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Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2016. № 2
L.A. Gorodetskaya, L.A. Kozhevnikova
USING CLIL APPROACH IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION
CLIL — это интегративный подход к обучению, при котором учащиеся получают дополнительные знания по некоторым школьным предметам посредством иностранного языка. Цели развития данного подхода в Евросоюзе: способствовать когнитивному развитию учащихся и их обучению в других странах Европы по обменным программам, а также мотивировать тех детей, интересы которых могут быть связаны с математикой, биологией, физикой и другими предметами, что, в свою очередь, соотносится с теорией развития множественных видов интеллекта. Из двух типов CLIL, описанных в статье, — 'жесткий CLIL' и 'мягкий CLIL', российские учителя могут воспользоваться 'мягким' вариантом данного подхода, который отражен в современных УМК по английскому языку как в виде отдельных заданий урока, так и в виде специальных разделов, нередко включающих проектную работу. В статье также описывается экзамен для учителей ТКТ CLIL и предлагаются примеры тестовых заданий.
Ключевые слова: интегрированное обучение языку и предмету, когнитивное развитие, множественные виды интеллекта, тест для учителей TKT CLIL.
CLIL is an approach to teaching a foreign language integrated with teaching some subject knowledge acquired by schoolchildren in other classes in their native language. The aims of developing this approach within the European Union are to help students' cognitive development, facilitate their mobility within European educational system and motivate those learners whose interests may be related to math, biology, physics and other disciplines, which reflects the idea of multiple intelligences. Among the two types of CLIL described in the article — 'hard CLIL' and 'soft CLIL', Russian school teachers may benefit from 'soft CLIL' which is now included in contemporary published materials either as activities within traditional ELT units or even as separate CLIL pages often accompanied by project work. The article also describes the CLIL module of the well-known TKT exam for teachers and provides some examples of tasks.
Key words: Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), cognitive development, multiple intelligences, TKT CLIL.
Городецкая Людмила Александровна — докт. культурологи, профессор кафедры преподавания иностранных языков факультета иностранных языков и регионове-дения МГУ имени М.В. Ломоносова. E-mail: [email protected];
Кожевникова Людмила Александровна — канд. пед. наук, доц. кафедры иностранных языков Самарского государственного университета. E-mail: laksvet@ mail.ru
CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an approach which integrates the teaching of content from other subjects of the curriculum with the teaching of a non-native language. It is also called a dual-focused educational approach in which a foreign language is used for the teaching of both content and language. The emphasis is greater on either content or language depending on the type of school in a given country, but the two are interwoven. So while CLIL is neither a new form of language teaching, nor a new form of teaching other subjects, it is undoubtedly an innovative fusion of both1.
The term 'content and language integrated learning' was introduced in mid 1990s to describe and further develop good practices achieved in different types of secondary schools of the European Union and its new members. "According to the European Chart of regional and minority languages adopted by the Council of Europe in 1992, language competence is ideally based on the command of three European languages including the native one"2. All European countries were looking for alternative paths in language education to be able to implement these ambitious plans. In the late 1990s, the insight was firmly set on achieving a high degree of language awareness necessary for students' mobility and their further integration in all spheres of economic and social life of Europe. "Many European companies hire employees for negotiating with representatives from other countries. That is why secondary schools are introducing compulsory learning of several foreign languages"3. From the 1990s onwards, CLIL became increasingly prioritized as a major educational initiative, culminating in the 2005 EU recommendations that CLIL should be adopted throughout the entire European Union. In 2006, the first statistical study on where and how CLIL was being implemented was published by the Eurydice, a network which consisted of 41 educational units in 37 countries participating in Erasmus programme, with its coordinating centre in Brussels. The Eurydice network supported cooperation in the field of lifelong learning, and through it, CLIL became well-known worldwide.
