Serbia Elta Newsletter 2010 April Feature Articles Savic

7/28/2019 Serbia Elta Newsletter 2010 April Feature Articles Savic

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English Across the Curriculum: Integrating English with Art in a Primary

Classroom

Vera Savi

University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Education in Jagodina

Introduction

English across the curriculum and CLIL, i.e. content and language integrated

learning, are approaches to language teaching that gained popularity in the 1980s and

have proved to be very effective in foreign language teaching. As an innovative

methodological approach, CLIL was first used in Finland in the mid 1990s and then

spread to other European countries, so that the acronym CLIL soon became widely

known. For the last two decades it has become a significant curriculum trend in Europe

(Graddol 2006, 86), applied worldwide both at primary and secondary levels. The report

of European Commission (2006, 14) stresses that it is part of mainstream school

education or is carried out within pilot projects.

Although it has become a global phenomenon, CLIL is still not widespread: it

does not exist on general basis but is offered to a minority of pupils in individual subject

syllabuses. CLIL is mostly used in secondary schools and the learners do not

necessarily need to be proficient in English to cope with the non-language subject

(Graddol 2006, 86). Foreign language teaching is usually integrated with artistic subjects

(art and craft, music), physical education, science subjects (physics, biology, chemistry),

geography or history, either through bilingual/multilingual education, or in classes in

which selected subjects are taught through a foreign language, or in classes with

specific forms of extended language teaching and teaching of other subjects in a foreign

language (European Commission 2006, 64).

Young Learners and English Across the Curriculum

The basic methodological principles underlying integration of foreign language

teaching with the content of a non-language subject take into account the dual-focus

approach and aim to develop both language and content fluency. The approach respects

the need for learners:

to be exposed to a foreign language

to use a foreign language for genuine communication

to use a foreign language for practical purposes


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to integrate all language skills

to gain confidence in using a foreign language.

The basic principles of learning typical of young learners are also respected:

learning through hands-on experiences, engaged in meaningf

learning from peers and the teacher

learning through discovery

learning through interaction with others.

Obviously, such an approach can be beneficial in teaching English to young

learners if the EFL teacher is able to design activities in which learners are working on

meaningful tasks and foreign language is used to accomplish the tasks (Bourke 2006,

282). This is rather challenging for the EFL teacher, but not so much for the class

teacher who usually teaches all subjects to young learners. The only prerequisite is thatthe class teacher should be fluent in English and acquainted with foreign language

teaching methodology.

Teaching Art through English

In order to study possibilities of integrating English with other curriculum subjects

in a young learner classroom, we piloted a series of English lessons leading to teaching

Art through English as a medium in a primary class in Serbia. The lessons were taught

by a senior student teacher qualifying to become a class teacher and English languageteacher (through the modular courses provided by the Faculty of Education in Jagodina,

University of Kragujevac, Serbia) as part of compulsory student teaching practice.

Lesson planning was very carefully done in a team consisting of the student

teacher, two mentors at the Faculty of Education (lecturers of Methodology of Teaching

Art and English Language Teaching Methodology) and two primary school mentors (a

class teacher and an English language teacher). Preparation involved observation of

English and Art lessons over several weeks, gradual introduction of CLIL approach to

pupils of the fourth grade (aged 11), design and choice of teaching materials andactivities that could best contribute to learners development in the areas of artistic

creativity and linguistic fluency.

The starting point was the Art syllabus in the fourth grade of primary school in

Serbia. The topic chosen for the CLIL lessons was Costume Design as a way of

expressing learners imagination, creativity and feelings related to a story. The story


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used as a stimulus is the well-known traditional fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, but in a

new, modern version written in the form of a poem by Roald Dahl . Special personality

features of the story characters are seen as inspiration for the choice of specific texture

of the materials used in costume design, while the choice of colours and collage patterns

used in decorating the costumes are the means of expressing learners understanding of

characters and costumes.

