This chapter offers insights into the policy and practice of science education in English in Kazakhstan. Science education is currently seen as synonymous with education in English through the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach, but this position has evolved over time as the policy has expanded across schools. Previous studies in Kazakhstan have found that teachers hold positive attitudes towards teaching science in English but experience practical challenges in teaching methods and linguistic resources. To better understand these challenges, a case study of science teachers was conducted jointly by the University of Cambridge and the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education (NUGSE) in 2019. Observations were conducted and evaluated using a modified Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). The data indicate a dearth of innovation and transformation of STEM education, and of application of CLIL pedagogies. Overall, these findings seem to point to the need for sustained professional development that lasts over an extended time so that teachers can understand how to implement STEM education reform efforts and CLIL pedagogy.

Teresa Connolly argues that a profound understanding of key chemistry concepts and processes is as fundamental to scientific literacy as mastering complex procedures and skills, such as performing experiments, interpreting data or communicating one’s findings using specific text types. However, she points out that such an understanding of chemical concepts is inhibited not only by learners’ poor command of academic language but also by the fact that chemical processes can be observed at different levels of abstraction. This poses a specific challenge in chemistry because learners often report having difficulties distinguishing clearly between processes at the sub-microscopic, the microscopic and the macroscopic level, which will lead to misconceptions and prevent deeper understanding. To address that issue, Connolly’s deeper learning episode on redox reactions offers engaging ways of promoting scientific reasoning through a series of student-led experiments and inquiry. Systematic guidance in academic language use will enable learners to express their findings and observations precisely and adequately and thus help them distinguish the processes occurring at various levels of abstraction with increasing ease and confidence.

The present chapter focuses on the benefits of task-supported interaction among child foreign language learners. It reviews research carried out in English as a foreign language (EFL) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL) contexts, and highlights the affordances of child–child interaction in settings where access to input is restricted. The chapter provides a rationale for the increasing interest in research with the underexplored population of young learners in foreign language contexts. It also features a summary of the main findings from research carried out to date within two frameworks, namely, interactionist (Long, 1996) and sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978). The children in the studies are in the so-called middle childhood stage, a developmental stage characterized by their becoming more logical in their thinking. The studies chosen for this chapter have considered the importance of negotiation of meaning and the impact of repeating a task on interactional patterns, attention to language form, complexity, accuracy and fluency of production and the use of the first language. The contribution ends with several suggestions for further research with young learners.

This chapter addresses the following questions:

• Why is transition important?

• What factors need to be taken into account when considering CLIL and transition?

The proposed answers are informed by research carried out in the north of England and in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany, which gave the learners, the key stakeholders, a voice.

Research on foreign language teaching in primary schools from the 1960s to more recent times identifies transition from primary school to secondary school in this subject area as a problematic issue. CLIL, as a possible solution to the problems associated with transition, is not without its challenges. However, these are challenges worth confronting. CLIL gives real meaning to learning a foreign language and offers learners the opportunity to combine foreign language learning with the learning of other subjects. This facilitates the exploitation of the limited space on the school timetable – the primary school timetable in particular.

This chapter highlights an innovative approach to bilingual school programmes in government schools in Australia. The phenomenon, which can be described as merged or harmonized curriculum, integrates the national curriculum requirements of two countries. Formal merged curricula are usually underpinned by an official bilateral government agreement. Informal merged curricula can take different forms depending on the contexts and people involved; the example used here describes how teachers at a school with a Japanese bilingual programme use aspects of maths curriculum and pedagogy drawn from Australia and Japan. The chapter introduces examples of formal and informal merged curricula in two schools and analyses them from a theoretical perspective based on the 4Cs Framework, the Language Triptych and the seven principles as outlined in Chapter 1 (Coyle, 2007). This study highlights one of the 4Cs – culture – but understands that all 4Cs are interconnected. Merged curricula provide a useful lens to analyse cultural implications of bilingual education.