Module I

Montserrat Garca Comino

Curso ANPE
Curso: 2013 / 14
1. STATE OF THE QUESTION

In recent years, many programmes and projects related to multilingualism

have increased and have been implemented in educational centers all over
Europe. Many of these programmes are already present in different educational
areas in both compulsory and non-compulsory levels. This trend is motivated by
the guidelines of the European Union (EU) that directs its work towards a
multilingual society. According to the EU, one of the challenges of the
current society is to train students to master different languages, to
promote intercultural dialogue and a greater social cohesion and
integration.

We have heard and seen a lot about the ways in which our
societies are changing,particularly within Europe with changes
brought about because of the processesof integration. The impact
of computerisation alone is constantly making the worlda smaller
place a place in which the benefits of being able to speak
differentlanguages are becoming more and more obvious. It is
these realities, alongsidestate-of-the-art understanding of
language acquisition and learning, which haveprovoked so much
excitement towards CLIL.CLIL

We know that there are social, economic, cultural and ecological

advantages tobe gained through promoting plurilingualism through
language learning righta ross our societies. CLIL offers one
additional means by which to give our youngsters the opportunities
to develop their capacity to use language and to reap the benefits
in their present and future lives

David Marsh

USING LANGUAGES TO LEARN

AND LEARNING TO USE LANGUAGES

1.1. Multilingsmo y Plurilingsmo

El concepto de plurilingismo es diferente al de multilingismo. El

multilingismo es el conocimiento de varias lenguas o la coexistencia de
distintas lenguas en una sociedad determinada... Ms all de esto, el
enfoque plurilinge enfatiza el hecho de que conforme se expande la
experiencia lingstica de un individuo en los entornos culturales de una lengua,
desde el lenguaje familiar hasta el de la sociedad en general, y despus hasta
las lenguas de otros pueblos (ya sean aprendidas en la escuela o en la

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universidad, o por experiencia directa), el individuo no guarda estas lenguas
y culturas en compartimentos mentales estrictamente separados, sino que
desarrolla una competencia comunicativa a la que contribuyen todos los
conocimientos y las experiencias lingsticas y en la que las lenguas se
relacionan entre s e interactan.

As pues, el MCERL distingue dos planos, a los que da el nombre de

multilingismo y plurilingismo respectivamente: el plano social, de
coexistencia de lenguas, y el plano cognitivo, de integracin (mental) de
las lenguas conocidas (en diferentes grados de dominio) por un individuo
concreto.

A partir de esta distincin, el MCERL intenta definir las versiones culturales de

multilingismo y plurilingismo (ibid.: 6): El plurilingismo tiene que
contemplarse en el contexto del pluriculturalismo.... En la competencia
cultural de una persona, las distintas culturas (nacional, regional, social) a las
que ha accedido esa persona no coexisten simplemente una junto a otra. Se
las compara, se las contrasta e interactan activamente para producir una
competencia pluricultural enriquecida e integrada, de la que la competencia
plurilinge es un componente, que a su vez interacta con otros componentes.
De la misma forma que el individuo integra el conocimiento de distintas
lenguas, tambin lo hace con su conocimiento cultural, lo cual da como
resultado la competencia plurilinge y pluricultural, que es definida de la
siguiente forma (ibid.: 168):

La competencia plurilinge y pluricultural hace referencia a la capacidad

de utilizar las lenguas para fines comunicativos y de participar en una
relacin intercultural en que una persona, en cuanto agente social,
domina con distinto grado varias lenguas y posee experiencia de
varias culturas.

Esta definicin da paso a una definicin comunicativa de la interculturalidad.

La interculturalidad es definida en el MCERL en dos planos diferenciados

pero integrados. Por un lado, el MCERL habla de conciencia intercultural y
por otro lado de destrezas interculturales; es decir, estamos refirindonos a
un fenmeno que es cognitivo y comunicativo. Como ya hemos comentado,
el MCERL (ibid.: 101) explica, en relacin con la conciencia intercultural,
que el conocimiento, la percepcin y la comprensin de la relacin entre
el mundo de origen y el mundo de la comunidad objeto de estudio
(similitudes y diferencias distintivas) producen una conciencia intercultural,
que incluye, naturalmente, la conciencia de la diversidad regional y social
en ambos mundos, que se enriquece con la conciencia de una serie de
culturas ms amplia de la que conlleva la lengua materna y la segunda
lengua, lo cual contribuye a ubicar ambas en su contexto.