After the movement in favour of communicative language teaching in the 1980s, the emergence of CLIL in the 1990s was one step to a more holistic way of teaching and learning languages because CLIL classroom
1 Coyle D., Hood Ph., Marsh D. CLIL. Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge University Press. 2010.
2 См.: Загрязкина Т.Ю. Речь о французском языке и проблема языкового многообразия. // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 2. С. 52—63. Перевод цит. С. 53.
3 Китайгородская Г.А. Проблема универсального языка: pro et contra. // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 3. С. 73—77. Перевод цит. С. 76.
practice involves active participation of learners in developing their potential and acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for their education and future career. When the teacher pulls back from being a donor of knowledge and becomes a facilitator, as is often found in CLIL practice, forces are unleashed which empower learners to acquire knowledge through group communication and reasoning. That is often achieved through the method of projects which originated more than a century ago and is now developing on the basis of information technologies4. What separates CLIL from some other approaches such as content-based language learning, is integration of content, cognition, communication and culture. It motivates the learners who have interests in different school subjects and helps them develop skills to communicate their ideas about science, arts and technology to people from other countries. Similar ideas have been formulated by Russian scholars: further development of multilingualism, pedagogy and cultural studies has been recently recognized by the Committee for Education of the Russian Duma as a prerequisite for spiritual and ethical growth of young people5.
CLIL covers quite a range of models and is implemented differently in different types of schools. Some schools teach topics from other subjects within a language classroom — this is called 'soft CLIL' or 'language-led' model. Other schools teach partial immersion programmes where almost half of the curriculum is taught in a foreign language — this is called 'hard CLIL'. Mid-way between these models, some schools teach a modular CLIL programme where a subject such as science or art is taught in a foreign language for a certain number of hours. The last two models are referred to as 'subject-led'.
In today's Russia many school teachers are looking at the 'soft-CLIL' model with great interest as they are searching for the materials that will allow them to better motivate learners and make their classes more effective. "Foreign language learning and teaching materials must combine the best of both worlds: good traditions from our past experience and good modern ideas from the rest of the world"6. CLIL-based activities or even regular CLIL pages can now be found in such well-known and new courses of English as a foreign language for primary and secondary
4 См.: Назаренко А.Л. Социоконструктивистский подход в межкультурном образовательном видеоконференц-проекте // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2012. № 3. С. 59—66.
5 См.: Тер-Минасова С.Г. Преподавание иностранных языков в современной России. Что впереди? // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2014. № 2. С. 31—41.
6 Ter-Minasova S. Learning and teaching languages in Russia: old traditions and new problems? // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 2. С. 9-19. Цит. С.17.
schools as 'Kid's Box', 'Super Minds', 'MORE!', 'Prepare', "Eyes Open' published by Cambridge University Press for primary and secondary schools.
Teaching CLIL to young learners
CLIL has been practiced in varying educational contexts ranging from pre-school to tertiary education. The appeal of CLIL to schools lies in the fact that it has great educational potential. Research shows that learners who start CLIL in primary schools show better verbal and intellectual development than learners who study English in traditional ELT classes. By the time they finish primary education, they tend to be more confident in using English as well as their mother tongue; their vocabulary is richer and more varied; they are more cognitively active during the learning process. "Understanding combines in a single knot knowledge and communication, i.e. cognition, communication and function"7.
The introduction of CLIL should be relevant to students' age and developmental level. When teaching very young learners (from two to six years of age), we should take into consideration that they are dependent on perception and that they are capable of thinking logically. They are actively exploring the world, they are curious about everything, they are keen on learning, and they are receptive. The exposure to other subjects through English brings the outside world into the language classroom, so that children could learn about the world around them as they learn English.
With very small children, it is important that CLIL lessons should have an established routine. In this case, kids know what to expect, which helps them, on the one hand, to remember the material better and, on the other hand, feel more secure. In a typical CLIL module, the first lesson would introduce the topic and present useful words which the children will need to recognize but which are not core material. The second CLIL lesson would provide opportunities for the children to apply the knowledge from the previous lesson. The activities aim to develop students' thinking skills, such as predicting, sequencing and categorizing. Students are also taught how to make deductions. Songs and games help them revise the vocabulary and language from the unit.
