TeachingEnglish Content and Language Integrated Learning Submitted by TE Editor on 20 January, 2006 - 12:00 Content and Language Integrated

Learning (CLIL) has become the umbrella term describing both learning another (content) subject such as physics or geography through the medium of a foreign language and learning a foreign language by studying a content-based subject. In ELT, forms of CLIL have previously been known as 'Content-based instruction', 'English across the curriculum' and 'Bilingual education'.

Why is CLIL important? How does CLIL work? The advantages of CLIL CLIL in the classroom The future of CLIL Where is CLIL happening?

Why is CLIL important? With the expansion of the European Union, diversity of language and the need for communication are seen as central issues.

Even with English as the main language, other languages are unlikely to disappear. Some countries have strong views regarding the use of other languages within their borders. With increased contact between countries, there will be an increase in the need for communicative skills in a second or third language. Languages will play a key role in curricula across Europe. Attention needs to be given to the training of teachers and the development of frameworks and methods which will improve the quality of language education The European Commission has been looking into the state of bilingualism and language education since the 1990s, and has a clear vision of a multilingual Europe in which people can function in two or three languages.

How does CLIL work? The basis of CLIL is that content subjects are taught and learnt in a language which is not the mother tongue of the learners.

Knowledge of the language becomes the means of learning content Language is integrated into the broad curriculum Learning is improved through increased motivation and the study of natural language seen in context. When learners are interested in a topic they are motivated to acquire language to communicate CLIL is based on language acquisition rather than enforced learning Language is seen in real-life situations in which students can acquire the language. This is natural language development which builds on other forms of learning CLIL is long-term learning. Students become academically proficient in English after 5-7 years in a good bilingual programme Fluency is more important than accuracy and errors are a natural part of language learning. Learners develop fluency in English by using English to communicate for a variety of purposes Reading is the essential skill.

The advantages of CLIL CLIL helps to:

Introduce the wider cultural context Prepare for internationalisation Access International Certification and enhance the school profile Improve overall and specific language competence Prepare for future studies and / or working life Develop multilingual interests and attitudes Diversify methods & forms of classroom teaching and learning Increase learner motivation.

CLIL in the classroom CLIL assumes that subject teachers are able to exploit opportunities for language learning. The best and most common opportunities arise through reading texts. CLIL draws on the lexical approach, encouraging learners to notice language while reading. Here is a paragraph from a text on fashion: The miniskirt is a skirt whose hemline is high above the knees (generally 200-300 mm above knee-level). Its existence is generally credited to the fashion designer Mary Quant, who was inspired by the Mini Cooper automobile, although Andr Courrges is also often cited as its inventor, and there is disagreement as to who invented it first.

The language to be looked at in a passage like this falls into three categories - subject specific, academic and other lexis including fixed expressions and collocations: Subject specific miniskirt hemline knee-level fashion designer Academic credited designer cited invented Other language above the knee(s) credited to inspired by cited as disagreement as to

The treatment of this lexis has the following features:

Noticing of the language by the learners Focus on lexis rather than grammar Focus on language related to the subject. Level and grading are unimportant Pre-, while- and post-reading tasks are as appropriate in the subject context as in the language context.

The future of CLIL There is no doubt that learning a language and learning through a language are concurrent processes, but implementing CLIL requires a rethink of the traditional concepts of the language classroom and the language teacher. The immediate obstacles seem to be:

Opposition to language teaching by subject teachers may come from language teachers themselves. Subject teachers may be unwilling to take on the responsibility. Most current CLIL programmes are experimental. There are few sound research-based empirical studies, while CLIL-type bilingual programmes are mainly seen to be marketable products in the private sector. CLIL is based on language acquisition, but in monolingual situations, a good deal of conscious learning is involved, demanding skills from the subject teacher. The lack of CLIL teacher-training programmes suggests that the majority of teachers working on bilingual programmes may be ill-equipped to do the job adequately. There is little evidence to suggest that understanding of content is not reduced by lack of language competence. Current opinion seems to be that language ability can only be increased by content-based learning after a certain stage. Some aspects of CLIL are unnatural; such as the appreciation of the literature and culture of the learner's own country through a second language.

Until CLIL training for teachers and materials issues are resolved, the immediate future remains with parallel rather than integrated content and language learning. However, the need for language teaching reform in the face of Europeanisation may make CLIL a common feature of many European education systems in the future. Where is CLIL happening? CLIL has precedents in immersion programmes (North America) and education through a minority or a national language (Spain, Wales, France), and many variations on education through a 'foreign' language. Euro-funded projects show that CLIL or similar systems are being applied in some countries, but are not part of teacher-training programmes. There has been an increase in the number of schools offering 'alternative' bilingual curricula, and some research into training and methodology. Several major European organisations specialising in CLIL projects have emerged, including UNICOM, EuroCLIC and TIE-CLIL (see web references for details).

In the UK the incentive comes from the Content and Language Integration Project (CLIP) hosted by CILT, (the National Centre for Languages) which is the UK government's centre of expertise on languages. CILT monitors a number of projects covering the 7-16 age range and involving innovations in language teaching such as the integration of French into the primary curriculum. Other research is based at the University of Nottingham, while teacher training and development courses in CLIL are available through NILE (the Norwich Institute for Language Education).

Further reading CLIL Compendium www.clilcompendium.com European Commission - Languages www.europa.eu.int EuroCLIC www.euroclic.net Translanguage in Europe www.tieclil.org Centre for Information on Language, Teaching and Research www.cilt.org.uk Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching www.factworld.info There has also been an ongoing debate about CLIL in the press: www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly Steve Darn, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey

CLIL: A lesson framework

By TE Editor Created 31 Jan 2006 - 12:00 TeachingEnglish CLIL: A lesson framework Submitted by TE Editor on 31 January, 2006 - 12:00 In the first of these articles, Content and Language Integrated Learning, I gave an introduction to this field. In this second article I will look more closely at how CLIL is realised in the classroom and suggest a framework for planning CLIL lessons.

