Page 69 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom
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Challenges of CLIL
et al., 2016; Coonan, 2007) also suggest that teachers consider CLIL lessons as
an ideal environment for pedagogical innovation and believe that it fosters
greater teacher awareness of student learning.
Reflection Point
1. Discuss which non-linguistic subjects and contents are good candidates
for CLIL lessons. Are there ideal curriculum subjects for CLIL lessons with
YLs?
2. Discuss the CLIL teacher profile by identifying his/her key competences
and focusing on the teacher’s possible concerns.
3. Which steps of CLIL lesson planning do you find the most challenging?
4. Watch a video (up to minute 7) in which several examples of CLIL lessons
are demonstrated. Discuss the activities from the perspective of the four
CLIL elements and the different types of language used considering the
language triptych.
Key Takeaways
• CLIL is not about learning different aspects of a language but rather using
the new language to talk about a specific non-linguistic content.
• TheFourCsframeworkimpliestheintegrationofcontentlearning(content
and cognition) and language learning (communication and culture).
• CLIL learners need a lot of extra support from the teacher in the form of
various scaffolding strategies.
• In planning a CLIL lesson, it is useful to consider subject content and learn-
ing objectives, language objectives, teaching techniques, ways of encour-
aging the development of higher-order thinking skills, and assessment.
Further Reading
Coyle, D.,Hood,P., & Marsh,D.(2010). CLIL content and language integrated
learning. Oxford University Press.
Ellison, M. (2019). CLIL in the primary school context. In S. Garton & F. Copland
(Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp.
247–268). Routledge.
Ioannou-Georgiou, S., & Pavlou, P. (2011). Guidelines for CLIL implementation in
primary and pre-primary education. PROCLIL Programme.
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