L. Activity 2.7. CLIL - GROUP DISCUSSION

1- What is the aim of (CLIL) in relation to the teaching of L2/FL?

CLIL aims to guide language processing and reinforce language production. In CLIL the content drives the language.

2- Should CLIL become a substitute for general language teaching, and be used as the sole method for teaching L2/FL as its the trend in “Vocational Training”?

No, it shouldn't, since there are some students (for example, immigrants students) that need to get into immersion programmes. It woudl be ideal to find a balance between both programms, in order to assure a significative process of learning a foreign language for all kinds of learners.

3- Should there be some coordination between the teaching of FL in general and CLIL courses?

Yes, it would be a good idea to blend them, so each tecahing methodology cna complement the other. After all, education should be based on teh principel sof cooperation and interaction.

L. Activity 1. 7. CLIL - GROUP DISCUSSION

1- What is “Content and Language Integrated Learning” (CLIL)?

It is a teaching methodology that consists on teaching content from different areas using English as a tool. In other words, an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language.

2- Is there any difference between immersion and CLIL teaching?
Yes, there are some differences.

3- If so, what are the main differences?

For example, the content we teach through CLIL is adapted. Also, CLIL teachers are not necessarily English native speakers, whereas in immersion programmes most of teachers are.

L. Activity 2. Languages

-How many languages do you speak, apart from your mother tongue or L1?

Besides our L1 or mother tongue, which varies from Catalan to Spanish in each member of our team, we are all also fluent speakers of English. In addition, the whole group has studied a second language during the degree: Enrique, Alba and Maria Calabuig can converse of almost any topic in French, whereas Maria Jiménez and Andrea are as well quite fluent in German. 

-Is your mother tongue your L1?

In the case of Alba, Maria Jiménez and Maria Calabuig, their mother tongue and the L1 is the same: Catalan; although they can also be considered native speakers of Spanish almost since they started talking, due to the bilingual context of the Valencian Community. When it comes to Andrea, it's rather difficult to establish her mother tongue, because her father speaks Catalan and her mother Spanish, thus, she has been raised indistinctively in both languages. However, she herself acknowledges Catalan as her L1, being this the language she feels more identified with. On the other hand, the most interesting case of our group will be Enrique. Born in Belgium, his mother tongue is French, which he still uses at home or when talking to his relatives. Nevertheless, his family moved to Massamagrell when he was a few years old, growing in this manner in a completely different bilingual context. This fact explains why he considers Catalan (or even Spanish) his L1, the language through which he has expressed his inner thoughts and concerns during most of his life. 

-Are there things you find easier in one language than the other?

Even though all of us are bilingual from birth, there are some fields in which we feel more comfortable using one particular language. For instance, in relaxed atmospheres with family and friends, Catalan comes natural to our minds as the best tool to express our inner selves; whereas for official or academic purposes, we tend to use Spanish, as it seems more 'formal'. In general, for us it is easier to talk about feelings and personal experiences in our mother tongues -having a higher command of the language (vocabulary, structures, idioms, connotations), we feel more confident when using it when it comes to convey important messages. 

In the case of English, it is natural for us to use it in any context related to our degree or the Masters. As we have studied linguistics and literature using the English terminology, many times we find it hard to find the correct equivalent in Spanish or Catalan, because our minds process this sort of information directly in English. It is the same when we think about our Erasmus experience and friends: having lived in English, it is much easier for us to express our feelings and impressions of the period using that language. 

To sum up, the feeling of easiness or difficulty that a language causes on us depends very much on the context, the people we are with or even the topic of the conversation, but in general we all tend to switch to the language in which we feel more confident of our linguistic abilities.

-In language use terms, how would you describe the society you live in? Are the people in that society plurilingual?

We consider the Spanish society rather narrow-minded in language use terms, because even though there are several co-official languages recognised in different regions (Catalan, Valencian, Euskera, Galician) the general trend is to impose Spanish over all of them, particularly in the public atmosphere. 

At the same time, although studying a foreign language is compulsory in our academic system, very few individuals can be considered true plurilingual. In our current society, many people claim proudly to have a 'good command' of a foreign language, namely English, French, German or Chinese. In general, this 'good command' means that they are just able to mutter some basic, stereotypical sentences (which in many cases native speakers are unable to understand), but still people tag themselves as plurilingual individuals for business purposes. In our view, being a real plurilingual is one of the hardest status to attain, as long as it means being able to switch from one language to another in any context without hesitation, not just murmuring words without order or coherence. The problem with our current society is that titles and fake impressions are more important than a real control of the language. 

In the case of the Valencian Community, many people claim to be bilingual in Spanish and Catalan, but when it comes to real speaking, most of them are unable to express themselves fluently in the second language -which means that they have studied the language at school, but they haven't really learnt how to use it in real situations. This fact is usually explained by the personal lack of interest of some individuals who consider learning a second language as a useless task. 

