Unit 1: GETTING TO KNOW MORE THE CLIL APPROACH

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. CLIL in the Catalan LOE VET curricula

3. Using CLIL in VET lessons

1. INTRODUCTION

It has been proved that being able to communicate in a foreign language is translated into a
higher rate of employability. In the present global market, we live in, it is essential to be able to
use in a work context, at least, one foreign language. Being English the most used for that
purpose.

So that, all the methodologies and/or teaching approaches that might help to introduce a
given foreign language in the content class should be taken into account. In this course, the
focus is given to get to know deeper the CLIL approach and all the strategies and
methodologies that go with it. We should remember that CLIL is an umbrella term which
involves several other methodologies and approaches.

that CLIL is a dual-focused

educational approach in which there is an additional focus on language for the learning and

2. CLIL IN THE CATALAN VET CURRICULA

According to the Organic Law of Education, some innovative measures for the teaching and
learning of foreign languages in VET qualifications have been taken. Specifically, in English:

In intermediate vocational courses:

1. Incorporation in the curriculum of the subject: Technical English.

2. Using English in teaching and learning activities, in content-subjects.

3. In the Synthesis module, the English language must also be used, at least in some of
these sections: in the elaboration of written documentation, in the oral presentation or in
the development of some activities.

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIL approach
The usage of English in the curricula of higher vocational courses should be done as following:

1. Incorporation of the professional subject: technical English, in some higher vocational

courses, where this is considered necessary for the professional profile.

2. Incorporation of the English language in any of the professional modules of the cycle,
except for the English or technical English module, through the design of teaching and
learning activities that incorporate the use of the English language.

3. In the professional project subject, the English language must also be used, at least in
some of these phases: in the elaboration of written documentation, in the oral presentation
or in the development of some activities. All this without prejudice to what is established
by the professional project subject itself.

In the official document called: Orientacions als centres educatius per a organitzar el cicle
formatiu. One can find how the English language should be introduced in the qualification.

A distinction should be made between the usage of English in content subjects (CLIL) and the
teaching of the English subject, as the Learning outcomes vary
methodological differences between ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and CLIL, both
approaches converge more than they differ, there is a need for scaffolding in both approaches
(N. Nashaat Sobhy, C. Berzosa and Fiona M. Crean
2013)

The need of scaffolding might mean that authentic material is being adapted in the same way.
ESP and Content-Based Teaching were originally created to cater for occupational needs and
formed a continuum with a language-driven end on one side and a content-driven end on the
other.

-Task: (http://xtec.gencat.cat/ca/curriculum/professionals/fp/titolsloe ) Look for, in the

mentioned document, how the foreign language should be included in the qualification you
teach in.

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 3. USING CLIL in VET LESSONS

3.1 How to write good learning outcomes.

Why should we write good Learning Outcomes?

1. make visible learning targets

2. facilitate the communication of non-negotiables
3. provide a clear focus for course development
4. can be used to engage students
5. can be used by students to plan their learning
6. provide a framework for assessment of learning
7. provide a framework for course evaluations
8. convey instructional intent to
9. others (e.g., administration)

A GOOD LEARNING OUTCOME SHOULD FOLLOW THESE CRITERIA:

SMARTER

1. Specific
2. Measurable & Meaningful
3. Achievable
4. Realistic
5. Time bound
6. Engaging & energising
7. Relevant

TASK:

- Clear or unclear learning outcomes, could you identify what set of objectives are clearer
and why?

Students will know:

the injuries caused by cold (sign and symptoms of hypothermia)

the assessment and treatment of a hypothermic patient
the materials related with the treatment of a hypothermic patient.
Students will be able to assess and treat a patient with hypothermia. This includes:
GOOD describing the signs and symptoms caused by hypothermia
listing the materials used for treating a hypothermic patient and explaining
why these materials are used
proposing in writing a logical step-by-step the treatment for the patient
demonstrating their knowledge of the treatment of hypothermia.

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIL approach
 TASK:

- Write, at least, two learning outcomes for your lesson plan following the smarter criteria.

3.2 Language in the CLIL Class: BICS & CALP

In order to help students, use English in class, teaching the needed vocabulary is essential.

Following Cummins (1979) 1), we can distinguish two functions of language at school: BICS
and CALP.

BICS stands for Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills while CALP means Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency. BICS refers to the everyday language needed to interact
socially, whereas CALP is the type of language which is essential for students to succeed in
school (Llinares, Morton and Whittaker, 2012) 2).

BICS is our students' social language and it's a type of language they can get a bigger
exposure to, through English language lessons, extra-school/summer lessons, the internet,
online social networking, mass media and so on. A student's social language proficiency is
usually higher than his/her CALP.

