscape of school education. Today, the popularity and spread of CLIL still show growing tendencies, building e.g. on the advantageous positioning of the approach in pan-European language education policies, as well as the elasticity and freedom given in its the practical implementation: As a "bottom-up"-approach CLIL truly allows various ways of implementation and can thus, at least in theory, be quite easily adapted into a whole range of different institutional learning environments. However, it is but the extra-curricular and very often project-based CLIL practices that still today represent the most common type of CLIL at school - especially in target languages other than English. Currently, at the face of the pan-European tendencies in re-profiling school curricula especially as regards the shift from (foreign) language instruction to (foreign) language education, the CLIL approach is, again and increasingly, taking a center stage in educational discussions. Due to its pioneer role in supporting not only the content-integrated and immersive (foreign) language learning, but also overall goals such as competence-orientation and learner-centeredness, CLIL is frequently referred to as the "educational approach of the future" especially wherever so called language sensitive educational landscapes are aimed at - in support of (multiple) language acquisition in both cross-curricular and subject-specific settings and thus as a contribution to the pan-European goal-setting of fostering individual multilingualism (plurilingualism) and intercultural competences. The reference to CLIL in this context appears appropriate and justified. However, it is exactly this context that also hides an obstacle which has hindered the more systematic curricular integration of CLIL so far - even for the most promising trial experiments, and already for two decades: the lack of representative empirical evidence for the particular added value of CLIL that cannot be captured through traditional means of testing and measurement, but, at the same time, has been basically always associated with CLIL e.g. as regards A) the development of target language competences, B) the acquisition of the subject knowledge and C) the development and use of the first language(s) involved especially in academic and not least educational contexts. This obstacle, an international long-term challenge, will be tackled through PLURICLIL: Utilizing so far unique ICT solutions, the learning progression in language(s), content(s) and their interplay will be documented and analyzed in exemplary CLIL environments with a novel precision: Building on already existing prototypes of an innovative software solution, and following the learning environment and curriculum analyses to be carried out at the very beginning of the project, the PLURICLIL consortium will design context-specific CLIL contents for film-based computer simulations that will enable learners to "immerse" into reality-like situations and to participate in diverse target language communication activities as in real life - in a "quasi-authentic" setting: in formal educational contexts and in informal everyday situations, in both written and oral communication, using up-to-date technology devices and - especially - in confrontation with specific school subjects of particular relevance for each of the school environments involved. In and through PLURICLIL, the learners will thus experience novel and highly immersive simulation adventures and have a chance put their language and subject competences on the test as in real life. The language and subject teachers, again, as well as other target groups involved and addressed (e.g. school directors, curriculum planners, language education policy stakeholders, learning materials' designers and researchers) will be provided with a so far unique overview of the learners' competences in language(s) and subject(s) in reality-like situations tailored to reflect the curricular goal-settings of the CLIL environments in question. Consequently, and as the PLURICLIL outputs will by no means only include examples for ICT-based innovations with unique simulation performances, but also individual language profiles, as well as extensive insights into self-assessment and external competence analyses, a genuinely novel evidence-base will emerge, enabling contributions to curriculum development, materials' design and quality assurance of CLIL in a way yet not seen - at this stage especially for German as a target language in combination with STEM-subjects in secondary schooling, but with clear prospects for adaptation to other target languages, further educational settings, as well as to contexts of working life and international mobility.
We wanted to adapt and optimize a so far unique set of digital instruments and "tailor" a series of curriculum-specific video-based materials to be implemented in various environments of general secondary education across Europe, in which sc. immersive and subject-interrelated approaches for language education - cf. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) - are being adapted in variable scope and format. The aim was thus to design, optimize and showcase examples for innovative ICT-based solutions for educational purposes especially in contexts that have been lacking tools responding more accurately to the nature of the education approaches in question and, additionally, to demonstrate not only the so far unique offering of the instruments and materials for these learning contexts, but also - and especially - their significant adaptation and transfer potential to further educational settings, as well as to diverse working life contexts (e.g. such as professional development and international recruiting). In order to achieve this and to enable both empirically valid and so far completely unique data, we wanted to design curriculum-specific materials that cover several class levels in each of the participating pilot schools.
The main "point of departure" of the project was the long-term need to innovate, design and (trial-)implement novel, technologically up-to-date and substantially appropriate approaches for documenting (language) learning progression in institutional contexts of language education, in which the educational approach of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is being adapted - ideally in various formats, including a representative selection of non-linguistic subjects and, especially, possibly another target language than English, which has, obviously, been and still is dominating the international landscape of CLIL type education significantly all over the globe. At the same time, the PLURICLIL initiative was strongly motivated by both the increasing needs and the considerable potential to model solutions for strengthening language (learning) awareness and generally more language aware learning by invidualized and continuous tracking of language perception and use, as well as (language) learning experiences, preferences, styles both in- and outside institutional learning environments and also as a contribution to valuing and visualizing linguistic and cultural pluralities in institutional learning environments.