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2. BRIEF HISTORY OF CLIL

Although the word CLIL was coined not a long time ago, in 1994, CLIL is not a
brand new phenomenon at all.

It is said that a long time ago, around 5,000 years ago, in what is now modern
Iraq, the Attakians conquered the Sumerians. They wanted to learn the local
language and so Sumerian was used as the language of instruction to learn
content. Later, in the1890s approximately, bilingualism and multilingualism
existed among the most privileged wealthy families. They were two ways of
learning a foreign language. Wealthy families either rented the services of a
tutor (male teacher for boys) or a governess (female teacher for girls) to teach
their children or they sent their children abroad to learn the foreign language.

A more recently recorded fact, which can be described as the first

example of modern CLIL was in 1965 in Canada. English speaking
parents who were living in the French quarters of Quebec were worried
because they saw their children were in disadvantage with French
speakers. So, they asked the Government to produce immersion of
programmes in the schools so that they learned the subjects in French (instead
of French). This idea apparently spread all over Canada and the rest of the
world.

At last, in the 1970s appeared more bilingual immersion programmes for people
of different backgrounds and there was an increase of awareness that language
and content should go hand-in-hand.

This is actually a very brief history of CLIL but it makes us realise that nothing is
brand new but it has just been recycled and brought into fashion again. And I
think that in such a global-like world CLIL is key to be able to step out in our
society in a firm permanent way. We need to learn languages, more than one if
it is possible and CLIL is definitely a very useful tool.

3. EUROPEAN INSTRUCTIONS

On 25 October 2011i, the Council of Europe concluded on the European

Indicator of Language Competence:

While general language programmes help to develop essential communication

skills for everyday use, methodologies such as content and language-integrated
learning (CLIL) in both general education and VET can be particularly effective
in enhancing the mobility and employability of workers.

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Learning language and content in school projects can help student to integrate
cognitive processes and cultural awareness to their personal knowledge
building. In order to promote CLIL, teachers and learners should be encouraged
to use and put in practice whatever they are achieving. Educational added value
would include social participation and experiences in the real world:

- Using authentic environments to interact in the foreign target language in

the Internet
- Performing real tasks and activities that allow them to participate in
European open projects
- Collaborating to promote their local village onto international platforms,
presenting local information in a foreign language
- Exchanging real information with natives and speakers interested in the
same fields
- Creating community-learning networks and participating in community-
building processes
-
Classroom management should incorporate strategies for promoting students
involvement and self-awareness, and for implementing student performance
both in language and content, with strategies based on mutual help,
participation, social knowledge building, co-operative learning - in fact, as many
collaborative techniques as possible.

3. INTRODUCTION TO CLIL.

The Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) initiative has

experienced a considerable growth and it is being integrated into curricula
all across Europe. The domain of at least three languages is regarded as one
of the basic skills that everyone should acquire in European educational spaces
during the course of their learning life
(Council of Europe, 2001).

CLIL is a dual educational approach in which content and language must be

combined. The language is used as a medium to communicate contents, but
also as a subject to learn. CLIL is a dual-focused educational approach in which
an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and
language with the objective of promoting both content mastery and language
to pre-defined levels (Maljers, et al, 2010).

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CLIL has gained a tremendous success and its influence on practice is
currently expanding quickly across the Spanish country (Lasagabaster and Ruiz
de Zarobe, 2010). The positive effects of CLIL demonstrated by recent research
are highly notorious. (See Cenoz, 2009; Lorenzo et al, 2011; Dalton-Puffer and
Smit, 2007; among others). CLIL offers students of all ages a natural context for
language development. This naturalness seems to be one of the key
factors for successful both of the subject contents and language learning.
CLIL does not only pursue the development of language skills. There is
evidence that students who learn different languages develop better cognitive
processes. Content learning is beneficial if conducted in a foreign
language. This is because, on the one hand, students have to strive to decode
the information conveyed in the foreign language and, on the other hand, the
professor must make an extra effort so that all students can reach the
information and content in a language different from the native.