However, VET students are only exposed to the foreign language in the classroom, that is, in
an academic situation. There are limited opportunities for them to use the foreign language
for social purposes and then develop their BICS. So, the learning of some BICS language,
contextualised in the CLIL VET lesson should be encouraged in our lessons, by providing
them language functions for agreeing, disagreeing, etc.

Also, if needed some classroom language should also be taught. This involves routines such
as giving and checking instructions, arousing existing/previous knowledge, assigning roles
for group work, among others. This language is by nature repetitive and so students become
familiar with it through repeated exposure. The following document provides some useful
examples on what language to use in your everyday CLIL teaching to handle with BICS:
https://www.upc.edu/slt/classtalk/

CALP is the academic language of the content lesson. It is the language that is needed for
understanding and applying new concepts. CALP is the language that will help them to learn
content and to demonstrate their learning. (Chadwick, 2012) 5). Content-obligatory language
essential to master content, including specialist vocabulary and functional language.

Example: Identifying CALP Vocabulary: Vocabulary can be divided into the aforementioned
two categories. A group of students are going to carry out a laboratory experiment in Science
to observe the three states of water.

Content-obligatory vocabulary could include solid, liquid, gas, ice, water, steam, melting,
evaporation, freezing, condensation. Students are only likely to come across these words in
particular lessons in their school.

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 Content-compatible vocabulary could include observe, carry out, measure, add, heat, be
converted, turn into. Students may come across these words in a variety of contexts in their
school.

So that, VET teachers should mainly plan how to introduce CALP vocabulary in their lessons.
There are two types of CALP Vocabulary:

- Content-obligatory vocabulary (Snow, Met and Genesee, 1989) 6).

- Content-compatible language which is helpful but not essential for a particular subject

Pre-teaching CALP Vocabulary

First, the needed technical vocabulary should be identified and introduced and second, the
strategies to deal with it should be decided by the teacher.

Example: a group of students are going to carry out a laboratory experiment in Science to
observe the three states of water. To deal with the new vocabulary listed previously, teachers
can take benefit of one or some of the following strategies:

1. Ask students to guess the theme of the lesson from a list of key words on the board
2. Make groups and do a competition on definitions from a list of words
3. Ask students to do a matching exercise
4. Organise students to use dictionaries
5. Use classroom wall displays with pictures
6. Use translation (do not overuse this!)

TIP! Work in collaboration with the English teacher, who could have introduced this vocabulary
in English lessons.

3.3 CLIL Strategies

Cooperative Learning and CLIL

Cooperative learning, meant as principles and techniques for helping students work together
more effectively, is one of the cornerstones of CLIL.

David and Roger Johnson of the University of Minnesota (1993), defined cooperative learning
as an instruction that involves students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under
conditions that include the following principles:

1. Positive interdependence. Team members are obliged to rely on one another to achieve
the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, everyone suffers consequences.
2. Individual accountability. All students in a group are held accountable for doing their share
of the work and for mastery of all of the material to be learnt.
3. Face-to-face interaction. Although some of the group work may be parcelled out and done
individually, some must be done interactively, with group members providing one another
with feedback, challenging reasoning and conclusions, and perhaps most importantly,
teaching and encouraging one another.
4. Appropriate use of collaborative skills. Students are encouraged and helped to develop
and practice trust-building, leadership, decision-making, communication, and conflict
management skills.

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5. Group processing. Team members set group goals, periodically assess what they are doing
well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the
future.

Research has shown that by participating in Cooperative Learning, students can benefit in the
following areas:

1. Improved academic achievement.

2. More active involvement in learning by students.
3. Increased motivation to learn.
4. Increased student responsibility for their own learning.
5. Improved relations among students.
6. Improved time on task (sometimes dramatically improved, compared to whole-class,
teacher-led instruction).
7. Improved collaborative skills.
8. Increased liking for school.
9. Increased ability to appreciate and consider a variety of perspectives.
10. Greater opportunities for the teacher to observe and assess student learning.

How to Make Students Participate: cooperative structures.

Cooperative structures offer the potential to improve interaction among students, which in its
turn benefits them in acquiring knowledge in a more permanent way. The connection
between CLIL and cooperative structures lies on the communication skills and on
engagement: the more we use cooperative structures, the more the communication skills are
developed, and the more engaging the classes tend to be, and these are two of the
cornerstones of CLIL.

In the following video you can see how this idea is developed. The video is based on Kagan
structures, which are cooperative structures created by professor Kagan and his team in the
US.

https://youtu.be/D-yzgJtgVrg

http://ateneu.xtec.cat/wikiform/wikiexport/_media/cmd/lle/clsa/modul_3/kagan_strats.pdf

TIP! If you have never used a cooperative structure, choose the one that you might feel more
comfortable with, and once you and your students master it, try and choose another one. Going
little by little is the best way to get introduced to cooperative learning.

