A Report On CLIL
A Report On CLIL
A Report On CLIL
Summary
What is CLIL A short movie ............................................................................................................................. 2 A definition of CLIL How CLIL is strongly linked to education ........................................................................ 2 Five dimensions of CLIL ................................................................................................................................. 3 CLIL and European integration .......................................................................................................................... 4 History ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 How CLIL distributes in Europe...................................................................................................................... 4 CLIL and marks ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Language Learning in CLIL ................................................................................................................................. 5 Curricular models .......................................................................................................................................... 5 The CLIL Learner ............................................................................................................................................ 6 The CLIL Teacher ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Recent Research ................................................................................................................................................ 8 CCN- CLIL Network..................................................................................................................................... 8 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Benefits .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 How to teach in CLIL? Some remarks on CLIL methodology ............................................................................. 9 Methodological Approach ............................................................................................................................. 9 The Co-Operative Learning .......................................................................................................................... 10 Teaching Materials ...................................................................................................................................... 11 The Situation in Polish Schools ........................................................................................................................ 12 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
On March, 28th/30th/31st 2012, professor Katarzyna Papaja introduced the classroom to the world of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). At the beginning, a short movie was showed to describe how students were related to this teaching model which is widely expanding throughout European education systems. Basically, CLIL is a way to teach certain non-linguistic subjects in a second language (L2) in order to improve learners skills and their confidence with the language itself. Of course, English is not the only language of CLIL. The short movie showed different models of education, modelled by construction instead of instruction. The project was born thanks to the will of some language teachers who are trying to find a way to teach a second language to their pupils considering it not as a group of grammar rules, but as a powerful tool to communicate. Interviewed students consider the project as a positive experience because studying in English make them feel more confident and opened to new experiences; this method improves the diffusion of language and, more important, teachers and learners learn every day something new, together. Its important to say that students learn L2 in real situations by working in pairs or groups. Obviously at the beginning it has been difficult for everyone to change their way of looking at language: you have to change your way of thinking and its fundamental to consider every content in the second language, not only translating every word. Some teachers were puzzled about their ability to express contents in another language and how learners would have understood what they were saying but finally motivation helped both teachers and learners to get productively involved into the project. Spanish students, in particular, found the project very useful because it helped them to find job for airlines companies in Canada easily, same thing for Milanese students who are learning economics in German. Germany is a very competitive economical partner for Italy and so it is important for an Italian student to deal with German language; more, Dutch is an officially recognized minority language in Italy because its used by about 200.000 speakers every day in the Alto-Adige Sd Tirol region. Studies conducted in other countries have shown how some bilingual learners are able to get better grades than their monolingual-learning mates.
Marsh, David and Lang Gisella, Using Languages to Learn and Learning to use Languages, (Jyvskyl & Milan: 2000).
Three important points: 1) CLIL must not be regarded simply as an approach to language teaching and learning. 2) Within a CLIL framework, content and language are learnt in integration. 3) In CLIL another language is used to teach and learn content subjects, i.e. it is the medium of instruction.
A report on CLIL, by Enzo Santilli | A definition of CLIL How CLIL is strongly linked to education
to motivate students: work in pairs or groups is one of the best ways. In most cases learners are motivated because theyre showed they can use their skills outside classes.
European Schools were very expensive private schools in which it was possible to learn a different language. In 1998 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe encouraged the use of foreign languages in the teaching of non-linguistical subjects, then in 2000 the Action Plan 2004-2006promoting language learning and linguistic diversity was born. In 2004 we have the Progress Report:
National authority should encourage a generalization of content and language interested learning (CLIL) by defining the standards of teacher qualification and supporting the preparation to appropriate teaching materials 3.
This basically was about how to train up professors to teach a non-linguistical subject in a non mother tongue language. Since 2004 theres a few quantity of teachers and materials, still. In 2004 CLILIG (Content Language and Integrated Learning in German ) was founded, together with the CLIL Quality Matrix (how to teach in CLIL). Further readings about other CLIL since 2004 are available on many websites such as: Clilcompendium.com - Euroclic.net - Tieclil.org Factworld.info.
European Union, Ch. IV, in White Paper on Education and Training: Teaching and Learning Towards the Learning Society, Part. II: Building the Learning Society, (1995), pp. 47-49 (p. 47). 3 European Commission, Annex: Implementation of the Policy Recommendations, in Implementation of Education and Training 2010 Work Programme, (Bruxelles, 2004), pp. 17-30 (p. 23).
non as a part of mainstream projects. Finally there are also CLIL provision within pilot subject programme and non CLIL provision. In Italy CLIL is a part of mainstream project, for example in some schools in Milan. In some places CLIL doesnt work, mainly because teachers are not prepared and its not easy to set up a new kind of education.