(Photos taken by the author in March 2009)

The language focus was dictated by the subject matter and involved the following

areas:

o subject specific vocabulary: collage, colour, complementary

colour, fabric, texture, rough, smooth, shape, colourful;

o vocabulary used in describing story characters and objects:

good, bad, old, young, small, big, happy, sad, bright, dark, black, red, green, sharp,furry, hungry;

o vocabulary related to items of clothing: hood, coat, furry coat,

nightdress, suit, hat;

o verbs of senses: hear, see, feel;

o language structures and functions used in suggesting, agreeing,

disagreeing, asking for description, describing: Lets ..., Thats a good/bad idea, What

is ... like?, Its rough/smooth/...

o practising all language skills: listening (to the poem read by the

teacher), reading (vocabulary related to characters and costumes), writing (words and

phrases describing the story characters), speaking (group discussion of various

possibilities of creating/decorating costumes, dramatisation of the story).

The aims of the series of lessons are twofold, as follows:

Art English


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Aims

- introducing basic ideas aboutcostumes and their function;- introducing basic ideas aboutcostume design;- using collage technique incostume design;

- developing creative expressionin costume design;- using costumes to act out arole-play.

- communicative aim:understanding the story/poem- learning new vocabulary: subjectspecific vocabulary;- revising vocabulary: adjectives(opposites), sizes, items of

clothing, verbs of senses;- revising language structures andfunctions of suggesting, agreeing,disagreeing, asking fordescription, describing;- developing listening, reading,writing and speaking (role-play).

The final lesson lasts ninety minutes and involves a series of stages integrating

Art lesson content with English; each stage has language and content aims:

1. introduction: pictures associated with Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale are

used as prompts to introduce the story learners were read the poem in

the previous English lesson; now the characters are determined and the

idea of costumes introduced;

2. the functions of costumes are presented by the teacher and discussed in

a whole class activity;

3. four groups are made and each one is given the task to create one

costume cards with characters are drawn from the box by group

representatives, suggesting the character;

4. in a group activity, characters are specified and descriptions are

suggested by group members on the basis of handouts containing

vocabulary associated with the four characters: Little Red Riding Hood,

The Wolf, Grandma, The Hunter: learners choose words from the list,

classify and copy them uder the headings characters names; the words

are good, coat, hungry, big, green, bad, young, old, fur, hat, small, suit,

black, happy, night-dress, gun, hood, red;

5. possible costumes that suit the characters in the poem are discussed

within groups;

6. various materials are shown to learners and the groups suggest the

colours and textures related to each costume;

7. groups choose the materials for costume design on the basis of the

colour and texture, and start decorating them with the patterns they


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prepare from coloured paper, wool, textile flowers and textile patches,

using glue and selotape; learners discuss and negotiate various

possibilities of designing a costume; learners can use both English and

mother tongue - as content is likely to introduce new vocabulary, it can be

given to learners in both languages, depending on complexity of concepts

behind new vocabulary;

8. costumes are presented by group members and evaluated in whole class

activity according to shape, colour and material (points from 1 to 5 are

suggested by other groups); competitive element is introduced to the

activities;

9. role play with four characters is performed by using a ready-made script,

based on the poem (the script can be prepared by learners or by the

teacher in previous lessons, depending on time available); role play is

repeated with a few more members from each of the four groups; this is

the final part of the lesson;

10. a handout with tasks testing vocabulary retention is given three weeks

after the CLIL lesson in order to check retention of new vocabulary.

To be successfully applied, such integration of dual lesson focus and a number

of activities is extremely demanding on teachers, both in planning and implementation:

high level of knowledge, skilled management of class, good organization of group work,

keeping all learners actively involved, and creating resources and materials (Cameron

2008, 180). In the lesson described in the paper two handouts were used, both prepared

by the student teacher, while the vocabulary test was designed by one of the mentors;

visuals used in the lesson were prepared by the student teacher and approved by the

mentor in charge with Methodology of Teaching Art, while the final lesson plan was

written in English and checked by the mentor in charge with ELT Methodology; in the

planning stage, activities were suggested by the student teacher and developed in

tutorials given by all mentors. Careful planning resulted in a lesson full of learner activity

and fun, and success in the vocabulary test given three weeks later proved lessoneffectiveness in linguistic development.