Teamwork is a defining characteristic of cooperative learning. In the cooperative learning

classroom, students sit in teams and work with teammates to master and deepen their
thinking about the curriculum, create cooperative projects, and plan collaborative
presentations.

There are four major types of teams:

Heterogeneous. We recommend students spend most of their time in heterogeneous teams.

The heterogeneous team is a mirror of the diversity in the classroom containing males and
females, students of different origins, and students at all levels of achievement. Heterogeneous
teams allow peer tutoring, increasing achievement, and allow positive interactions among
students of all backgrounds, improving relations.

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Random. The team is formed completely by chance. Random teams add excitement and fun
to the classroom. We recommend random teams as an occasional break-out from
heterogeneous teams. However, random teams are not recommended for long-term stable
base teams.

Homogeneous. Students on homogeneous teams share the same or similar characteristics.

Students can be of the same ability level, or can share similar interests. Homogeneous ability
teams give students the opportunity to work with others at their academic level which allows
us to differentiate the curriculum for teams.

Student-selected. On an occasional basis, students are allowed to form their own teams. When
given the opportunity, students usually select partners and teammates that they know and
like. This familiarity can be a big plus for team dynamics. Students having similar interests
facilitates team decision making. However, there is also a high potential for off-task behaviour.

As said before, heterogeneous teams are usually the best option in a cooperative learning class.
Although it is taking the path of least resistance to let students work with their friends, there
are a number of good reasons for heterogeneous teams.

Monitoring how well students get along in their teams is also relevant to minimize possible
sources of conflict. It is good to rotate members of teams at a regular fixed time, which could
be between one and two months. Monitoring groups, from a teacher and a learner perspective,
can help you to understand the relations established in a class and detect possible
incompatibilities for future team building.

Group processing is one of the five pillars of cooperative learning, as stated in section one of
this module. It allows teams to reflect on their own achievements as a team. Students may not
focus on how well they are interacting themselves, nor on how well their teammates are
behaving. Students may not let each other know that they are violating important teamwork
norms. Or sometimes they do, but are not specific enough to inform teammates of the nature
of the violation. Group processing allows students to stop interacting and dedicate focussed
time and thought to their own and teammates' use of social skills to provide specific feedback
to promote improvement.

Task: Add two cooperative strategies, at least, in your lesson plan. If students are asked to work
in groups explain how they will be split.

The teacher's role

Autonomy might at first seem to be the opposite of cooperation. However, autonomy is best
conceived of not as individuals being on their own but as having power over their own fate.
Cooperative learning activities can give students some of that power, as no longer the teacher
is a direct supervisor of students, no longer is his or her responsibility to watch for every mistake
and correct it on the spot. Instead, authority is delegated to students and to groups of students.
They are in charge of ensuring that the job gets done, and that classmates get the help they
need. So that cooperative learning groups should have more autonomy. The reformulation of
the teacher's role in a cooperative learning class is key to provide students with more
autonomy.

The following spidergram includes some of the critical ongoing roles of a CLIL teacher in a
cooperative learning class:

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIL approach
The teacher decides the contents to be learnt in the lesson and connects them to prior and
future learning. As for scaffolding, it is crucial in any CLIL settings, it improves dramatically the
autonomy of learners and it increases the chance that groups will succeed on their own.
Connected with this role of the teacher, it arises the need to end cooperative learning lessons
in a way that students share with each other what they have learned. One simple way to do
this is the following scheme, based on the structure Forward snowball:

Step 1. Each member of a pair writes two to five main ideas that they have learned and one
question that they still have.

Step 2. Partners compare their main ideas and questions. They try to improve on their
descriptions of main ideas and try to answer each other's questions.

Step 3. The teacher calls on students at random to share what their pair discussed.

TEACHING METHODS FOR THE CLIL CLASS:

THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM

Aaron Sams and John Bergman, two high school teachers in the US, are the drivers and
creators of this organisational system. Flipped learning is not a methodology but a work
dynamic. Its use in the classroom creates a new environment open to creative methodologies
and a teaching-learning process more akin to 21st century needs.

Thanks mainly to the internet, students today can easily access educational content, and

the education process.

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Flipped Learning
skills that allow them to become more autonomous learners. Learning is flipped because there
is a change to the order in which new material is presented, the type of classroom activities
carried out and the type of tasks assigned as homework. Traditionally, teaching has been based
on the explanation of material by the teacher in front of their students who then had to apply
that information to classwork or homework. Flipped learning reverses this order you get the
most out of the time in the classroom.

Thus, one of the most relevant aspects of Flipped Learning is that it allows time in the
classroom to work on more complex skills and mental processes related to knowhow,
facilitating meaningful learning. Flipped learning is possible in face-to face CLIL lessons and
also, in remote CLIL learning.

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 " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9zvfd3niM

To know more:
https://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLIP_handout_FNL_Web.pdf
TRANSLANGUAGING

Translanguaging refers to listening, reading and/or watching about a topic in one language,

It is a thoughtful
and purposeful use of two languages.

Translanguaging may lead to deeper conceptual understanding of topic, help students to

better encode learning in memory and allow for easier retrieval of learning from memory.

Translanguaging ceases to be beneficial if it is overused. It should be used to ensure and

deepen understanding. It is not used as a way of avoiding L2 use.

EXAMPLES:
1. draft an outline in L1, get feedback in L2, and write the essay/report in the L2

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a model and framework of teaching and learning in which
students acquire content knowledge and skills in order to answer a driving question based on
an authentic challenge, need, problem or concern.

Project Based Learning is done collaboratively and within groups using a variety of
employability skills such as critical thinking, communication, and creativity. PBL allows for
student voice and choice as well as inquiry. Authentic PBL involves a community partner and a
publicly presented product. Project Based Learning also involves an ongoing process of
reflection.

Project-based Learning & Teaching: step by step

1. Present groups with an inquiry

2. Divide the students into homogenous groups & discuss the inquiry, problem and/or ideas

3. Allocate roles / responsibilities within each group

4. Groups do research using books / internet / other people

5. Translate that research into outcomes: Written outcome / presentation slides / oral
presentation

6. Reflection time at the end: Self-evaluation / Peer evaluation of Final outcome

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIl appoach
3.2.2 How to distribute chunks of contents?
Chunk: a part of
Objectives, Chunks, and Syllabus something, especially a
large part (Cambridge)

This section will help you to decide how the content of the CLIL didactic unit can be chunked.

Remember that content/ tasks need to be:

1. Feasible
2. Realistic regarding how much knowledge the students need to incorporate/assimilate
3. Realistic regarding timing
4. The steps
5. Reflection
6. Think that you have to have in mind what contents of the established official syllabus you
want to work on.
7. Once you have picked up the contents, start writing the learning outcomes of the didactic
sequence. Remember that contents and learning outcomes need to be aligned.
8. Be realistic regarding both class learning outcomes and the amount of knowledge/ work
your students need to process.
9. To identify your content chunks:

Step 1: Choose a learning outcome from your official syllabus, or one written by you but inspired
in those in the official syllabus. The learning outcome chosen should be tightly related to a final
wrap-up task.

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIl appoach
Example.

Learning outcome. By the end of this 10-hour unit, students will be able to produce ready to
sell bulk yoghurt.

Step 2: Break this learning outcome objectives into minor learning outcomes.

Examples of possible sub-objectives for the main learning outcome in Step 1:

By the end of the first lesson, students will be able to differentiate and identify different types
of yoghourt.

By the end of lesson 2 and 3, students will be able to understand the process of making
yoghourt: production, pasteurization, stabilizers, cultures, microorganisms.

By the end of lesson 4, students will be able to create their basic yogurt recipes in their recipe
book.

By the end of lesson 5, students will be able to name different kitchen utensils and identify the
use of industrial yoghurt machinery.

By the end of lesson 6, students will be able to use industrial machinery/kitchen utensils.

By the end of lesson 7, students will be able to test their recipes.

By the end of lessons 8 and 9, students will be able to find solutions for problems related to
misuse of machinery: cream separator, standardizer, homogenizer, fermenter...

By the end of lesson 10: Students will be able to test their improved recipes and participate in
a yogurt tasting fair.

Careful! Each lesson objective should correspond roughly to a chunk of content.

When designing the activities

you may realize that the order of
your objectives needs to be
revised!
Step 3:

1. Organize your tasks according to these minor objectives.

2. Make sure there are a variety of tasks, not only regarding format but also regarding
complexity.
3. Make sure you recycle the previous knowledge when needed.
4. Create, pick up activities and decide what materials students will need to carry those out
(any specific software, internet)

Using chunks of content as a point of departure to design your tasks will help you to create
materials that are meaningful, recycled/ recyclable, and varied.
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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIl appoach
TIP think big, but begin small!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1) Cummins, J. Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the

optimum age question and some other matters, Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, ps 121-129

2) Llinares, A., Morton, T., Whittaker, R. (2012) The Roles of Language in CLIL, Cambridge
University Press

3) Dalton-Puffer, C. (2005) Negotiating interpersonal meanings in naturalistic classroom

discourse: Directives in Content and Language Integrated Classrooms, Journal of Pragmatics,
37:1275-1293

4), 5), 7) Chadwick, T.(2012) Language Awareness in Teaching. A Toolkit for Content and
Language Teachers CUP

6) Snow, M., Met, M. and Genesee, F. (1989) A Conceptual Framework for the Integration of
Language and Content in Second/Foreign Language Instruction, TESOL Quarterly, 23, pp 201-
217

https://www.magnifylearningin.org/what-is-project-based-learning

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Unit 1: Getting to know more the CLIl appoach