Narrative of EU heritage diplomacy in the CLIL classroom: A cognitive linguistic approach
Abstract
Done from the standpoint of applied linguistics, this study demonstrates convergence of ideas and findings served by political narratology, cognitive linguistics, and CLIL methodology (Content and Language Integrated Learning), where the foreign language of instruction is English. The study shows how the topic “European Union (EU) heritage diplomacy”, important for today’s narrative space of European politics, can be taught in the CLIL classroom that uses cognitive ontologies as a scaffolding technique. The development of cognitive ontologies proposed in this enquiry grounds on the algorithmic ‘modelling grammar’ of basic propositional schemas (BPSs) defined in Semantics of Lingual Networks (Zhabotynska, 2019) – a cognitive linguistic conception focused on structuring information delivered with language. As a scaffolding device for arranging the topic “EU heritage diplomacy” taught to students of International Relations, a cognitive ontology provides this topic’s systematization and narrative cohesion, thus contributing to students’ understanding of WHAT to say. Besides, an ontological arrangement of the topic supplies rationale behind its division into educational modules and their constituents. A cognitive ontology also becomes the means for arranging phrasal sets of the authentic English expressions featuring the topic, thus facilitating acquisition of the language and enhancing students’ ‘HOW to say’ proficiency. The study argues that cognitive ontologies are not only an efficient tool of teaching, but also a useful instrument for developing students’ ability to adequately process professionally relevant content, and create coherent and cohesive narratives of this content – the skills that the modern society, immersed in information and communication flows, badly needs.
Downloads
References
Banirostam, T., Mirzaie, K., & Fesharaki, M. N. (2012). A conceptual model for ontology-based learning. International Journal of Research in Computer Science, 2(6), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.7815/IJORCS.26.2012.050
Borst, W. (1997). Construction of engineering ontologies for knowledge sharing and reuse (PhD thesis, Institute for Telematica and Information Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands).Retrieved from https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/construction-of-engineering-ontologies-for-knowledge-sharing-and-/
Chaban, N., Zhabotynska, S., & Knodt, M. (2023). What makes strategic narrative efficient: Ukraine on Russian e-news platforms. Cooperation and Conflict, 58(4), 419-440. https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367231161272
Cinganotto, L., Benedetti, F., & Guida, M. (2019). Guidelines on CLIL methodology. Developed in the framework of the European project CLIL for STEAM Project number: 2019-1-PL01- KA201-065027. Università Telematica degli Studi. Retrieved from: https://clil4steam.pixel-online.org/files/results/Guidelines%20on%20CLIL%20Methodology.pdf
Fajardo-Dack, T., Argudo, J., C., & Abad, M. (2010). Language and teaching methodology features of CLIL in university classrooms: a research synthesis. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 22(1), 40–54.
Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: content and language integrated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Gang, H. (2022). The Application of narrative research in international relations. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, vol. 673 2022 3rd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2022), 258–261. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362198469_The_Application_of_Narrative_Research_in_International_Relations
Guarino, N., Oberle, D., & Staab, S. (2009). What is an ontology? In N. Guarino, D. Oberle, & S. Staab (Eds.), Handbook on Ontologies (pp. 1–17). Berlin – Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Gruber, T. R. (1993). A Translation approach to portable ontologies. Knowledge Acquisition, 5(2), 199–220.
Li, Z., Yang, M. C., & Ramani, K. (2009). A methodology for engineering ontology acquisition and validation. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 23, 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0890060409000092
Mahan, K. R. (2022). The comprehending teacher: scaffolding in content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The Language Learning Journal, 50(1), 74–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2019.1705879
Marsh, D. (1994). Bilingual education and content and language integrated learning. International Association for Cross-cultural Communication, Language Teaching in the Member States of the European Union (Lingua). Paris: University of Sorbonne.
Miskimmon, A., O’Loughlin, B., & Roselle, L. (2013). Strategic narratives: communication power and new world order. New York – London: Routledge.
Narratives and story-telling in UR theory. (n.d.). Flashcards World. Retrieved November 11, 2025, from https://flashcards.world/flashcards/sets/1cd4004d-0cfd-4b5a-a38d-f38e337d96d3/
Roberts, G. (2006). History, theory and narrative turn in IR. Review of International Studies, 34(4), 703–714. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210506007248
Shanks, G., Tansley, E., & Weber, R. (2003). Using ontology to validate conceptual models. Communications of the ACM, 46(10), 85–89. https://doi.org/10.1145/944217.944244
Smith, B. (2003). Ontology. In L. Floridi (Ed.), Guide to the philosophy of computing and information (pp. 155–166). Oxford: Blackwell.
Sowa, J. F. (2001). Building, sharing, and merging ontologies. Retrieved from http://www.jfsowa.com/ontology/ontoshar.htm
Studer, R., Benjamins, R., & Fensel, D. (1998). Knowledge engineering: Principles and methods. Data & Knowledge Engineering, 25(1–2), 161–198.
Waisbord, S. (2019). The 5Ws and 1H of digital journalism. Digital Journalism, 7(3), 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2018.1545592
Zhabotynska, S. A. (2020). Types of ontologies for narrative-based concepts (a case of media narratives of COVID-19). The 3rd International Scientific-Practical Conference “Topical Problems of Romance and Germanic Philology Within the Context of Anthropocentric Paradigm”, 19–22. Kyiv: National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j1cD6Zoy_UjWr5j-j3hkBt0hVXXqtX2T/view
Zhabotynska, S. A. (2019). Semantics of lingual networks in the Active Learner’s Combinatory Thesausus. Studia Philologica, 13, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.28925/2311-2425.2019.13.3 (in Ukrainian).
Zhabotynska, S., & Plakhotniuk, Ye. (2020). The active learner's construction-combinatory thesaurus: User-driven principles of compiling (a cognitive linguistic approach). Cognition, communication, discourse, 21, 93–107. https://doi.org/10.26565/2218-2926-2020-21-07
Copyright (c) 2025 Svitlana Zhabotynska, Anastasiya Velikan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors, who publish with this journal, accept the following conditions:
The authors reserve the copyright of their work and transfer to the journal the right of the first publication of this work under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which allows other persons to freely distribute a published work with mandatory reference to the authors of the original work and the first publication of the work in this journal.
Authors have the right to enter into separate additional agreements for the non-exclusive dissemination of the work in the form in which it was published by this journal (for example, to post the work in the electronic institutions' repository or to publish as part of a monograph), provided that the link to the first publication of the work in this journal is given.
The journal policy allows and encourages the authors to place the manuscripts on the Internet (for example, in the institutions' repositories or on personal websites), both before the presentation of this manuscript to the editorial board and during review procedure, as it contributes to the creation of productive scientific discussion and positively affects the efficiency and dynamics of citing the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
