Teachers' Needs in Language Development

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Comment by Anupma Diddi on November 1, 2009 at 1:52pm

Dear Colleagues,
I've joined BEP recently and am still finding me way around. I've started a discussion "L2 learning: only self help works?". I'd really appreciate your comments.

Comment by Cleo MERINO on June 23, 2009 at 2:10pm

Hi everyone,
I have created a web site with interesting resources for independent language learning and improvement. It's still under construction and I intend to add more resources in the next few weeks.
You might like to check it out:
ENGLISH FOR CLIL TEACHERS
http://sites.google.com/site/englishforclilteachers/

Cleo

Comment by LAURETTA D'ANGELO on February 19, 2009 at 11:24am

cuestionarioidangeloCLILdef.doc
Dear collegaues
I am an Italian teacher and teachers' trainer and I am doing a research about the profile of the subject CLIL teacher. The research is targetted to Italian and Spanish teachers. Maybe some of you are interested and ready to fill in the questionnaire that I upload here. It would be a great help for me and we can share ideas and discussions. The questionaire is in Spanish. It is long but quick because most questions are closed questions. Thank you for answering!
Lauretta

Comment by Zoraida on December 10, 2008 at 12:11pm

you are absolutely right, but I wonder whether these guidelines exist yet. Maybe what we have now to rely on are other teachers' experiences. How could we invite them to share theirs in this platform?

Comment by Cleo MERINO on December 9, 2008 at 9:03pm

Thank you for such valuable insights, Zoraida. I do agree that allowing and integrating translanguaging into the CLIL class actually raises students' language awareness and can foster critical thinking and appreciation of both languages. I'm glad you're seeing the benefits of it in your own classes.

I also believe that it'd be useful for us teachers to have guidelines, a structured framework, to define the best times to use the L1 during a lesson, which we're already doing mostly intuitively, I suppose.

Comment by Zoraida on December 9, 2008 at 7:21pm

Cleo, I will reply you here, as you requested.

Thank you very much for your comment. Actually, I don't have a vast experience; I just have some. From my point of view, the way we use learners' first languages in class depends on their particular needs. To illustrate this, the introduction of portfolios and self-awareness activities or formative self-assessment can be the right moments to allow (pre-)teenagers to use their first language(s) in CLIL classes, even though the rest of the lesson is conducted in English. Learners soon begin using some kind of pidgin. At a later stage in the course, these activities can be carried out in the target language.

I saw your message just after coming back home from a scientific meeting. One of the topics raised at the meeting was plurilingualism as a resource in semiimmersion classes or CLIL classes. We looked at data in which Catalan teenagers worked in small groups to understand the content of a text of Natural Science in English and learn it. Translation to Catalan and Spanish and summarizing the content in Spanish were among the strategies they needed to learn the text- which was rather challenging. In the end, they managed to learn the content of the text and convey it to other learners. This seem to evidence that the use of first languages in semiimmersion classes should not be punished or avoided when necessary.

Comment by Cleo MERINO on October 30, 2008 at 12:32pm

A new CLIL Milestone: CLIL Cascade Network (CCN) has been launched.
The CLIL Conference in Tallinn has finally seen the official launching of this project, started in 2007. Join in!! http://www.ccn-clil.eu/

CCN is a multilateral network co-financed by the European Commission. It aims to accelerate development of teacher competencies and qualifications and localized competence building in CLIL. CCN operates through the CCN Platform in order to enable CLIL practitioners and researchers to connect and share experiences, resources and good examples of CLIL and thus to consolidate local, regional and national network activities in CLIL at a European level.

Comment by Cleo MERINO on October 17, 2008 at 12:30pm

I’ve uploaded two documents from the English Bilingual Schools Project in Madrid, “Presentación” (in Spanish and English) and “Syllabus”.

Some interesting points from “Presentación”:
* One third of the classes (at least) will be taught in English. Maths is excluded.
* Literacy and communication skills are defined as the main objectives for Years 1 to 4.
* The study of Science in English is the main objective in Years 5 and 6 (but in actual fact it is also taught in earlier years)
* Teachers should always use English in their classes
* The same subject will not be taught both in English and Spanish.
* The level in English at the end of Primary School is expected to be B1 (CEFL).
* Initial training: 140h in UK plus (for teachers who need to further develop their language skills) 360h in Spain. (Some – how much?- of the training introduces the CLIL approach).

The “Syllabus” is rather language-oriented. In the “Contents” section, there are two parallel columns listing “Language Functions and Uses” together with the main “Grammar Structures” needed for them. The “Vocabulary” section specifies the “topics” and a “thematic vocabulary list” for each topic.

What do you think? Do you find the “Syllabus” a helpful tool to promote the integration of language and content? I’d love to hear your views.

Comment by Ezana Habte-Gabr on October 16, 2008 at 4:06pm

It seems to me that your inservice training should first focus on meeting the language needs for the EU and looking at English from the perspective of a regional lingua franca.

Comment by Cleo MERINO on October 16, 2008 at 3:46pm

You're absolutely right, Manuel! Now the question is, how much of the in-service training currently available addresses these issues? And surely the needs will differ from Primary to Secondary School!

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