Reconceptualizing the “L” in CLIL: English-medium nursing educators’ perspectives of translanguaging-trans-semiotizing pedagogy in CLIL collaboration

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Meaning-making as Social Action across Media, Disciplines, and Identities

Abstract

High attrition rates affect English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) nursing students amid global nurse shortages. EAL students in English-medium nursing education struggle academically due to English proficiency issues. Current language support typically includes health communication or academic English courses disconnected from nursing studies, often designed by language educators unfamiliar with nursing-specific needs. This study explores content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in nursing courses, informed by translanguaging and trans-semiotizing (TL-TS) theories through the Multimodalities-Entextualization Cycle. Interview analysis with nurse educators reveals TL enhances both health communication and curriculum design for discipline-specific thinking. The study advocates expanding TL-TS beyond health communication training and reconceptualizing CLIL's "L" to include disciplinary language and languaging practices, with implications for educational policies supporting EAL students and patient-centered care.

Author

• Yiqi Liu, The Education University of Hong Kong