CLIL in The Netherlands: three decades of innovation and development

Abstract

Since the opening of the first CLIL department in the Netherlands in 1989, tweetalig onderwijs (‘bilingual education’) has expanded into a national network of over 130 secondary schools, serving a population of around 37,000 learners. While academic interest in the field has also seen growth and diversification, the pace of practical developments and the lack of a structured research agenda have led to research becoming fragmented and lagging behind practice. This chapter provides an overview of the Dutch CLIL context followed by a critical review of research into organisation, implementation, outcomes and experiences in Dutch bilingual education. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the ways in which future research could support further developments in practice.