At the recent ECML project network meeting in Graz, the team introduced a new layer of the Pluriliteracies for Global Citizenship approach — the 4Rs Framework: Reading, Repositioning, Reflecting, and Responding.
Building on the theoretical foundations of Beyond CLIL, the 4Rs Framework translates pluriliteracies principles into concrete classroom design. Each “R” represents a distinct literacy practice:
- Reading across multilingual and plurimodal texts;
- Repositioning through multiperspectival inquiry;
- Reflecting with epistemic humility and empathy;
- Responding through dialogue and responsible action.
Together, these practices form spirals of deeper learning, enabling language learners to connect conceptual, linguistic, and citizenship growth.
To make the framework teachable and observable, the project introduced three complementary tools:
- Deeper Learning Episodes (DLEs) – design units that structure progression from activation to transfer;
- Ten Principles of Task Fidelity – guidelines for ensuring relevance, scaffolding, and feedback;
- Revised Guiding Questions for Teachers and Learners – prompts that translate design principles into classroom dialogue.
Alongside these tools, the team also presented a first version of descriptor bands for each of the 4Rs. The team will be assisted by world-renowned expert Prof. Francisco Lorenzo who presented the first research results conducted within the COST-project CLIL Network for Languages in Education: Towards bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies (CLILNetLE).
These descriptors provide a formative assessment tool for observing and supporting learners’ development of pluriliteracies in the languages classroom, helping teachers trace progression and give feedback across Reading, Repositioning, Reflecting, and Responding.
Participants provided constructive and highly valuable feedback and input, helping the team fine-tune both the framework and its tools so that they better reflect diverse teaching contexts.
By linking theory and practice, the 4Rs Framework supports teachers in breaking down classroom walls — connecting learning with global and local realities and affirming the languages classroom as a space where global citizenship is not only discussed but practised.
Authors: PlurlitCit team