CLIL
Ελένη Ξανθάκου (Med) Εκπαιδευτικός Αγγλικής 2ο Πρότυπο Πειραματικό Γυμνάσιο Αθήνας 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form—except for teaching purposes in Greek State Schools with prior acknowledgement of the author/s.
Απαγορεύεται η αναδημοσίευση και γενικά η αναπαραγωγή του παρόντος έργου με οποιονδήποτε τρόπο – εκτός από τη χρήση του για εκπαιδευτικούς λόγους στα Ελληνικά Δημόσια Σχολεία μετά από προηγούμενη αναφορά στον συγγραφέα ή τους συγγραφείς.
ISBN 978-960-93-5470-7 © Eleni Xanthakou 2013 Ελένη Ξανθάκου 2013 First published in 2013 by Eleni Xanthakou, Athens, Greece Πρώτη Έκδοση το 2013 από την Ελένη Ξανθάκου, Αθήνα, Ελλάδα
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Contents
Page
What is CLIL
4
Why use CLIL
6
Language enhancement in CLIL
7
Suitable subjects for CLIL
8
Impediments in CLIL course-design
9
Practical tips for CLIL Teachers
10
Practical questions to elicit student talk
11
CLIL evaluation
12
CLIL History: A sample activity
13
Listening Worksheet
16
Debate Worksheet
17
Resources
19
Bibliography
21
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What is CLIL Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) entails approaching a Curriculum subject through a language which is not the one normally used. It is a new form of Content Based Instruction (CBI) - a lot like immersion where you do not have an ‘English’ class but learn English by studying another topic or subject. Based on Fred Genesee (2003), it is a bilingual/immersion content-driven approach where mastery of academic objectives
is
considered
as
important
as
the
proficiency in the target language. The approach is applicable in all sectors of education from primary to adult and higher education. Teachers involved in CLIL may be either specialists in their own discipline or language
teachers
working
in
collaboration
with
cognitive field experts to design courses in various subjects. CLIL is intended to provide knowledge in a ‘non-language’ subject as well as insight into the way the foreign language is used though tasks designed to meet specific subject content needs. 4
CLIL reflects the field of modern foreign language learning pedagogy which is closely connected to the student-centered
approaches
of
task-based
and
project-based language learning (Willis, 1996; Ellis, 2003). Emphasis is placed on the functional use of language, putting fluency before accuracy or meaning before form (Littlewood, 2004). An active construction of knowledge (Wolff, 2002) is promoted through authentic communication processes leading to learner autonomy, cooperation and collaboration (Little, 1991; Dam, 1995). Finally, authentic materials used to develop an understanding and reconstruction of a foreign perspective on a particular topic, allow students to attain ‘a sphere of interculturality’ (Kramsch, 1993) establishing a relationship between their own and other systems. On a practical level, course design reflects the 4Cs of CLIL as suggested by Coyle, 1999), namely: -
Content (lesson topic)
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- Communication (Content obligatory language & content compatible language) - Cognition (HOTS :higher order thinking skills & LOTS: lower order thinking skills) - Culture (Community or Citizenship lesson focus) Why use CLIL Based on the European Commission, CLIL is considered highly effective as it: - promotes
intercultural
awareness
and
communication skills - builds
language
competence
and
oral
communication skills - fosters multilingual interests and attitudes - offers alternative means of curricular subject approach - provides a realistic context for target language use 6
- offers extensive practice in the target language within curricular restrains - promotes cross-thematic unity and curriculum cohesion - encourages diversity in teaching approach and syllabus design - provides stimulus for students participation and class advancement both in the target language and the subject being taught Language enhancement in CLIL CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taught through a foreign language with dual-focussed aims, namely the learning of content, and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language. (David Marsh, 2002) Language is promoted as
comprehension
skills
seem
to
require
comprehensible input. To be more specific, content learning
entails
content-specific
vocabulary,
concepts, discourse as well as general and content7
specific thinking skills and related language. Limited use of mother tongue is acceptable in CLIL, facilitating code switching as well as language awareness-raising processes. Simultaneously, peer interaction and group work create dynamic ZPDs allowing for negotiation of meaning and form. Finally, challenging spoken and written output promotes both language proficiency as well as meta-cognitive skills. Suitable subjects for CLIL Every subject or subject area is eligible for CLIL, that is: - humanities and social science subjects (history, geography, social studies), - natural science subjects (mathematics, physics, biology) and - creative subjects (art, sports, music) Learners are genuinely encouraged to go beyond the fictional contents of foreign language teaching and 8
deal cognitively, consciously and emotionally with any given curriculum subject, promoting optimal learning processes. Traditional classroom settings give way to modern forms of joint learning allowing students to acquire autonomy through group and project work. Impediments in CLIL course-design - Resources (material is hard to find and almost always needs to be adapted) - Language (L2 competence) - Methodology
(no
clear
description
of
CLIL
methodology) - Students ( students need to get really involved for CLIL to work) - Teacher interaction and teamwork - Time allocation - Assessment - Group dynamics 9
- Networking systems Practical tips for CLIL Teachers Teachers attempting to apply CLIL should: - adjust teacher talk allowing students more time to speak - provide more thinking time - elicit student talk - activate background information - trigger high-order thinking through open-ended questions - design material which reflects feedback acquired in the process - make use of visual aids (realia, graphs, charts, photos, objects etc) - use authentic material (texts, illustrations, maps, demonstrations, photos, video clips etc)
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- organize
content
through
graphic
organizers
(semantic webs, cause and effect structures etc) - train students to apply word inference skills as well as word trees - provide scaffolding, i.e. content and language support strategies - establish a collaborative working environment for teachers and students - maintain a good rapport among teachers and students - apply formative assessment to evaluate course efficiency and learner progress Practical questions to elicit student talk - What is the difference between … and ….? - What do you think ... is? - What does … remind you of? - Explain why… 11
- What would happen, if… - What’s another example of…? - How could ….be used to….? - What is the counter argument for? - How would you argue that...? - What are the causes of…? How do you know? CLIL evaluation As CLIL is yet another model of theoretical teaching, it is open to praise and critical appraisal. Model validity and usefulness need to be further explored based on evaluation criteria for language teaching methods (Long, 2011), namely: - Simplicity and beauty - Internal validity and logical argumentation - Assimilating power - Predictive power - Theoretical motivations 12
- Empirical support - General consistency Further research will determine whether CLIL is an educational model fostering plurilingualism (based on the
European
Commission)
or
another
eclectic
approach to language teaching. CLIL History: A sample activity The Age of Enlightenment This is a listening activity based on a History video on
Galileo
Galilei.
The
listening
is
at
intermediate/upper-intermediate level. It is to be used after Unit 1/Chapter 1 History Book of the 3rd class of Junior High School (Gymnasio). The listening is followed by reading tasks at upper-intermediate level which are to be used as stimulus for discussion. Aims Content: Highlight Galileo’s beliefs in a heliocentric solar system. 13
Language
skills:
Listening,
speaking,
reading
(debate/discussion) Lexis: language for debating, vocabulary on the Age of Enlightenment Preparation - Make sure students have grasped the lesson on Enlightenment as presented in the History book. - Access the Galileo video. http://www.history.com/topics/enlightenment/vid eos#beyond-the-big-bang-galileo-galilei - Make ample photocopies of the Worksheets to be used in class. Time 45-50 minutes Procedure
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- Divide
the
students
in
groups
based
on
Enlightenment representatives (Locke, Newton, Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu and Descartes). - Allow 3 minutes for the groups to prepare and present who they are based on what they know. - Give groups the worksheet and introduce the task. - They are to listen and complete sentences on Galileo. You may run the video twice if necessary) - Check answers to the task. Extension - Allow five minutes for the groups to prepare for a discussion on how Galileo’s beliefs influenced the world at the time they were expressed. - Give the groups the debate worksheet. - Allow 10 minutes for the students to read the extract from Discourse on the Method of Rightly
Conducting the Reason, and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences, by Descartes (1st paragraph of Part 15
IV) as well as Aristotle’s quote of Plato in Nicomachean Ethics (1170a 25ff) and underline similarities in the beliefs of all three men, i.e. Galileo, Descartes and Aristotle. - Allow 5 minutes for the groups to organize an answer. - Allow time for the groups to exchange ideas on the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Listening Worksheet Listen and complete the sentences on Galileo Galilei http://www.history.com/topics/enlightenment/vid eos#beyond-the-big-bang-galileo-galilei
1. Galileo was an …… 2. Galileo used the … 3. The world for Galileo was 4. The world for Galileo was not… 16
5. He named Jupiter’s moons after… to incur… 6. Church had claimed that … 7. Galileo was told… 8. In 1633, Galileo… 9. Galileo spent the rest of his life... 10.