-How would you encourage ‘bilingualism’ in your classroom?

First of all, it is important to make students (and parents) aware of the great benefits of being bilingual. If learners realize that a second language will help them progress in their future careers, if they see it as part of their nature, they will no longer see the second language just as an academic subject, and as so, they will be less reluctant to improve their linguistic skills. In other words, the first step will be presenting languages as the key tool for personal success. 

At the same time, we should encourage bilingualism in the classroom through a great variety of interactive activities, in an attempt to make languages seem appealing for the students. For instance, we can ask them to write an essay about themselves (likes and dislikes, family, hobbies, hopes) in their mother tongue, so they can express their inner thoughts in a more coherent and fluent way. Then, we can try to move them a step away from their area of comfort (meaning their mother tongue) by asking them to translate the text in the second language. The idea is to make them aware of their innate creative abilities, while they learn new vocabulary and structures (improving thus their bilingual linguistic competence). By mixing both languages in the same exercise, we want students to look for similarities and differences, so they can notice that all languages are similar to some point, but still, they have particularities which make them unique. 

Another key point will be arising students' awareness of the richness of being bilingual in communicative terms. By mastering two languages, they will be able to communicate with a wider social group, enlarging thus their personal opportunities -for instance, through the second language they will gain access to a huge variety of content (films, books, news) in the original version. Furthermore, once they have learnt a second language, it will become much easier for them to study new ones, because they will be able to make comparisons among languages, or even apply studying strategies that have been useful for them before. 

All in all, the best technique to encourage bilingualism in the classroom is based on activating students' self-esteem towards their bilingual nature. 

-Do you feel some languages have a higher status in the classroom?

In the case of our region, Spanish has a higher status in the classroom than Catalan, although the legislation establishes both as equally important. This imbalance is particularly noteworthy in the province of Alicante, as well as in Valencia city, where the vast majority of pupils just use the regional dialect in the Catalan course. 

In the case of public institutions, the law establishes that half of the subjects should be taught in Catalan, and the other half in Spanish, but from our personal experiences we can claim that there's a general trend of predominance of one over the other. This can be explained through different factors: the educators own ignorance of the Catalan language; the students' reluctance to study in a language which most of them feel alienated from their own reality; and most importantly, the authority's support to our current context of diglossia. In other words, being Spanish the official language of the country, the language of 'culture and authority', many educators and parents discourage learners from using Catalan, even at school, because this language has been stigmatized as 'provincial' (representative of a minority). Surprisingly enough, in many cases a foreign language such as English or French has a higher status inside the classroom than the regional one, because their international prestige is more valued than the real context in which we live. After all, this imbalance of languages inside our classroom responds to political interests.

On bilingualism, global language and mixed identities (9/12/16)

What do we understand by being bilingual? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage? This was the topic of today's class, in which we all have shared our personal vision about the notion of bilingualism. The discussion started after watching a very short and fun clip called "The importance of being bilingual", which tells the story of a golden fish who escapes from being devoured by a cat because he is able to speak 'dog'. Silly as it may seem, most of us have felt identified with the anecdote, as long as the fact of mastering a second language has saved our lives in more than one occasion -not literally, of course! Indeed, this topic is part of our nature, since the vast majority of the class are innate bilinguals able to switch from Catalan to Spanish without hesitation.

After this group discussion, we've moved to a quiz about English varieties in which the teacher has checked our knowledge of the different Englishes spoken around the world. Quite an amusing exercise, though, since it has served to dismantle many stereotypes - as the idea of the English as a 'fixed' language only spoken in the global powers such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The quiz provided information about the different English varieties and particularities of each region, as well as the number of speakers. 

Finally, we've watched a video in which David Crystal argued about the importance of teaching English as a global language.. In fact, we agree with him that there is a real need to expose learners to as many different pronunciations as possible, so they can be able to understand a message and interact with natives of the most varied origins. Even though course books are usually based on RP or American accent, it is our duty as teachers to create a huge variety of activities in which students can get in touch with a wider perspective of the English world, in terms of spelling, content and culture. As always, the more the merrier! 

P.S. If you are interested in the topic, here are some extra links! 

Why bilinguals are smarter

Learn British accanets and dialects

Discover the History of English

English as a global language

Food for thought! 

Talking about bilingualism, we reflected upon the fact that speaking a language meant having a given identity, and thus speaking more than one languages involved having many identities, and being more likely to empathise and understand people with different backgrounds. We were talking about this when the class finished and we remembered a teacher at University telling us about The Quijote being written in Spanglish, and we decided to do some research. 