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(Photos taken by the author in March 2009)

Conclusion

The example presented shows how lesson planning moves from content to

language learning aims, integrating and improving them. Such a holistic approach is the

result of team work and cooperation of a student teacher and a network of mentors. The

most valuable thing is that young learners experience a foreign language as a useful and

relevant tool that can be naturally used in learning other subjects. What is more, there is

a lot of fun in doing all group activities.

Fostering both receptive and productive language skills in CLIL approach allows

learners to develop a wider sense of achievement, which has a positive influence on

their motivation. Learner involvement in activities is increased and the subject content is

learned more effectively: checking of retention three weeks after the lesson shows that

all learners managed to classify and use fifteen words and phrases associated with the

story characters.

It is a great challenge to get young learners speak in the CLIL classroom.

Developing CLIL takes time and a lot of energy and high level of teachers knowledge

and skills. Finding appropriate, simplified language is one of the biggest challenges the

class teacher/English teacher faces. We managed to introduce a very interesting

topic/content by using a well-known story and relying on learners previous knowledge,

while hands-on activities facilitated the kinaesthetic learning needs of young learners.

Group work provided possibilities for strengthening social skills like cooperation,

tolerance, acceptance, helping and listening to each other. All these secured successful

elimination of drawbacks and stressed the benefits of CLIL. It is our belief that CLIL

should be exploited much more in a young learner classroom, as its potential in

engaging young learners in active participation and learning can be great.


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References:

Ball, Phil: What is CLIL. Retrieved in February 2009 from www.onestopclil.com.

Bourke, James: Designing a topic-based syllabus for young learners. ELT JournalVolume 60/3 July 2006.

Cameron, Lynne (2008): Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CUP.

Dahl, Roald: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Taken in February 2009 fromhttp://www.xs4all.nl/~ace/Literaria/Txt-Dahl.html

European Commission: Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) atSchool in Europe. Brissels: Eurydice (2006).

Graddol, David (2006): English Next. British Council Publications.

Mackenzie, Alex: How should CLIL work in practice?Retrieved in February 2009 from www.onestopclil.com.

Marsh, David (2002): CLIL/EMILE Content and Language Integrated Learning TheEuropean Dimension. Actions, Trends and Foresight Potential. Jyvaskyla:UniCOM. Retrieved in February 2009 fromhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/polices/doc/david_marsh-report.pdf

Opp-Beckman et al. (2006): Shaping the Way We Teach English. Office of EnglishLanguage Programs USA, Washington.

Richards, J. & T. Rodgers (2001):Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.Cambridge: CUP.

Wright, Andrew (2007): Storytelling with Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

*****

Ms Vera Savi holds an MA degree in English from the University of Belgrade andworks as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Education in Jagodina, University of Kragujevac.She is a PhD candidate at the University of Novi Sad. She has been ELTA membersince 2001, ELTA Regional Coordinator for Pomoravlje District since 2005, and ELTA

Board member since 2007. She is an SITT and TKT Teacher Trainer, active in writingELT professional development project proposals, organizing seminars and presenting atseminars (TBU1/2, British Council projects) and conferences in the country and abroad,drawing much of her professional inspiration from study tours to Finland and sharingexperiences with other EFL teachers.
http://www.onestopclil.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~ace/Literaria/Txt-Dahl.htmlhttp://www.onestopclil.com/http://ec.europa.eu/education/polices/doc/david_marsh-report.pdfhttp://www.onestopclil.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~ace/Literaria/Txt-Dahl.htmlhttp://www.onestopclil.com/http://ec.europa.eu/education/polices/doc/david_marsh-report.pdf

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Serbia Elta Newsletter 2010 April Feature Articles Savic