Abstract:

How does the CLIL methodology change as the context moves from primary school to vocational college? Participation in a European Commission funded LLP project that aimed to develop CLIL materials suited to various scholastic contexts brought together a diverse group of people from different cultural and linguistic contexts, who worked with pupils ranging from 6 to 20 years in age.

It very soon became evident that the CLIL implementation method must adapt to the cultural context and to the age and linguistic competences of the learners. In fact, younger children learn simple contents (for example: colours, geometric shapes) using the foreign language at an elementary level. Older students, on the other hand, study contents that are more complex, using the foreign language at an intermediate level. This can result in a gap between the level of the content (relatively high), and the linguistic level of the learners (relatively low). In order to overcome this obstacle, language teachers and content teachers should collaborate closely in order to structure and support the learning process as much as possible.

Building on the outcomes of this collaboration process, and focussing particularly on the needs of the bachelor degree students at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, a series of lesson plans was created. The lesson design process also incorporated focus on the logical development of cognitive skills (Bloom’s revised taxonomy), and the provision of scaffolding in order to provide learners with a base from which to develop their learning.

The presentation will include:
• a brief description of key CLIL concepts
• video sequences of CLIL in different educational contexts
• presentation of CLIL materials created for students at a vocational university
• demonstration of CLILstore (a free-to-use archive for CLIL materials)
• data on CLIL implementation at our university (students involved, lesson plans tested, student satisfaction survey results).

References:
[1] P. Ball, K. Kelly, & J. Clegg, Content and Language Putting CLIL into Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
[2] C.N. Coonan, La metodologia task-based e CLIL, in Il futuro si chiama CLIL: una ricerca interregionale sull’insegnamento veicolare (a cura di F. Ricci Garotti), Trento, IPRASE del Trentino.
[3] F. Costa, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) through English in Italian Higher Education. Milan: LED, 2016.
[4] D. Coyle, D. Marsh, & P. Hood, Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
[5] Eurydice report. CLIL at School in Europe. 2006. Retrieved from http://languages.dk/clil4u/Eurydice.pdf
[6] M. Gotti and C. Nickenig, Multilinguismo, CLIL e innovazione didattica. 7th AICLU conference, Brixen-Bressanone, 7–9 July 2011. Atti del convegno, a cura di. Bozen-Bolzano University Press, 2013.
[7] E. Macaro, M. Akincioglu, J. Dearden, English Medium Instruction in Universities: A Collaborative Experiment in Turkey, in: Studies in English Language Teaching, Vol.4, No.1. 2016. Retrieved from www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/selt
[8] D. Marsh, V. Vázquez, & M. Frigols Martin, The Higher Education Languages Landscape: Ensuring Quality in English Language Degree Programmes. Valencia: VIU, 2013.
[9] P. Mehisto, Excellence in Bilingual Education: A Guide for School Principals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Keywords:

CLIL, adapting to context, collaboration, lesson design, cognitive skills, scaffolding.