Underlying principles Classroom principles Lesson framework Conclusion

Underlying principles The principles behind Content and Language Integrated Learning include global statements such as 'all teachers are teachers of language' (The Bullock Report - A Language for Life, 1975) to the wide-ranging advantages of cross-curricular bilingual teaching in statements from the Content and Language Integrated Project (CLIP). The benefits of CLIL may be seen in terms of cultural awareness, internationalisation, language competence, preparation for both study and working life, and increased motivation. While CLIL may be the best-fit methodology for language teaching and learning in a multilingual Europe, the literature suggests that there remains a dearth of CLIL-type materials, and a lack of teacher training programmes to prepare both language and subject teachers for

CLIL teaching. The theory may be solid, but questions remain about how theory translates into classroom practice. Classroom principles Some of the basic principles of CLIL are that in the CLIL classroom:

Language is used to learn as well as to communicate It is the subject matter which determines the language needed to learn.

A CLIL lesson is therefore not a language lesson neither is it a subject lesson transmitted in a foreign language. According to the 4Cs curriculum (Coyle 1999), a successful CLIL lesson should combine elements of the following:

Content - Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements of a defined curriculum Communication - Using language to learn whilst learning to use language Cognition - Developing thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete), understanding and language Culture - Exposure to alternative perspectives and shared understandings, which deepen awareness of otherness and self.

In a CLIL lesson, all four language skills should be combined. The skills are seen thus:

Listening is a normal input activity, vital for language learning Reading, using meaningful material, is the major source of input Speaking focuses on fluency. Accuracy is seen as subordinate Writing is a series of lexical activities through which grammar is recycled.

For teachers from an ELT background, CLIL lessons exhibit the following characteristics:

Integrate language and skills, and receptive and productive skills Lessons are often based on reading or listening texts / passages

The language focus in a lesson does not consider structural grading Language is functional and dictated by the context of the subject Language is approached lexically rather than grammatically Learner styles are taken into account in task types.

In many ways, then, a CLIL lesson is similar to an ELT integrated skills lesson, except that it includes exploration of language, is delivered by a teacher versed in CLIL methodology and is based on material directly related to a content-based subject. Both content and language are explored in a CLIL lesson. A CLIL 'approach' is not far removed from humanistic, communicative and lexical approaches in ELT, and aims to guide language processing and supports language production in the same way that an ELT course would by teaching techniques for exploiting reading or listening texts and structures for supporting spoken or written language. Lesson framework A CLIL lesson looks at content and language in equal measure, and often follows a four-stage framework. Processing the text The best texts are those accompanied by illustrations so that learners can visualise what they are reading. When working in a foreign language, learners need structural markers in texts to help them find their way through the content. These markers may be linguistic (headings, sub-headings) and/or diagrammatic. Once a 'core knowledge' has been identified, the organisation of the text can be analysed. Identification and organisation of knowledge Texts are often represented diagrammatically. These structures are known as 'ideational frameworks' or 'diagrams of thinking', and are used to help learners categorise the ideas and information in a text. Diagram types include tree diagrams for classification, groups, hierarchies, flow diagrams and timelines for sequenced thinking such as instructions and historical information, tabular diagrams describing people and places, and combinations of these. The structure of the text is used to facilitate learning and the creation of activities which focus on both language development and core content knowledge. Language identification Learners are expected to be able to reproduce the core of the text in their own words. Since learners will need to use both simple and more complex language, there is no grading of language involved, but it is a good idea for the teacher to highlight useful language in the text and to categorise it according to function. Learners may need the language of comparison and contrast, location or describing a process, but may also need certain discourse markers, adverb

phrases or prepositional phrases. Collocations, semi-fixed expressions and set phrases may also be given attention as well as subject-specific and academic vocabulary. Tasks for students There is little difference in task-type between a CLIL lesson and a skills-based ELT lesson. A variety of tasks should be provided, taking into account the learning purpose and learner styles and preferences. Receptive skill activities are of the 'read/listen and do' genre. A menu of listening activities might be:

Listen and label a diagram/picture/map/graph/chart Listen and fill in a table Listen and make notes on specific information (dates, figures, times) Listen and reorder information Listen and identify location/speakers/places Listen and label the stages of a process/instructions/sequences of a text Listen and fill in the gaps in a text

Tasks designed for production need to be subject-orientated, so that both content and language are recycled. Since content is to be focused on, more language support than usual in an ELT lesson may be required. Typical speaking activities include:

Question loops - questions and answers, terms and definitions, halves of sentences Information gap activities with a question sheet to support Trivia search - 'things you know' and 'things you want to know' Word guessing games Class surveys using questionnaires 20 Questions - provide language support frame for questions Students present information from a visual using a language support handout.

Conclusion From a language point of view the CLIL 'approach' contains nothing new to the EL teacher. CLIL aims to guide language processing and 'support language production in the same way as ELT by teaching strategies for reading and listening and structures and lexis for spoken or written language. What is different is that the language teacher is also the subject teacher, or that the subject teacher is also able to exploit opportunities for developing language skills. This is the essence of the CLIL teacher training issue. Further reading Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching - www.factworld.info/ Comenius Project TL2L - www.tl2l.nl/ European Centre for Modern Languages - www.ecml.at/ Norwich Institute for Language Education - www.nile-elt.com Science Across the Curriculum - www.scienceacross.org EuroCLIC - www.euroclic.org The National Centre for Languages (CILT) - www.cilt.org.uk Content and Language Integrated Project (CLIP) - www.cilt.org.uk/clip/ Steve Darn, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey