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An Introduction to CLIL

The European Language Label

Cracow, 14-16 October 2005

Ana Llinares

Universidad Autonoma Madrid

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CLIL/CBI: ORIGINS AND DEFINITIONS Associated with the genesis of language immersion

education in Canada (1965)

“the target language as the vehicle through which subject matter content is learned rather than as the immediate object of study” (Brinton et al., 1989: 5)

“the development of use-oriented second and foreign language skills” (Wesche, 1993)

“Any educational situation in which an additional language and therefore not the most widely used language of the environment is used for the teaching and learning of subjects other than the language itself” (Marsh & Langé, 2000)

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What qualifies as “content” in CLIL? “curriculum concepts being taught through the foreign language ...

appropriate to the grade level of the students” (Curtain and Pesola, 1994: 35)

“content need not be academic; it can include any topic, theme, or non-language issue of interest or importance to the learner (Genesee, 1994: 3)

“...what we teach in any kind of content-based course is not the content itself but some form of the discourse of that content” (Eskey, 1997: 139-140)

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Support from SLA research (I)

Natural language acquisition occurs in context. Natural language is never learned divorced from meaning, and CLIL provides a context for meaningful communication to occur (Curtain, 1995).

CLIL promotes negotiation of meaning, which is known to enhance language acquisition (Lightbown and Spada, 1993). Language acquisition takes place through conversational interaction (Long, 1983).

Second language acquisition is enhanced by comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985), which is a key pedagogical technique in CLIL.

However, comprehensible input alone does not suffice _ students need an explicit focus on relevant and contextually appropriate language forms to support content learning (Lyster, 1987; Met, 1991)

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Support from SLA research (II) Cummins’ (1981) notion of CALP (Cognitive Academic Language

Proficiency) as contrasted with BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) shows that students need to be learning content while they are developing CALP.

CLIL provides opportunities for Vygotskian-based concepts that contribute to SLA: negotiation in the Zone of Proximal Development, the use of “private speech” (for problem solving) and student appropriation of learning tasks.

Language learning becomes more concrete rather than abstract (as in traditional language instruction).

More complex language is best taught within a framework that focuses on authentic content.

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Support from research on Instructional Strategies

CLIL lends itself to cooperative learning (which has been shown to improve learning; Slavin, 1995).

CLIL allows the incorporation of thinking skills and learning strategies that lead to rich language development:

Information gathering skills (questioning)organising skills (categorising, comparing)analysing skills (identifying main ideas, attributes, relationship patterns)generating skills (inferring, predicting, etc...)

Research on extensive reading in a second language shows that reading coherent materials leads to improved language abilities, greater content-area learning and higher motivation (Elley, 1991)

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Support from Educational and Cognitive Psychology (I)

Anderson (1993) has proposed a cognitive learning theory for instruction that integrates attention to content and language: skills (including language) and content follow a sequence of stages of learning:

COGNITIVE ASSOCIATIVE AUTONOMOUS

The presentation of coherent and meaningful information leads to deeper processing, which results in better learning (Anderson, 1990)

Information that has a good number of connections to related information promotes better learning (Anderson, 1990)

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Support from Educational and Cognitive Psychology (II)

Facts and skills taught in isolation need much more practice and rehearsal before they can be internalised or put into long term memory.

CLIL develops a wider range of discourse skills than does traditional language instruction (because of the incorporation of higher cognitive skills)

CLIL provides for cognitive engagement (tasks that are intrinsically interesting will lead to better opportunities for SLA)

CLIL emphasises a connection to real life and real world skills (Curtain, 1995)

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CLIL benefits for content learning

Learners are more successful and more motivated than those in traditional content subject classrooms (Wolff, 2004)

Learners look at content from a different and broader perspective when it is taught in another language (Multi-perspectivity) (Wolff, 2004)

Learners develop more accurate academic concepts when another language is involved (Lamsfuss-Schenk, 2002)

In CLIL content subject related intercultural learning takes place (Christ, 2000)

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CLIL METHODOLOGY IN SECONDARY CLASSROOMS (Grenfell, 2002)

1.Enhance student involvement Negotiation of topics and tasks Using particular cases before moving on to general topics Project work Role-reversal in project presentations

2.Facilitate comprehension Texts written for older children and adolescents Comprehension tasks Brief teacher explanations Paralinguistic together with linguistic strategies

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CLIL METHODOLOGY IN SECONDARY CLASSROOMS (Grenfell, 2002)

3.Promote student-student interaction

Benefits of pair and small group-work (Long and Porter, 1965; Pica, 1987, etc...)

Negotiation of meaning input comprehesibility Student/Student interaction use of exploratory

language

Proficient peers can help less proficient ones Students need training in production and reception strategies (marking lack of understanding, asking for clarification, repeating, stressing a problematic word, paraphrasing)

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CLIL METHODOLOGY IN SECONDARY CLASSROOMS (Grenfell, 2002)

4. Work on academic skills and strategies characteristic of the subject matter

Interpretation of visuals

Use of flowcharts and time lines to organise information

Cause and effect relationships

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CLIL METHODOLOGY IN SECONDARY CLASSROOMS (Grenfell, 2002)

5. Work on communication skills for academic purposes

Selecting content in oral presentations Clear delivery Fluency Ability to attract the audience

6.Access to information and communication technologies

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CLIL METHODOLOGY IN SECONDARY CLASSROOMS (Grenfell, 2002)

7.Accept code-switching as a normal feature of CLIL classroom Advantages of L1 use in problem-solving (Guasch, 1999) Give priority to communication and understanding Tasks to encourage use of L2, such as tape-recording the students

8.Joint assessment of content and communication skills Awareness of learners’ linguistic limitations Testing of simple facts can be done with multiple choice questions

written with the help of students

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CLIL EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN: SECOND LANGUAGES

1980´s: Different types of immersion programmes in the Basque country, Catalonia and Galicia.

Total competence in both official languages in the long term.

“Instrumental” methodological approach (Serra, 1997) using the regional language as the medium of instruction of content (CLIL).

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CLIL EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN: FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Spain becomes member of the EC (1986)

Students have to be competent in one ore more foreign languages, in addition to Spanish and, in some cases, their regional language (Multilingualism).

Variety in the use of CLIL in foreign language teaching, due to progressive decentralisation.

Bilingual and Bicultural Project (1996) with MECD and British Council.

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FL CLIL EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN: TEACHERS

PROBLEMS: Primary school teachers: global understanding of

different subjects, good base in didactics; however, some may not have enough communicative competence to teach content in the L2.

Secondary school teachers: importance of academic knowledge, not much training in educational methodology, specialists in one subject; some may not have enugh communicative competence to teach in the L2.

Less training in strategic and linguistic needs for specific content areas.

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FL CLIL EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN: TEACHERS The CLIL projects in Spain have been based on teachers

´availability/willingness to keep trying.

SOME SOLUTIONS: Education authorities should guarantee training in CLIL

for content and language teachers. Teacher training should ensure command of L2. Education authorities should recognise officially double

qualifications (content and language). Coordination between FL department and each of the

content-subject areas or departments. Materials design

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CLIL EXPERIENCES IN SPAIN: RESULTS CLIL programmes have an effect on the overall linguistic

competence of the children (Serra, 1997; Cenoz & Perales, 2001).

At the pre-school level, CLIL seems to promote the learners’ oral functional production in the L2 (Llinares, 2004).

Students in CLIL programmes seem to perform better on national achievement tests in L1, L2 and other subjects (Sanz, 2000).

Use of CLIL in other languages fosters understanding in that culture and “European citizenship”.