Higher education in Japan is going through a period of profound change. As universities attempt to respond to the needs of students and society, some are looking abroad for new approaches. One example is a recent surge in interest in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in tertiary education. This is closely related to government initiatives for globalisation in education, competition amongst universities for both local and international students, and growth of English Medium of Instruction (EMI) at the undergraduate level. These pressures will also be familiar to university educators around Asia and elsewhere. CLIL offers an approach to preparing students to study specific academic content while also improving language skills. However, much of the early work in developing CLIL took place in European primary and secondary education, so how does CLIL fit in this new environment? The understanding and application of this approach necessarily changes as it travels to other contexts, but its implementation promises deep effects on the identities of learners and institutions.
