On 5 October 2026, FHSS welcomed Dr. Shuwen Liu, Assistant Professor at the School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, to deliver a guest lecture and workshop entitled “Language for Learning Academic Subjects: Understanding CLIL and EMI” for undergraduate students in Applied Linguistics.

▲Dr. Shuwen Liu introduces the role of language in academic learning.

Dr. Liu introduced Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and English-Medium Instruction (EMI), explaining their different aims and the language demands of academic learning. A biology task encouraged students to consider how language helps learners explain concepts and participate in classroom discussion. She also discussed ways to support subject learning through academic language and multilingual resources.

In the workshop, students explored how to design a CLIL lesson on Macau’s multilingualism, using its linguistic landscape as a teaching resource. They considered content and language goals, discussed their ideas with peers and contributed to classroom exchanges. The session connected concepts in applied linguistics with practical teaching decisions and introduced possibilities for research on language and education.

                           ▲Students take part in classroom tasks and peer discussion.                  ▲ A student contributes to the classroom exchange.

The exchange helped students connect their understanding of CLIL and EMI with practical approaches to teaching and learning in multilingual settings. Through examining Macau’s linguistic landscape, it also encouraged students to engage as citizen sociolinguists, developing greater awareness of how language choices in public spaces reflect local communities and sociocultural contexts. This academic exchange was supported and funded by The Macau Foundation under project Empowering Macau’s sociocultural linguistic landscape: A citizen sociolinguistics approach (MF2505).