The innovative curriculum-based ideological and political education (CIPE) trend in China's higher education integrates ideological and political education (IPE) into curricula to develop students' citizenship skills. Foreign language teaching (FLT) has leveraged CIPE's advancement due to its rich cultural nuances. Yet, effectively implementing IPE within FLT remains complex and demands academic attention. The authors suggest content and language integrated learning (CLIL) holds significant potential for IPE-based FLT. This potential arises from the shared attributes between CLIL and IPE-based FLT, which encompass diverse language learning facets, the acquisition of content knowledge and the cultivation of cross-cultural understanding. This chapter compares CLIL and IPE-based FLT, based on which a coherent conceptual framework is introduced and justified for implementing IPE-based FLT. However, a comprehensive agenda is needed to address a multitude of issues beyond the scope of this chapter, which is pivotal in unlocking the full potential of CIPE and ensuring its enduring viability.
TopIntroduction: Setting The Context
The evolution of foreign language teaching (FLT) theories in China has undergone three significant phases: the importation and adaptation of foreign theories, the creation of context-specific theories rooted in local circumstances and the amalgamation of theories stemming from both domestic and foreign practices (Wen, 2019). A series of theoretical achievements have been constituted against this backdrop, whereas they still cannot satisfy the practical needs of FLT in China, with domestic scholars appealing for an innovative and localised endeavour to refine FLT theories and explore educational possibilities to attain the national goal of improving FLT quality and developing learners’ competency to use a foreign language (FL) and engage in international and cross-cultural communication (An & Pan, 2023; Ma & Liu, 2021).
Amidst the surge of FLT theories, the concept of Curriculum-based Ideological and Political Education (CIPE), also referred to as ke-cheng si-zheng1, has gained renewed prominence through the recent introduction of The Guiding Outline for Ideological and Political Construction of Courses in Colleges and Universities, a government-issued directive underscoring the imperative for nurturing talent within higher education providers (HEPs) and the importance of constructing and reforming CIPE (Lou, 2021). CIPE is a pedagogical initiative put forth by Chinese authorities to realise the objective of developing well-rounded citizens with positive perspectives on the nation, ethnicity, history, culture, world, life and values, by “running ideological and political work through the whole process of education and teaching” in a holistic manner (Gao, 2021, p. 308). Embracing the philosophy that courses within HEPs serve a dual purpose of imparting professional expertise alongside fostering students’ political and ideological development, the potential of CIPE to harmonise Ideological and Political Education (IPE) with FLT has been extensively deliberated upon (Gao, 2021; Huang, 2021; Li & Zhang, 2023; Ren, 2022). However, the effective utilisation of this potential remains an intricate matter, warranting immediate attention due to its pivotal role in shaping the future organisation of CIPE (Huang & Xiao, 2021).
Given that FLT sets itself apart from the education of other subjects by highlighting the interconnection of languages, cultures and cognition, and that language discourse serves as a conduit for unveiling the underlying beliefs, values and expressions inherent in social and cultural institutions (Gao, 2021; Hu, 2021), we aim to propel and rationalise the potential of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) within the context of China’s higher education agenda, which is undergoing an influence from CIPE considerations within FLT. It is suggested that, in the current stage where both domestic and foreign theories and practices of FLT are integral to the Chinese FLT landscape (Wen, 2019), CLIL, a pedagogical approach that originated from the Western hemisphere, holds significant theoretical implications for IPE-based FLT due to its distinct characteristic of simultaneous emphasis on both language acquisition and content comprehension. Following a brief literature review on CLIL and IPE-based FLT, a comparative analysis of these pedagogical concepts is conducted in this chapter, culminating in the introduction of a framework for conceptualising the integration of CLIL into IPE-based FLT, with a primary focus on guiding FL teachers in implementing the CIPE initiative.