4. A NEW METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) requires a swift in

methodologies used in traditional language and content teaching. However,
there is still a lack of appropriate teaching materials, strategies and
methodological resources. Consequently, a desperate demand of new
methodological and teaching techniques has arisen among the bilingual
teaching community (Salaberri and Snchez, 2012), being imperiously
necessary to foster a well-defined training plan for CLIL teachers (Salaberri,
2010).

In order to achieve successful CLIL results in classrooms, new methodological

approaches and strategies are needed. For this purpose, teachers should
encourage among their students:

Activities to develop childrens motor, emotional, social and intellectual

capacities.

Encourage oral skills in order to promote interaction.

Focus on the importance of routine language.

Adopt a concept-centered vs. grammar-centered approach

Avoid fragmented and disperse treatment of content issues.

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The intended purpose for the new language policies is to promote a
multilingual education, consisting of assessing and developing linguistic
repertoires of speakers from early learning stages and throughout a lifetime,
and an education for multilingualism, which constitutes a condition of
maintaining linguistic diversity. This approach involves learning different
subjects such as science, art or history, among others, through a different
language, which can be very successful in enhancing the learning of languages
and other subjects, and developing in the youngsters a positive can do attitude
towards themselves as language learners (Marsh and Lang, 2000).

In order to implement learning instructions that meet these principles,

there are no standards solutions, but multiple options that allow the creation of
multilingual learning techniques. The success of this multilingual global project
depends on the design of new curricular organizations and new
organizational forms of teaching. Its progressive implementation requires
the collective cooperation of the administrative field, in the syllabus and
curricula determination and in the teaching practices.

4.1. Need for an integrated curriculum.

Some difficulties in combining the dual perspective language-content in

bilingual classrooms have been detected among bilingual teachers. The
multilingual school programmes demand a restructuration of the traditional
curriculum models. The European Commission has noted the need to adapt
language curricula to the Common European Framework of Reference for
Language (CEFR). This adaptation implies a big change in the in the teaching
process of bilingual professionals.

The new curricular model must cover all of the languages that are
studied at all educational stages (Lorenzo, et al 2005). School communities
should be provided with an integrated language and non-language curriculum.
Thus language must be integrated into the curriculum and it should be
considered as the subject of all subjects and a special framework must be
created for language teaching and learning. We should not forget that
language is a tool which favours and makes possible the structure of
knowledge, and at the same time, it aids in the discovery of another culture,
another worldview and other ways of life. But it should also enable us to
do things such as teaching how to learn, how to discover, how to be.

The language integrated curriculum intends to analyze the possibility of

language training defragment. It must lead to language teachers to reflect and
consider ways to:

- Allow a better command of written and spoken codes.

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 - Promote a reflection about communication, human language and
foreign languages.
- Encourage a reflexive critic on the knowledge related to languages.
- Publicize the languages heritage in Europe.
- Develop verbal and non-verbal creativity.
- Enter an aesthetic of verbal creations and an approximation to literary
texts.
- Know other societies.

This new curricular approach should focus on the student, who should be
awarded the category of the person responsible for the learning process, an
individual who communicates and develops his or her own learning strategies,
and therefore learns to learn. Oral and written skills in the mother tongue
and in the foreign language(s) should be taught and practiced in an
integrated manner, attempting to simulate real-life communication processes.
The development of communicative strategies which compensate the lack of
competence in the foreign language should be encouraged, as should the
transfer of those which have already been developed in the mother tongue.

Oral communication in the classroom is seen as something common to

everyone, as well as being the most authentic means of communication. For
that very reason, foreign languages should be used as the essential
medium of communication. With foreign languages, the classroom context
should also be used to create simulations of situations related to the world
outside.

5. BASICS OF CLIL

The foreign language is used as a vehicle for accessing information.

The foreign language is used for instruction and communication.

Learning the language and learning content are part of the same process.

Development of cognitive flexibility and reflection upon the linguistic and

communicative functioning of both languages is key.

Emphasizes the promotion of additive plurilingualism

(Lessow-Hurley, J. 2000. The Foundations of Dual Language Instruction)

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 Look at the picture and try to figure out the meaning related to CLIL

Key:

CLIL = Content and Language Integrated Learning.