Ian Stavans, who adapted El Quijote to Spanglish, is considered to be the father of Spanglish himself. This synthesis of Latin-American Spanish and English is wildely spoken in the US, and it is vindicated by many as “the language of the future”. By adapting El Quijote to Spanglish, Stavans brought the Spanish language and culture closer to their own. He wrote the Chicano culture into being through this new approach to the most famous Spanish Novel. He managed to assert the Chicano Identity through this linguistic hybridisation. Isn’t it amazing what we can create through language? 

Here is the beginning of Stavans translation, hope you enjoy it! 

“In un placete de La Mancha of which nombre no quiero remembrearme, vivía, not so long ago, uno de esos gentlemen who always tienen una lanza in the rack, una buckler antigua, a skinny caballo y un grayhound para el chase. A cazuela with más beef than mutón, carne choppeada para la dinner, un omelet pa’ los Sábados, lentil pa’ los Viernes, y algún pigeon como delicacy especial pa’ los Domingos, consumían tres cuarers de su income. El resto lo employaba en una coat de broadcloth y en soketes de velvetín pa’ los holidays, with sus slippers pa’ combinar, while los otros días de la semana él cut a figura de los más finos cloths. Livin with él eran una housekeeper en sus forties, una sobrina not yet twenty y un ladino del field y la marketa que le saddleaba el caballo al gentleman y wieldeaba un hookete pa’ podear. El gentleman andaba por allí por los fifty. Era de complexión robusta pero un poco fresco en los bones y una cara leaneada y gaunteada. La gente sabía that él era un early riser y que gustaba mucho huntear. La gente say que su apellido was Quijada or Quesada –hay diferencia de opinión entre aquellos que han escrito sobre el sujeto– but acordando with las muchas conjecturas se entiende que era really Quejada. But all this no tiene mucha importancia pa’ nuestro cuento, providiendo que al cuentarlo no nos separemos pa’ nada de las verdá.” 

Enriching perspectives: gifted children (16/12/16)

Today we've had the pleasure of having a marvelous talk about a topic which (sadly enough) was rather unknown to us: gifted children. The guest speaker was Mª Luz, the secretary of AVAST, the Valencian association for gifted students, parents and teachers, whose main aim is orientating and helping them to get in touch with experts in the field, so all together they can make the most of the educative experience of those children. Indeed, Mª Luz is the proud mother of two of them, the real reason which arose her curiosity and interest in this field.

Based on her personal experience, her talk has dealt with the stereotypes and false myths that have shaped society's vision of those special learners, such as:

-Gifted children mainly referring to little boys with glasses, dressed like adults and surrounded by books and blackboards (a stereotype which we can confirm after a quick search on the Internet to illustrate the post) 

-Gifted as synonym of over-stimulated children whose parents 'forced' them to learn too fast for their age.

- Gifted in the sense of 'antisocial nerds'

However, she has showed us that in general those scornful stereotypes have nothing to do with the real lives of these special students -for instance, the activity she proposed about identifying gifted teenagers only basing our guesses on their physical appearance demonstrated how wrong we were. What really shocked us was the fact that many of these talented individuals have actually failed at academic levels, whereas they were outstanding in the artistic fields. The frustration they felt inside a school system which limits their cognitive capacities really touched us. Neither did we see as students the purpose of repeating the same kind of exercise one hundred times once we had already learnt to do it. Thus, now as teachers we understand the innate curiosity of these children and their desire of always learning more. Instead of cutting their wings, as educators it is our duty to make available for them all the materials and resources which can better equip their eager minds. After all, curiosity is one of the most powerful tools to change and improve the world!

On the other hand, the idea that also caught our attention was the legal situation of these children and their families, and the lack of resources available for them. As the case of Ena demonstrates, families encounter a lot of red tape and social opposition when trying to find the most suitable educative experience for their children. In general, we tend to pay more attention to the people at the left side of the Gauss curve (people with a lower IC), completely forgetting the ones at the right side. Our point is that the principle of 'catering for diversity' means taking into account all the different types of special needs when designing the syllabus -as it is the core idea of the inclusive school. We believe that it is possible to adapt the educational standards to the particular needs of each student. Thus, we agree with Mª Luz' statement that a system in which all learners, regardless of their innate capacities, are 'forced' to learn the same content with the same level of difficulty has no sense, since ones could get bored while others would feel confused and lost. The ideal model would be an equitable system in which the content is adapted to each student, so every single individual is guaranteed the right of learning something new and enriching every day, something able to stimulate them at all levels.

In conclusion, this talk has completely changed our vision of talented children. We are no longer afraid of having one of them in class, because now we understand this challenge as a unique opportunity of learning more and growing ourselves both as teachers and individuals. 
We hope to be able to identify these special students in the future and to construct together a successful learning experience for everyone!

Some fun clips to enjoy during Christmas!

The importance of team work:

Educate through the heart:





Effective collaboration!

L. Northern Ireland English Variety