Greenspeak

Content Language Integrated Learning

Greenspeak developed from an idea that we wanted to use English to teach students about the environment in which they live.  We were clear that a greater understanding of the world would skill them to better face the challenges of being a potential leader in the ‘new age’ global community.  As we looked closer into this we found that the idea wasn’t necessarily new, and that it already had a name – CLIL (Content language Integrated learning).

This approach actually has a number of different names including EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction), LAC (Language Across the Curriculum), CBI (Content-based Instruction), CBLT (Content-based Language Teaching) or Bilingual Education.   But essentially the same idea - learning subject content in a foreign language - rather than learning the language itself.  The idea of CLIL itself has been around for quite a long time, one of the first examples is the ancient Romans whose wealthier citizens preferred to have their children educated in Greek as not only did they receive an education but as a by product better learned Greek, the then international language of scholars and philosophers.

Principles

Generally speaking, CLIL is seen as being dual focused, as it aims to introduce students to content areas such as Science, Music or Art using a foreign language (in the case of Greenspeak English) as the medium.  This dual approach allows for both the language and subject to be learned much more effectively.  The two basic principles of CLIL are that in the classroom Language is used to learn as well as to communicate, and it is the subject matter which determines the language needed to be learned.  Writer Phil Ball sums up CLIL by saying that it is “Using languages to learn, and learning to use languages”.  He goes on to explain that “CLIL requires students to speak and write, regarding concepts that are often beyond their linguistic range.  It is this attempt to express oneself that is the key to language development in CLIL.”

The content driven approach means that the subject content is given primary focus. This applies to both the content and the administrative implications, like activities.  There are strong and weak forms of CLIL.  A weak form would be where the topics of ESL activities are simply chosen on a theme and language is the focus, while a strong form would base it’s whole syllabus on non-ESL subjects with improvements in language as a by-product of content learning.  So, for example, Greenspeak where we favor total immersion, where the academic and social medium is a foreign language, would be considered operating under a strong version of CLIL.

The overall focus of CLIL is fluency, providing students with communication skills, rather than discussing the differences between the various language structures such as Past Simple and the Present Perfect tense. This is not to say that CLIL does not improve accuracy.  It simply means that effective learning is much more likely to occur within an approach that prioritises skills like thinking and communication.

According to the 4Cs curriculum (Coyle 1999), a successful CLIL lesson should combine different elements of the following:

• Content - Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements of a defined curriculum.
• Communication - Using language to learn whilst learning to use language.
• Cognition - Developing thinking skills which link concept formation, understanding and language.
• Culture - Exposure to alternative views and shared understandings, which deepen self awareness, and awareness of others.

At Greenspeak, our lessons take aspects from all of these to form a cohesive and communicative approach.

Benefits

The benefits of CLIL are profound and varied.  They include;

• increasing motivation,
• introducing students to more information about the world in which they live,
• developing a positive ‘can do' attitude towards learning languages, and
• increasing cultural awareness and preparing students for further studies and work

In fact, research and feedback from teachers in school settings has demonstrated that children's educational experience is significantly enhanced by taking the emphasis off learning language and placing it on learning content.

Teaching non-language content in English makes the use of the foreign language more real and meaningful for children, as well as catering to a variety of learning styles. In addition, taking information from different sources and evaluating or re-structuring it can help students to develop very valuable cognative skills. These skills can then be transferred to other subjects and can even improve study skills such as note taking, summarising and extracting key information from texts.

Greenspeak and CLIL

Once we had realized the potential of CLIL, we had to put it into action. We designed a truly innovative program that took the principles of CLIL, and combined them with TBL (Task Based Learning) to help cement learning with fun experiences. Successful educational programs must have clearly set goals and objectives (which we most definitely have), in combination with great teachers. At Greenspeak, we firmly believe that ‘all teachers are teachers of language' (The Bullock Report - A Language for Life, 1975), and as such, our English teachers and content area teachers work together when planning and preparing materials and classes. There are three crucial concepts of education working in harmony in a great lesson. Subject content to be acquired, Language skills used to work on the concept, Specific language items required by conceptual content.  Our teachers use a variety of activities to fulfill these requirements. This ensures that our curriculum and lessons are based on solid CLIL principles, but are delivered in a fun and interactive way.

What really sets Greenspeak apart however, is the innovative concept of combining intercultural, immersion-style language learning with environmental and cultural education.  Environmental education (in addition to building understanding of the environment, our impact on it, and sustainable living) is a rich source of experiential and process-centred learning, which is how all learning should be.  Language learning is a big part of this, as it provides students with the tools to understand the world outside their immediate surroundings.  This is summed up by Ludwig Wittenstein, who said “The limits of my language are the limits of my universe”.  Greenspeak believes that the best possible curriculum is one that links learning about the human relationship with its physical, social and cultural environment, via language education.

References

Steve Darn, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/content-language-integrated-learning
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/clil-a-lesson-framework

Nina Lauder, Oxford University Press
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/uk-publishers/oup/clarifying-clil

Nik Peachey, The British council
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/content-based-instruction

Jean Brewster
http://www.onestopclil.com/section.asp?catid=77&docid=1197

John Clegg
http://www.onestopclil.com/section.asp?catid=77&docid=472