The term CLIL was first used in 1994. It is an umbrella term for a variety
of approaches including immersion, bilingual education, enriched
programme.
What age group are we talking about? Approx. 3 early 20s.
CLIL is now one of the fastest developing areas in language teaching
worldwide especially in Europe and Asia.
CLIL is growing because of the dominance of the English language in
higher education.
CLIL is an integrated approach and appeals to Generation Y (Those
born after 1990 who learn as they use, use as they learn).
CLIL can be practiced in English and other languages.
CLIL is the best response to the modern, globalized, integrated world.

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6. CORE PRINCIPLES ON CLIL

Read these statements and place them in this line

according to your personal reflection.

__________________________________________________________

CLIL Regular language

Teaching
1. Subject dictates what language support is needed
2. The four skills are a means of learning new information
3. The four skills are a means of displaying understanding
4. Subject content may be approached in an interdisciplinary way
5. Less subject material will be covered
6. Learning is active whenever possible
7. Learning needs to be scaffolded, supported and structured
8. Close co-operatio/collaboration between teachers is important

Key:

CLIL Regular language

Teaching
_1/4/5_____7/8_______2/3___________6______________________________

1. It is true that subject dictates what language is needed not the other way
round.
2. An integrated skills approach is ideal to deal with a subject through
English. Information is acquired in different ways. Although this approach
is also used in a English language class but it is ideal for CLIL
3. The best way to convey meaning and understanding is by introducing a
subject and all its concepts using the four skills, plus the thinking skill and
as many cognitive strategies as possible.
4. It is quite clear that the best way of introducing a content is by linking it to
other fields and making connections. CLIL offer this possibility.

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 5. It may be right at the beginning, students may feel they need a lot of
support to work with a subject through English and content may be at
first diminish or reduced but the as David Marsh says: CLIL must aim to
the idea of Adding language without taking away. I would like to add
content.
6. Learning must be active in CLIL and in English Language lessons.
7. Scaffolding is essential in CLIL, especially when there are difficulties to
convey language.
8. Co-operation between teachers is a must when talking about CLIL. The
Language teacher and the non-language teacher need to open
possibilities to collaboration at different stages: planning, teaching,
evaluating. It has been proved that good practices occur when
Language and subject teachers work together with CLIL.

7. THE CLIL POTENTIAL

The learning of a foreign language is seen as more attractive when

we use linguistic resources that offer a means of acquiring
information.

Metalinguistic and intellectual improvement: students are forced to

use a greater variety of communication strategies.

Emphasis on the creative use of the language provides stimulation in

the learning process.

Enables learners to talk and write in a new language about issues of

great importance to their whole future, topics in which they have
special interest and activities in which they are currently engaged

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 both within and outside the school curriculum. This encourages them
to think about what they want to say and how to say it, and their
personal involvement helps them in their learning of the language.

(DES 1990)

CLIL increases of quantity and quality of exposition to the L2.

Learning the language becomes more functional and communicative

in a CLIL context.

CLIL encourages teachers to use a learning by doing approach, as

well as developing Multiple Intelligences.

The intercultural connection: language use develops positive

attitudes towards other languages, people and cultures.

A powerful pedagogic tool which aims to safeguard the subject

being taught whilst promoting language as a medium for learning as
well as an objective of learning process itself.

(Coyle in Marsh 2002:37)

8.WHAT CLIL IS NOT

1. Replicating models but a Flexible approach

2. Backdoor language teaching or additional subject teaching

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3. Favouring language at the expense of the non language subjects

4. A threat to subjects specialism at any level

5. Teaching what students already know but in English

6. A fashionable trend

7. Aiming to make students bilingual but in the traditional way

8. Elitist and therefore only for more able students

9. Dependent on buying in foreign national teachers

9.THE MANY FACES OF CLIL

CLIL is an umbrella term covering a dozen or more educational approaches

(eg immersion, bilingual education, multilingual education, language
showers and enriched language programmes). What is new about CLIL is
that it synthesizes and provides a flexible way of applying the knowledge
learned from these various approaches. The flexibility of the approach is,
above all, evident in the amount of time devoted to teaching or learning
through the second language. CLIL allows for low- to high-intensity exposure
to teaching/learning through a second language.

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The approach can also be used for short-term high-intensity exposure (see
figure below).

From: Uncovering CLIL

Frgols, Marsh, Mehisto

10.WHY CLIL?