Curricular models
There are four different curricular models a school can choose. Model A: teacher-based instruction with continuous use of student pair/group work tasks. Extensive English Language Medium Instruction: students are in the centre and teachers are supposed to guide them. Generally, lessons are given 90% in English, 10% in mother tongue.
A report on CLIL, by Enzo Santilli | Language Learning in CLIL 5
More, every curricula can be structured in two or more different teaching types. Type A: Single Focus (the main focus is on content). Teachers dont concentrate on language that much, but mostly on contents. Type B: Dual Focus (focus is on both content and language L1 or L2). This is the case when mother tongue is used at 10%.
Model B: mostly teacher-based instruction with limited use of student pair/group work tasks. The teacher is in the centre and is the one who talks most time. Partial L2 Medium Instruction are given (so theres a lot of code-switching), it means that during the lesson content is explained in mother tongue (50-60% English or L2, rest in mother tongue, arguably too much). Type A and Type B: same as Model A.
Model C: mostly teacher-based instruction with limited use of student pair/group work tasks. Limited L2 Medium Instruction (code-switching, again). About 20-30% of second language used. Type A and Type B: same as Model A and Model B.
Model D: variant types do not allow for selecting a single type of instructional approach. Specific L2 Medium Instruction, with only limited amount of time allocated to the use of L2. Type A: sequence of lessons taught in L1 followed by a lesson conducted mainly in L2. Type B: a lesson which is mostly taught in L2 but concludes a lesson introduced in L1. Theres alternation between L1 and L2 because every lesson is explained twice, in the two different languages. Type C: the material used in class are in L2, the lesson conducted in L1. Type D: a large portion of the content material acquired earlier in L1, knowledge recapitulated in the form of project work done by the students in L2.
Some of this four model types can be considered questionable at the very least, if not useless. The number of curricula is so elevated because theres a pretty relevant number of professors who simply dont know English so they can only teach according to their L2 knowledge level and so they have to adopt the must consonant model with their level of preparation. Preparation courses for teachers are organized as well, but they are quite expensive (for both organizers and attendants) and its hard to find money to set this courses up and people available to spend that money for specializing.
Develops language awareness; Is more autonomous than traditional language learner. They have to spend a lot of time by studying at home so they have to be autonomous.
In other words the CLIL learner processes the content more deeply whereas the mother-tongue learner processes the content in a more shallow way.
Marsh established some idealized competencies a teacher should have: 1. Language and communication, so the teacher should have sufficient target language knowledge and pragmatic skills for CLIL, so has to be a producer of comprehensible input for learners. The teacher should be a very good speaker, not only sufficient. He/her should develop a very good knowledge of the used language as well. 2. Theory. The teacher should have comprehension of the differences and similarities between the concepts of language learning and language acquisition. This because learning a language means to know it unconsciously: e.g if the learner is in UK and hears someone talking on the street, he/her should be able to perfectly recall that conversation. To learn a language instead simply means to open a book and learn grammar rules. This is where the difference between learning and acquisition lies: to learn a language it doesnt means that you can use it. 3. Methodology. Its the ability to identify linguistic difficulties, ability to use communication /interaction methods that facilitate the understanding of meaning. Ability to use strategies (eg. repetition, echoing, etc..) for corrections and for modelling good language use; ability to use dual-focused activities which simultaneously cater for language and subject aspects. 4. The Learning Environment. The teacher should have the ability to work with learners of different linguistic/cultural backgrounds. By considering that students come from different social classes, a teacher should be able to adapt to each one. 5. Materials Development. There are several problems over lack of teaching materials. So the teacher must have: ability to adapt and exploit materials, ability to select complementary material on a given topic. 6. Assessment. Its the ability to develop and implement evaluation and assessment tools. Teachers evaluate content and language by spoken exams and essays. In most cases students are given written tests, mostly because they are easier to check. When the
A report on CLIL, by Enzo Santilli | Language Learning in CLIL 7
language is not that good they have lower marks, but when the content is not ok they have even lower marks, this demonstrating how content is important in CLIL. In some classes teachers give choice to students allowing them to choose in which language they prefer to speak, of course the student who choose mother tongue will have a lower mark. Choosing language is not very constructive, but in some cases students doesnt feel too much confident to speak English so it wouldnt be right forcing them to talk in a code they dont feel comfortable with.
Recent Research
There are five fields of interest concerning CLIL: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The acquisition of linguistic competence in a CLIL classroom; The acquisition of content subject competence in a CLIL classroom; The acquisition of intercultural competence in a CLIL classroom; Content subject methodology in a CLIL context; Evaluation of CLIL by teachers.
CCN- CLIL Network Its a network which has been established especially for CLIL teachers. At a certain point teachers where really worried about CLIL, they wanted to teach in another language but they didnt know how to do it, so the CLIL Network was set up. It is considered like a sort of CLIL-Facebook on where its possible to exchange experiences and opinions.
Conclusions
CLIL is good. But there are some problems connected with CLIL learners, CLIL teachers, CLIL schools, society. One of these is that CLIL learners do not feel really confident with this everyday language, they have not a specialized vocabulary and dont have some real-life communications. Motivation decreases during courses, someone really wants to give up the programme, because it is very tiring and demanding to learn something in another language. Unfortunately in some schools this programme is followed only by special children: the ones who have money to pay the programme itself. Not everyone can afford it. CLIL teachers sometimes are not well educate, they are not extra-paid for special courses. This is what happens in Poland, but in Germany they are paid 50% more, in Norway 80% more. Maybe paying them should be more motivating. Schools: schools dont have money and materials. Society: Governments doesnt provide money but overall young people have a very few knowledge of the foreign language and they are better paid outside the Country, so if they choose to pay for a good education they prefer to do it abroad.
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Benefits
CLIL is good for CLIL learners because they will feel more confident, they can work abroad. Teachers can learn and/or specialize in a new language, they have new possibilities even about teaching abroad. CLIL schools will be advantage by being more attractive. Society will have more educated people, more people speaking a foreign language, more competitive people. Another short film finally showed the class how CLIL is intended to be Learning by construction, not learning but instruction and how we have to rethink what we teach, how we teach. Using while you learn and learning while you use is the future of language learning.
Methodological Approach
Reading skills are regarded as very important in the CLIL classroom because learners work with documents and other sources in order to acquire knowledge in the content subject. A specific CLIL methodology has to take into account the promotion of reading skills as they often decide on the students success or failure. The most important thing is the integration of content and language in the CLIL classroom. The CLIL methodology is based on teaching content and language and the content of the subject is in the centre of the learning-teaching process. In order to deal with the content in a foreign language learners have to acquire both knowledge and skills which are necessary to manipulate this content. This means that teacher must be able to approach the right way to teach certain contents. CLIL learners are provided with huge quantities of lexicon every day by reading a lot, simple lists of words dont work. According to Crystal the relationship between content and language requires comprehensive frame of reference in which the theories, methods and findings of various professional domains dealing with language are interrelated 5. Of course, some teachers are more focused on content, other ones on language. In CLIL one should begin by providing more general content-subject
4
Blanton, Linda Lonon, A holistic approach to college ESL: integrating language and content, in ELT Journal, 46/3 (Oxford University Press, 1992), 285-293 (p. 285). 5 Crystal, David, Towards a Philosophy of Language Management, in Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 1 (2008), 43-53 (p. 43).
A report on CLIL, by Enzo Santilli | How to teach in CLIL? Some remarks on CLIL methodology
oriented terminology and should then slowly move towards a more and more specific vocabulary. When new terms are introduced during classes, this should be done first in a more general way, then more specifically; teacher should then help learners to classify, identify, define, explain and conclude topics about taught topics. In fact, learners will be asked to explain how and why some phenomena work, so they need to learn a specific language in order to be able to explain learned phenomena. Apart from that, the teacher should also concentrate on making induction, stating laws, describing states and process, working graphs, diagrams, tables. This is very important in some subjects such as geography, where you have to learn the specific subregister used in the given subject. In fact those discourse skills belonging to the general functional set should be paid attention to during all CLIL content lessons as the ability to define, describe or classify certain concepts may be needed during geography, biology, mathematics or other content subject. It is also advisable to pay attention to particular skills in reference to the CLIL content subjects, e.g. working with paragraphs or diagrams can be practiced during mathematics, the ability to describe states or processes can be focused on during geography or chemistry ecc. This happens for example when explaining maths formulas. It is also useful to work with first language materials. Mother tongue should be present during lessons in CLIL but the teacher should be very capable in code-switching, when necessary. In Poland students have to give their final exam (Matura) in Polish even if they had courses in L2, and thats pointless enough. Functional bilingualism is the use of the mother tongue and mother tongue materials when necessary e.g. using Polish when discussing the history of Poland.