Craft activities are an integral part of CLIL curricula. They develop young learners' creativity as well as help them develop linguistically, especially when they are related to the language students have been exposed to in the unit: they practice the new vocabulary and concepts by using a different medium, creating a different perspective on the material
7 Молчанова Г.Г. Вербальный символ и маркетинговые коммуникативные стратегии текста // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2012. № 3. С. 9—26. Перевод цит. С. 17.
they have learnt. Besides, craft is a valuable way of developing fine motor skills which children can apply when they begin writing.
When children start formal education, they need to acquire new skills that will enable them to reach their full potential. These skills include reasoning, creative thinking and evaluating. CLIL promotes cognitive or thinking skills which challenge learners. Research shows that they are capable of a high level of thinking if they are encouraged to do so. Providing tasks which challenge the pupils cognitively is also central to keeping them motivated and interested in learning new things. CLIL activities provide this challenge. For example, when students read a text about the life cycle of a butterfly and put the statements about the butterfly life cycle in the right order, they learn to recognize sequences.
Being able to put things and actions in a sequential order is necessary for higher-order cognitive functioning, such as problem-solving. This skill is also important for reasoning and for giving clear, logical explanations.
CLIL is very useful in stimulating different intelligences. According to Howard Gardner, there are at least eight kinds of intelligences and we are all intelligent — to a greater or smaller extent — in at least eight different ways: linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial and naturalistic. CLIL lessons cater for a broad spectrum of multiple intelligences. For example, logical reasoning and calculations will help young learners understand how high Big Ben is or how tall a giraffe is, thus appealing to their logical-mathematical intelligence. The 'Class survey' is an exciting activity for the students with linguistic and interpersonal intelligences. When students draw a graph and colour it, they develop their visual-spatial and kinesthetic intelligences, etc.8
As a modern approach to language teaching, CLIL is beneficial and motivating for young learners: they develop cognitive and communication skills; they interact meaningfully and use English to communicate ideas about curricular subjects. Which is more important, CLIL caters for students with different intelligence profiles, thus helping teachers to attend to the learning needs of each and every child in their classroom.
How to test teachers' own knowledge about CLIL
Since 1994, Content and Language Integrated Learning has established itself as an excellent educational practice and produced a paradigm shift in teaching foreign languages. Given this new trend, many recently published course books in English as a foreign language include CLIL materials that integrate content, cognition, communication and culture into teaching and learning processes. As a rule, they use the so-
8 Dale L., Tanner R. CLIL Activities. A resource for subject and language teachers. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
called 'soft CLIL' or language-led approach, which means that language teachers do not need to have discipline-specific content knowledge. However, in order to maximize the language learning outcomes and the subject learning potential of CLIL, they need to develop a range of specific skills and competences. The best way to explore the core features of CLIL is to prepare for the professional exam called TKT CLIL.
What is TKT CLIL? It is one of the modules of The Teaching Knowledge Test developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment. The module aims at both practicing teachers and those who are new to the profession. The exam tests the knowledge of CLIL-related pedagogical concepts, and the learning, thinking and language skills which are developed across different curriculum subjects. Exam candidates should know how to plan a lesson or a series of lessons, and how to use available resources. They are expected to know a range of activity types and be able to match different activities with their purposes. Sound knowledge of lesson delivery is also tested in the exam. This includes such areas as classroom language, scaffolding content and language, methods of helping schoolchildren to develop learning strategies, ways of consolidating learning and differentiation. Lastly, candidates are tested on their knowledge of assessment for CLIL.
Teachers' knowledge of specific curriculum subjects in science, social science and arts is not assessed. Candidates' proficiency in the English language is not assessed either and they are not required to take a proficiency examination before they sit the TKT CLIL. However, candidates are advised to have at least Level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference.