Imagine learning to play a musical instrument such as a piano

without being able to touch the keyboard. Consider learning football
without the opportunity to kick a ball yourself. To learn how to master a
musical instrument, or a football, requires that we gain both knowledge
and skill simultaneously. In other words, we learn effectively by
experiencing both learning about the instrument, and having hands-on
practice at using the instrument, at the same time. This is as true of
music and football as of language.

In the evening, or at school, a youngster may be given time to practise

music by playing the piano, but do you, or your children, have the
opportunity to practice playing the language during or after school? If
not, then what is learnt in their language lessons may be wasted to
some extent. In CLIL, we have an opportunity to try to prevent this

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 from happening by giving opportunities to youngsters to practice what
they learn whilst they learn

David Marsh

USING LANGUAGES TO LEARN

AND LEARNING TO USE LANGUAGES

CLIL has met with some resistance and parents often have very real concerns
about the education that their children involved in CLIL programmes are
receiving. In many cases these reservations are based on prevailing
misconceptions. One such idea is that devoting less time to studying in L1 will
be detrimental to the development of the mother tongue. The fear is that, for
example, native Spanish-speaking children learning Science through English
will develop the subject-specific language in English, but not in their
native Spanish. Another common sense idea is that learning in a foreign
language is more difficult than in the mother tongue and therefore contents
must be reduced leading to children learning less. There are also many new
and practical difficulties for teachers to overcome, so in the face of all this the
question has to be, why CLIL?

A CLIL approach can be justified, if there is a clear added value to the

learning experience. Van de Craen et al. (2007) present six tenets based on a
wide range of research that they have considered. The overview of the
evidence they present suggests that to varying degrees a CLIL approach
positively affects second language development, attitudes and motivation
towards language learning, cognitive development and the exploitation of brain
plasticity in young learners. They also conclude that there are no negative
effects on mother tongue development or subject matter knowledge.

One of the principal arguments for implementing CLIL is that it can

represent an efficient use of time. The European Commission action plan for
promoting language learning and linguistic diversity states that CLIL provides
exposure to the language without requiring extra time in the curriculum (2003:
8). Coyle also stresses that CLIL implies a meaningful and economic use of
study time (2002: 28). This optimization of time would seem to be as good a
reason as any considering how curricula subjects compete with each other for
space on the timetable and any increase in dedication to one normally
implies a reduction in another. This is not so with CLIL, which can augment
time dedicated to language learning without diminishing time dedicated to other
areas of the curriculum.

Another argument is that like any innovation or new approach, CLIL

requires an increased focus on pedagogical practice. The placing of

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obstacles in the path of learning brings about the development of measures
with which to overcome them. Neither teachers nor learners are likely to have
all of the linguistic means they have at their disposal in the L1.

A transmission model of teaching is therefore rendered impracticable because

teachers have to find ways for learners to understand content. According to
Coyle (2002) such a shift brings with it the need to redefine methodologies by
taking into account both teacher and learner language and that this inevitably
leads to greater engagement and interaction in the classroom. This
opinion is seconded by Ball (2009b) who points out that teacher talk is
reduced and student-student focus is augmented through a greater
dependence on skills, group work and collaborative tasks. This is described by
Mehisto et al. (2008: 21) as the hands on, participatory nature of the CLIL
classroom. The combination of so many elements of good pedagogical practice
which is learner-centred and caters for different learning styles is a powerful
reason to recommend CLIL. It makes teachers and learners work harder to co-
construct meaning and learning and, as Mehisto (2009: 1) puts it, Our minds
are more likely to wander when we are learning through our first language,
but CLIL requires heightened attention which may well lead to improved
learning. CLIL would also seem to respond to 21st century needs in that
it encourages interculturality. Learners are given the opportunity to raise their
awareness of other cultures and to operate in them through their studies
due to the fact that it is neither desirable nor possible to divorce language
and culture. As Coyle puts it, Studying a subject through the language of a
different culture paves the way for understanding and tolerating different
perspectives (2002: 28). What could be more important in a modern world in
which new economies are rising to prominence, everyday work contexts
are both plurilingual and pluricultural, languages are increasingly used as a
lingua franca and there is an inexorable interconnectedness and
interdependence of economies, businesses and workers in different
countries and on different continents?

Matthew Johnson
Bilingual Degree Teachers Beliefs

*** Now read two articles ( annex 1 / annex 2)

*** Watch the two videos suggested

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