Three important people: Mehisto, Marsh and Frisco talked about multiple focus and today they are working on some important methodological aspect. Supporting language learning in content classes, supporting content learning in language classes, integrating several subjects (according to them is very important to learn at least two subjects in a foreign language, one subject is not enough), organizing learning through cross-curricular themes and projects, supporting reflection on the learning process. Then is important to safe and enriching learning environment: using routine activities and discourse (students like some routine activities), displaying language and content throughout the classroom (posters, vocabularies etc.), building learners confidence to experiment with language and content (learners should not be afraid of experimenting), using classroom learning centres, guiding access to authentic learning materials and environments (it should be done by teaching how to work with certain materials such as internet and journal articles), and of course increasing learners interest and motivation. Authenticity. Learners have to ask for the language help they need (they shouldnt be afraid to ask), maximizing the accommodation of learners interests, making a regular connection between learning and learners lives (they have to feel this sensation that they are doing something useful), connecting with other speakers of the CLIL language (teachers should establish connections with other speakers from other CLIL countries, such as student exchanges), using current materials from the media and other sources (teachers should be up-to-date). Active learning. Learners should communicate more than the teachers, they should help setting content. Teachers should evaluate progress in achieving learner outcomes. Favouring peer cooperative work, negotiating the meaning, language and content with learners. This means acting as facilitators. Scaffolding. Building on learners existing knowledge, skills, attitudes, interest and experience. Its very important to make a lot of revision. Repackaging information in user-friendly ways, responding to different learning styles because every learner has different needs and different ways to learn, someone learns quickly someone else slower, someone learns by hearing, someone else learns by watching: everyone should have the opportunity to learn. Fostering creative and critical thinking (academic skills) is important too and challenging learners to take another step forward and not just coasts in comfort as well. Teacher should motivate learners to learn more. Co-operation. Courses/lessons/themes should be given in co-operation with CLIL and non CLIL teachers. Involving parents in learning about CLIL and how to support learners would be very useful, above all at the beginning when kids need more support possible. Co-operation should be social as well: in some places when a teacher goes abroad for some reason a big conference is organized to celebrate the event, and when he/she comes back the conference room is full of commercial posters.
Teaching Materials
CLIL teacher should not expect to be able to teach the same amount of content when using the L2 as when using the L1. A new kind of programme is needed. Teaching through L2 makes the quality
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of teaching and learning higher because CLIL teachers have more areas to concentrate on than the regular subject content. CLIL teachers should carefully scrutinize available materials. Texts from publications should be selected with great care, as L2 readability, requirements, or socio-cultural orientation, can arise learning motivation and outcomes. Teachers should identify and contact counterparts in the country or abroad to locate key L2 materials and materials made by teachers themselves should be of a very high L2 standard. Its not enough just going on the Wikipedia and print an article.Some geography teachers, in Poland, are currently trying to realize adequate texts. Another crucial aspect is the adoption of material from other countries that can create a number of different problems. In fact, it is very difficult to teach the curriculum used in one Nation by using materials designed for another one. By taking an American history text, for example, learner will have an American point of view of history, because education in never neutral. The use of so called imported materials may be very confusing but a contamination of such materials may be even dangerous.
Conclusions
The European Framework for CLIL Teacher Education aims to: provide a set of principles and ideas for designing CLIL professional development curricula. It seeks to serve as a tool for reflection. It is proposed as a conceptual lens and model, not as a prescriptive template and focuses on macrolevel universal competences of CLIL educators. CLIL would benefit enormously if it was integrated methodologically into an approach defined by the principles of learner autonomy and if it did make better use of the resources and the tool functions of the New Technologies. Most of materials used in CLIL should be done with the help of new technologies, computer should be a fundamental part of the whole learning process because today life is meaningless without a computer. Sadly, some teachers cant use a pc. If we consider CLIL as a modern approach to teaching a learning this is a very striking contradiction so we must
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rethink the approach and develop it in a modern way with modern technologies. Every student should have a personal computer in the classroom, and this is already happening in Norway: on every September students have a new pc per head, then they give it back to the school at the end of the scholastic year and they will have an updated one when the next year will start. All the exercises are done on an electronic software, and no more papers really means looking at the school system from an avant-gardiste point of view. Enzo Santilli
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
All quotations from academics and from professor Papajas slides in italic.
Blanton, Linda Lonon, A holistic approach to college ESL: integrating language and content, in ELT Journal, 46/3 (Oxford University Press, 1992), 285-293 Crystal, David, Towards a Philosophy of Language Management, in Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 1 (2008), 43-53 European Commission, Annex: Implementation of the Policy Recommendations, in Implementation of Education and Training 2010 Work Programme, (Bruxelles, 2004), pp. 17-30 European Union, Ch. IV, in White Paper on Education and Training: Teaching and Learning Towards the Learning Society, Part. II: Building the Learning Society, (1995), pp. 47-49 Marsh, David and Lang Gisella, Using Languages to Learn and Learning to use Languages, (Jyvskyl & Milan: 2000)
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