Introduction
Listening is a language skill, thus it can be developed through
practice. In Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
it is important that students are provided with the suitable
materials to listen to. These materials come in a variety of
forms, first as a teacher‟s input, as well as peer input and
interaction and as information source (recorded lectures,
films, tutorials, etc). In language classes an audio-lingual
method was considered to be very important for students to
develop a better pronunciation, to train comprehension skills.
Vandergrift (2002) points out that in the early 70‟s, work
by Asher, Postovsky, Winitz and, later, Krashen, emphasized
the role of listening as a tool for understanding and central
to the process of language learning.
The aim of this paper is to analyse how CLIL methodology
could be useful in developing listening comprehension in
both content and language classes. Research findings are
based on the materials produced by the international team
of a Socrates Lingua 2 project - “Language in Content
Instruction” (LICI) which was carried out during 2006-
2009 and has involved 8 partners coming from 7 European
countries. The focus of the LICI project and its products
was the language of learning and instruction in a CLIL
environment. The Language In Content Instruction (LICI)
model emphasizes the role of language resources in encoding
content-specific meaning. Language and meaning are
integrated, and by extending language, meaning resources
extend accordingly. The language focus consists of the
training of language skills (listening, speaking, reading and
writing), vocabulary and grammar. For linking content with
language, general and content-specific thinking skills and
strategies are analysed. This paper focuses on the analysis
of theoretical issues as well as practical examples illustrating
how it might be possible to select and use different strategies
in order to develop listening skills in a CLIL environment.