From ESP to CLIL and back again: on linguistic aspects in vocational training

The aim of the paper is to offer a critical comparison of approaches to English language instruction – two CLIL and ESP provision. The theoretical section falls into two parts, each devoted to one of the respective approaches. The latter section of the paper is devoted to linguistic aspects of instruction and bring to the readers’ attention the phenomenon of English as a lingua franca, followed by a presentation of a taxonomy of effective CLIL provision based on research carried out in schools in The Netherlands by Rick de Graaff and collaborators (Graaff et al., 2006, 2007).