Recent years have seen a transformation in language learning methodologies.

Reasons for this include developments in human sciences, social changes,

globalisation, the spectacular growth of intercultural relationships, different
ideologies in teaching, the various needs of individuals and societies, and
emergent and powerful technology, to name just a few. These factors accompany
new styles of learning and teaching languages which we need to adopt, not only
to shape these new societal features but also to respond to the needs of today's
fast-changing world.

All these changes impact the teacher-learner relationship,. Different resources

are at the disposal of learners, mainly as a result of technology, such as new
digital learning tools, which make it possible for them to take charge of their own
learning. Learners can also acquire content and language in more than one
language and become active members of new scenarios.

The application of approaches based on the integration of language and content

are increasingly present in schools. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated
Learning) has become very popular in plurilingual environments.

CLIL is the most common term used in the European setting to describe the
approach to teaching a curriculum subject through a foreign language, with the
dual focus of acquiring more subject knowledge and improving one’s skills and
competences in the foreign language. It is, thus, neither an approach that belongs
to language learning nor one that belongs to subject teaching. It is a unique
approach which develops when the two teaching methodologies are merged, as
described by MARSH (2002)

This approach has been practiced in many European schools for decades.
Originally it was employed in bilingual or border areas. Today, it has spread in
most European countries and constitutes a promising and effective tool in the
promotion of multilingualism. In the 2006 EURYDICE publication “Content and
Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) at school in Europe” one can see that most
European countries have initiated CLIL-based programmes.

Indeed, CLIL has a great deal of potential. The benefits of the approach do not
limit themselves to the improvement of language skills and subject knowledge.
CLIL also offers the opportunity for learners to develop their intercultural
knowledge and understanding as well as their intercultural communication
skills. The approach promotes the development of diverse learning strategies,
the application of innovative teaching methods and techniques and the increase
of learner motivation.

Currently CLIL is fast increasing in popularity and is being implemented in a

variety of contexts both in Europe and internationally. As a result, there are
numerous models of implementation included under the “umbrella term” of
CLIL.

CLIL responds to the EU lifelong learning programme proposal for all citizens
where multilingualism and multiculturalism is thought to promote integration,
understanding and mobility among Europeans.. Subjects such as science, arts
and craft, music, physical education, geography or home economics are only
some among the wide range of CLIL content subjects taught at pre-primary and
primary schools.

There are innovative principles that must be respected in order to use the CLIL
approach. They are generally based on the 4 Cs (CONTENT, COMMUNICATION,
COGNITION and CULTURE) as defined by Do Coyle, 2005.

- As for Content, The foreign language is learned through topic content provided
in a way that encourages active natural learning.

- Regarding Communication, The emphasis is put on effective linguistic learning

for communication and immediate use.

Language is used as a medium to perform tasks, solve problems, develop

projects, as well as to express ideas.

- Relating to cognition, the foreign language is used as a language for thinking in

parallel with the mother tongue.

- Last but not least, learning a foreign language is learning about cultures that
use that language and contrasting them to our own culture.

The 4Cs framework emphasises the language of learning, for learning and
through learning.

There are a number of strategies that support CLIL learning in Primary

st
Education, such as holistic, constructive and experiential learning. 21 Century
pedagogies also enhance active, experimental, digital and cooperative learning,
as well as learning through discovery and task-based learning.

When planning CLIL lessons, teachers should:

Focus more on fluency than accuracy: the focus is firmly on

communication and accuracy comes with time.

Understand the role of teacher as informant and collaborator for

student- centered learning.

Understand that students need to learn vocabulary before they

can actually use it; and that students can be encouraged to infer meaning
because language is learnt in context.

Increase visualization because it supports students’

understanding and motivation.

Understand that techniques that promote learners’ autonomy

are useful in CLIL lessons and equip them with learning strategies and at
the same time meet different 
learning styles and preferences.

In order to increase the development of students’ media literacy, materials using

sound, video and animation should be chosen whenever possible.

Technology can also offer linguistic help to the CLIL teacher, due to the fact that
even teachers who are highly proficient in the foreign language may find
difficulties when using the language to teach a specific subject. Moreover,
technology provides an invaluable resource of teaching materials when novice
teachers are in need of them.

There should be an open channel of communication between teachers and

parents and this can be further encouraged by inviting parents to observe CLIL
lessons or by communicating with them frequently and briefing them on CLIL
projects and/or new developments, such as new resources acquired or
participations in competitions. Parents can also be encouraged to actively
participate in their children’s learning. They can be involved in assessment
processes by reflecting on and reviewing their child’s portfolio or they can be
partners in homework projects.

Another 21st century learning method which is becoming increasingly popular is

FLIPPED LEARNING. According to FLIPPED LEARNING NETWORK (FLN) ,
Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves
from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting
group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment
where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage
creatively in the subject matter. In other words, it can be defined as a
pedagogical methodology where students are introduced to learning at home or
outside the classroom before teacher’s follow up. The central idea is to reverse
the concept of homework where teachers take the class at first and students
follow, revising at home. In a flipped classroom, students are provided with
videos and study materials, preferably online, to watch at home. These lessons
are then discussed and reviewed at classroom providing better opportunities to
students for learning and discussing the lessons. The impact apparently is twice
the traditional mode of classroom education.