TKT CLIL consists of 80 objective-format questions and candidates have 80 minutes to complete the test. The task types used are multiple choice, matching, odd one out, ordering and sequencing. Each question carries one mark, so the maximum mark is 80. Results are reported in four bands and there is no pass or fail. At Band 4, a candidate demonstrates extensive knowledge of TKT CLIL. A candidate who has achieved Band 3 demonstrates breadth and depth of knowledge of TKT CLIL. To achieve Band 3, a candidate should get a score of at least 45 — 50 marks out of 80.
Here are some practice tasks to get the feel of the teacher's competences assessed in TKT CLIL.
Practice task 1
For questions 1 — 7, match the activities with the CLIL aims listed A — D. Mark the correct letter (A — D) on your answer sheet. You will need to use some of the options more than once9.
9 Bentley K. The TKT Course. CLIL Module. Cambridge University Press, 2010. P. 100.
A reviewing content knowledge
B practicing communication skills
C developing cognitive skills
D increasing awareness of culture
1. Learners look at pictures of musical instruments and then group them according to how they think they might be played.
2. Learners read a text about plants and how different people use them. They underline the uses of plants which are similar to how plants are used in the area where they come from.
3. Learners use a search engine to look for information about electric cars. They read the text and find three facts they learned about in a previous lesson.
4. Without any sound, learners watch a DVD showing some ways to keep fit. Once they've watched it, they describe one way to keep fit to a partner.
5. Learners are given six shapes and asked to calculate their areas. They use the methods they've done in class to find the answers.
6. How green is your school? In groups, learners agree on what they could do to reduce the energy the school uses.
7. Learners find features in the architecture of five buildings which are also found in buildings in different parts of their country.
Answers: 1C; 2D; 3A; 4B; 5A; 6B; 7D
Practice task 2
For questions 1—4, look at the cognitive skills and the three activities listed A, B and C. Two of the activities develop the cognitive skill. One activity does NOT. Which activity does NOT_develop the cognitive skill?10
1. Comparing
A Write down some facts about how fossil fuels are used.
B Tell your partner three differences between coal and oil.
C Look at the table about coal and oil and then list some similarities about how they are produced.
2. Predicting
A What could happen if the artist changes the perspective?
B Scan the article and find when the building design will be completed.
C With a partner, guess which objects won't be represented in the cave painting.
3. Reasoning
A Label the electrical components in the picture and then copy the circuit diagram.
10 Ibid. P. 25.
B Look at the animal word bank, then decide how you could group the animals in a Venn diagram.
C Study the life cycle of a flowering plant and then explain to a partner how the seeds germinate. 4. Classifying
A Put the musical instruments into different sets. What features do they have in common?
B Decide how these pieces of music could be grouped and explain the reasons for your grouping.
C Read the text about jazz music, then complete the mind map by adding the main features ofjazz. Answers: 1A; 2B; 3A; 4C
To sum up, we can state that CLIL encourages language teachers to re-evaluate their role, and TKT CLIL helps them scale new heights in their professional development.
References
Загрязкина Т.Ю. Речь о французском языке и проблема языкового многообразия // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 2. Китайгородская Г.А. Проблема универсального языка: pro et contra // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 3. Молчанова Г.Г. Вербальный символ и маркетинговые коммуникативные стратегии текста. // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2012. № 3. Назаренко А.Л. Социоконструктивистский подход в межкультурном образовательном видеоконференц-проекте // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2012. № 3. Тер-Минасова С.Г. Преподавание иностранных языков в современной России. Что впереди? // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2014. № 2. Bentley K. The TKT Course. CLIL Module. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Coyle D., Hood Ph., Marsh D. CLIL. Content and Language Integrated
Learning. Cambridge University Press, 2010. Dale L., Tanner R. CLIL Activties. A resource for subject an language
teachers. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Ter-Minasova S. Learning and teaching languages in Russia: old traditions and new problems // Вестн. Моск. ун-та. Сер. 19. Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация. 2013. № 2.
