Content and Learning Integrated Learning - CLIL

What is CLIL?

Content and Language Integrated Learning is a dual-focused educational approach in which an additianal language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language. 

CLIL is not a new form of language education. It is not a new form of subject education. It is an innovative fusion of both.

The term CLIL is enclusive in that it brinds together the essence of good practice found in the different environemts where its principles have been adopted.

Why is CLIL relevant to contemporary education?

The forces of global change, converging technologies and adaptability to the subsequent Knowledge Age present challenges for education. And within education as a whole, theu present challenges for the teaching and learning of additional languages.

Young people growing up with this technology are prone to developing a mindset to which educators need to respond.

An alternative approach for using language to learn

• Language OF learning

Is an analysis of language needed for learners to access basic concepts and skills relating to the subject theme or topic. It reveals the need to acquire language specific to subject and thematic content. For the language teacher this means shifting linguistic progression from a dependency on grammatical levels of difficulty towards functional levels of difficulty demanded by the content. For the subject teacher it requires greater explicit awareness of the linguistic demands of the subject or content to take account of literacy and oracy in the vehicular language.

• Language FOR learning: 

Focuses on the kind of language needed to operate in a foreign language environment. Learners need strategies to enable them to use the foreign language effectively. Planning is a prerequisite for effective scaffolding, in CLIL settings this means that the learner will need to be supported in developing skills such as pair groups, asking questions, debating...

          

• Language THROUGH learning:

Is based on the principle that effective learning cannot take place without active involvement of language and thinking. When learners are encouraged to articulate their understandings, then a deeper level of learning takes place. The CLIL classroom demands a level of talk.

The 4Cs Framework

The 4 Cs Framework integrates four contextualized building blocks: content (subject), communication (language learning), cognition (thinking processes) and culture (citizenship). In so doing, it takes account of integrating content learning and language learning within specific contexts and acknowledges the symbiotic reñationship that exists between these elements.

* I have answered a number of questions related to the CLIL method. Now I ask you a question:

"Why is CLIL relevant to the teaching profession?"

I hope you enjoy it! =) 

To Learn Literacy Through Stories

To Teach Literacy Through Stories

The last week we had the opportunity to put into practice what we are learning in class. More specifically to teach literacy through stories.

First of all we had to choose a classic tale in groups of seven and create a wonderful world related with the topic. 

We chose Hercules.

We wanted to create the atmosphere of the story for children, to get it we decorated the class with difefrentes objects like white and black clouds , rays , columns ...

The class was divide in two parts , the Olympus aside with white clouds and the Infraworld on the other side filled with rays.

Inside the classroom, we found the band members; Hercules and their muses, three of them from the Olympus dressed in white and other three muses from the Infra world wearing black costumes. 

When children went into the class, we received them dancing to the song of the Muses from Hercules, while we handed them a passsport's hero, and managed to pass the test seals to completion.

The kids had to do three tests:

• The first test was in The Olympus, led by the white-clad muses in which the children with closed eyes they take a part of Hercules and were following a string through a maze to get to the board, where they had to stick the body of Hercules has take them, to complete a puzzle.

• The second test took place in The Infraworld, conducted by the muses of black. The test was to pass through the Infraworld tunnel and take words from the end of the tunnel. When all the children had taken all the words, with the help of the Muses they formed a sentence related to morals and heroes.

• The third and final test was to tell the story of Hercules with digital images on the drawing board and then all together had to draw Hercules on the whiteboard.

As we can see, we can use a lot and really creative and original resources for teaching children. It does not necessarily have to continue teaching with old and boring methods. Teaching through stories is great for both students and teachers, so as a future teacher I will not hesitate to implement this strategy in teaching.

Children are eager to know, and if they are also taught through something that motivates them, we will be fulfilling our purpose.

In my opinion the kids really enjoyed the experience and we too.

Here you have some videos for you can enjoy to see us while we teach!