In 1642, Galileo… Debate Worksheet
Read the extract from Discourse on the Method of
Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences, by Descartes (1st paragraph of Part IV) "… Accordingly, seeing that our senses sometimes deceive us, I was willing to suppose that there existed nothing really such as they presented to us; and because some men err in reasoning, and fall into paralogisms, even on the simplest matters of geometry, I, convinced that I was as open to error as any other, rejected as false all the 17
reasoning
I
had
hitherto
taken
for
demonstrations; and finally, when I considered that the very same thoughts (presentations) which we
experience
when
awake
may
also
be
experienced when we are asleep, while there is at that time not one of them true, I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions of my dreams. But immediately upon this I observed that, whilst I thus wished to think that all was false, it was absolutely necessary that I, who thus thought, should be somewhat; and as I observed that this truth, I think, therefore I am, was so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the skeptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search. 18
Read Aristotle’s quote of Plato in Nicomachean Ethics (1170a 25ff) But if life itself is good and pleasant (...) and if one who sees is conscious that he sees, one who hears that he hears, one who walks that he walks and similarly for all the other human activities there is a faculty that is conscious of their exercise, so that whenever we perceive, we are conscious that we perceive, and whenever we think, we are conscious that we think, and to be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious that we exist... Underline similarities in the beliefs of all three men, i.e. Galileo, Descartes and Aristotle. Discuss in class. Resources http://www.cambridge.org/ar/elt/teachers/zones/cust om/item5633999/2325595/Applied-LinguisticsCLIL/?site_locale=es_AR&currentSubjectID=2325595 , accessed 3/9/2013 19
http://www.cambridge.org/ar/elt/teachers/zones/cust om/item6870719/2325595/Applied-Linguistics-CLIL(2)/?site_locale=es_AR&currentSubjectID=2325595, accessed 3/9/2013 http://www.cambridge.org/servlet/file/978052111298 7c04_p4873.pdf?ITEM_ENT_ID=5633692&COLLSPEC_ENT_I D=7 , accessed 20/9/2013 http://ec.europa.eu/languages/languageteaching/content-and-language-integratedlearning_en.htm, accessed 30/7/2013 http://www.goethe.de/ges/spa/dos/ifs/met/en274782 6.htm , accessed 20/9/2013 http://www.goethe.de/ges/spa/dos/ifs/ceu/en275128 7.htm , accessed 20/9/2013 http://www.icrj.eu/, accessed 3/9/2013 http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/methodology/theclil-debate/is-clil-a-passing-fad-which-will-probably20
have-disappeared-within-10-years/500994.article, accessed, 30/7/2013 http://primaryclil.org/, accessed 2/9/2013 http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/, accessed 1/9/2013 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/interviewkeith-kelly, accessed 1/9/2013 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities, accessed 3/9/2013 http://teachunicef.org/, accessed 3/9/2013 www.cilt.org.uk, accessed 10/9/2013 www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly, accessed 3/9/2013 Bibliography Coyle, D. (1999) ‘Theory and planning for effective classrooms:
supporting
students
in
content
and
language integrated learning contexts’, in Masih, J(Ed.)
Learning through a Foreign Language, London, CILT 21
Dam, L. (1995) Learner Autonomy. 3: From Theory to
Classroom Practice. Authentic, Dublin. Ellis, R. (2003) Task-based Language Learning and
Teaching. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Genesee, F. (2003) ‘What do we know about bilingual education for majority language students?’ in Bhatia, T.K. & Ritchie, W. (eds.) Handbook of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism. London: Blackwell. Kramsch, C. (1993) Context and Culture in Language
Teaching. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Little, D. (1991) Learner Autonomy 1: Definitions,
Issues and Problems. Authentic, Dublin. Littlewood, W. (2004) ‘The task-based approach: some questions and suggestions’, ELT Journal 58(4), 319326. Long, M. H. (2011). ‘Methodological Principles for Language Teaching’, in M. H. Long, & C. J. Doughty, The
Handbook of Language Teaching (p. ebook). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Marsh, D. (2002) CLIL: The European Dimension-
Actions,
Trends
and
Foresight
Potential,
European Commission, DG EAC. Donmall, B.: 1985, Language Awareness, CILT, London Willis, J. (1996) A Framework for Tasked-Based
Learning. Longman, London.
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‘CLIL’ is an e-book intended to offer insight in the innovative teaching approach CLIL, acronym for the words Content and Language Integrated Learning. It provides both a theoretical background and practical teaching tips making it helpful for teacher training as well as self study.
ISBN 978-960-93-5470-7
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