Perhaps the most recognizable contributor to the flipped classroom is Salman

Khan. In 2004, Khan began recording videos at the request of a younger cousin
he was tutoring because she felt that recorded lessons would let her skip
segments she had mastered and replay parts that were troubling her.

Critics argue the flipped classroom model has some drawbacks for both
students and teachers.
For students, there exists a 'digital divide'. Not all families are from the same
socio-economic background, and thus access to computers or video-viewing
technology outside of the school environment is not possible for all students.
Additionally, some students may struggle due to their developing personal
responsibility.
Others argue that the flipped classroom leads to increased computer time in an
era where children already spend too much time in front of computer screens.
Moreover, flipped classrooms that rely on videos to deliver instruction suffer
some of the same challenges as traditional classrooms. Students may not learn
best by watching instructional videos at home.
Teachers may find challenges with this model as well. Increased preparation
time is initially likely needed, as creating high quality videos requires teachers to
contribute significant time and effort outside of regular teaching responsibilities.

In order to avoid some of the disadvantages that the method can involve for
primary students, experts have made some changes in the primary flipped
classroom: videos are not assigned as homework, but become part of a lesson.
Moreover, some primary teachers advice the use of instructional videos in the
middle of a learning cycle, as watching it at the beginning of the learning cycle
can lead to misinterpretations by students and thus, an un-learning and re-
learning process which translates into a waste of time and effort.

To sum up, this method has proven successful with older students (University
and high schools), and although adapted flipped lessons for young children can
be beneficial, they are engaging not only for teachers and children but also for
parents, since it involves working at home with the content. This fact involves
added dangers to the equal opportunities model of education.

The term gamification was coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling. It describes the
process of applying game-related principles — particularly those relating to user
experience and engagement — to non-game contexts such as education.

Unlike using a game to teach – for example, asking children to play word-based
games like Scrabble
to encourage better reading skills – gamification focuses on
extracting the underlying principles of games and asking whether an education
experience can be reconfigured to build on those principles. Since gamers
voluntarily spend countless hours playing games and problem-solving,
researchers and educators have been exploring ways to harness videogames’
power for motivation and apply it to the classroom.

All games share three fundamental characteristics: they have a clearly defined
set of rules; a rapid feedback system; and a well-established goal. With few
exceptions, participation in games is voluntary and is primarily for enjoyment.

The principal appeal of gamification is the liberty that
it provides pupils and
teachers, as encapsulated 
by the four freedoms: the freedom to fail, freedom
to experiment, freedom of effort and freedom 
to self-express and assume
different identities. These freedoms represent a welcome pedagogical shift for
those students whose educational potential is being hampered by conventional
teaching methods.

There are some mechanisms in games which have gained prominence as the
most fundamental to be applied in education: based on the Cascading
information Theory, the replacement of a completed task with a slightly more
difficult one helps stimulation, while the addition of layers of complexity aids
comprehension. Games provide intermediate goals, as they often incorporate
visible symbols of achievement. Furthermore, most computer games have
tutorials which aim to guide players through the play. This helps decrease
uncertainty on how to complete the task and saves time for the teacher.
Games offer instant feedback. In contrast, many educational programmes involve
feedback cycles and delayed rewards, which does not allow students to be aware
of their learning process. Another advantage of games is the motivational and
emotional factor that collective responsibility in group-based activities involves,
as players do not want to let down their teammates.

On the other hand some drawbacks of using gamification in an excessively or

wrong way have been considered. By making play mandatory, gamification
might create rule-based experiences that feel just like school. The effort, not
mastery, should be rewarded, and the students should learn to see failure as an
opportunity, instead of becoming unmotivated or fearful. Activities need to be
designed so that students can repeat them in case of an unsuccessful attempt
Feedback can be used as a correction of students’ actions and should be a
stimulus to their further activities. The design of the challenges and the setting of
the content have to be carefully considered in order to make it as neutral as
possible while not seeming trivial and boring.

According to Kathy Sierra, a popular technology blogger, author and game

developer, rewards “should be left at the classroom door” (Gamification in the
Classroom, 2014) “a well- designed game only deploys certain mechanics to
support an intrinsically rewarding experience”. If the experience is removed but
the mechanics kept, the users psychology changes so that, in essence, it “uses
mechanics to drive mechanical behaviors” with little or no gain for the
educational process. Nevertheless, motivators like points, badges, leaderboards
are not effective for students who aren’t naturally competitive, and if these
elements will have a central role, the students will finally lose their interest.

Some authors have pointed out that gamification can lead to overstimulation or
game play addiction, and sometimes it replaces other learning activities, such as
hands-on experiments or simulations. Therefore, gamification of activities
should be done taking into account that not all learners will enjoy a competitive
environment,

However, done right, introducing gamification can improve engagement and

enhance overall learning, and can lead to a happy, interested, energised
classroom, full of students who are excited to learn.

As examples of gamification tools we can list online educational games

(DuoLingo and Textivate are widely used by language teachers, ), behavior
management systems such as classdojo.com, Trivia and riddles, the use of
Nintendo Wii for educational purposes, or Moodle platform, which has become
very popular in the last few years. Technology dominates gamification, which is
another aspect to consider depending on the facilities of the school.