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Maximizing the benefits of English-medium instruction through cross-
curricular planning at junior secondary levels
Theoretical background and overview
Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about
Benjamin Lee Whorf
Language and learning
Language and learning: What do we know?
• Language develops mainly through its meaningful use.
• Learning often occurs through speaking and writing. (It is part of the process as well as the product)
• Language is a medium for building on learning and for becoming an independent learner
• Language use is essential for overall cognitive development
David Corson “Language Across the Curriculum” 1990
Learning in a second language
• Many students around the world are learning through a language which is not their mother tongue.
• They may have immigrated to another country• They may have been brought up speaking a
language which is not the official language or medium of instruction in their country
How do students learn a second language?
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
Immersion programmes
Intensive languageclasses
Content emphasis Language emphasis
Features•Achieve high level of fluency•Don’t develop native-speaker accuracy (all BICS and no CALP……)
Features•Focus on language•Too much time needed•Isolation•No subject instruction
Changing approaches to English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching in English-speaking
countries
Language across the curriculum
The teaching or consolidation of language
skills and knowledge in the context of content subject
lessons
world
Integration of language & content Learning (ILC) 1986 e.g. Bernard Mohan
Content Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL)
• ESL in the mainstream• Language & Literacy• Teaching ESL to new arrivals
The Sheltered InstructionObservation Protocol (SIOP)
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Content and Language Integrated Learning
• An approach practised by teachers in subject lessons
• Focus on vocabulary rather than grammar• Focus on language related to the subject• Applies approaches from the language less
on (eg pre-, while- and post-reading tasks)• Assumes subject teachers have the skills a
nd knowledge to make opportunities for language learning in their lessons
ESL in the Mainstream
• Professional development programme for subject teachers. Helps them to…– identify students’ language-related ne
eds– develop teaching practices which addr
ess these needs– develop awareness of students’ cultur
al and linguistic diversity
Sheltered Instruction
• A teaching strategy which aims to help L2 students develop English while studying other subjects
• Do not compete academically with L1 peers• Taught language and content by language
specialists in separate classes• Balance of special classes and mainstream
classes will change as students’ English develops
Integrated language and content learning: Knowledge structures
ChoiceSequenceDescription
modal verbs, requests and offers, preference (prefer, had rather etc)
connectors (then, next),
prepositions of space and time
stative verbs, relative clauses, prepositions of place
•Generating solutions•Identifying and solving problems
•Sequencing events•Following instructions•Predicting order
•Observing•Identifying•Comparing/contrasting
expressing opinions (good, bad, like/dislike, prefer etc)
is due to, modal verbs, 1st/0 conditionals
to be, to have, comparatives etc
•Evaluating•Ranking•Appreciating
•Establishing hypotheses•Interpreting data•Drawing conclusions
•Classifying•Identifying•Understanding
EvaluationPrinciplesClassification
Example from PSHE Strand 3: Culture and Heritage at KS3
A project on the overseas Chinese in different countries
•Connectives of cause/reason, eg because, so that, is due to
•Conditionals
•Connectors expressing the passing of time
•Prepositions of space and time
•Past tenses
•Used to
Text types:
Biographies
Feature articles
Documentaries Dramas
Visuals:
Timeline
Flowchart
Cause and effect table
Principles
Interpreting data
Drawing conclusions
Sequence
Putting events in order
Understanding cause and
effect
How various cultures have adapted to their changing environments
Possible
Tasks
Language structures
Text typesKnowledge structures and thinking skills
Topics
thinking skillsvocabulary,language skills
Integration of language & content Learning (ILC) 1986 e.g. Bernard Mohan
• ESL in the mainstream• Language & Literacy• Teaching ESL to new arrivals
Content Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL)
The Sheltered InstructionObservation Protocol (SIOP)
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teaching strategy subject teacher awareness
Language Across the Hong Kong Curriculum
School curriculum
English KLAs OLE Others
(English) LAC
Knowledge – vocab, text types, structuresSkills – reading, writing, (thinking & generic)
Issues of concern
• Language proficiency
• Understanding of language acquisition & students’ language related needs
• Fewer opportunities to use English outside school
• No need to use English for “survival”
Content subject teachers
Students
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How to make English medium teaching more effective?
subject knowledgesubject
knowledgelanguage knowledge
language knowledge
cross-curricular planningcross-curricular planning
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What do we need to consider when implementing cross-curricular planning?
Organizing principles
School contexts
Scale
Subjects involved
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Roles of teachers &
mode of collaboration
Approaches should be tailored to the school’s
situation and needs
Organising principles: What to transfer from English to content subjects
• Subject-specific vocabulary
• Knowledge of text types and language structures
• Language skills and strategies
• Skills for thinking and organising knowledge
ContentSubject
English Language
Overview of school cases
thinking skills
organising knowledge
reading strategies
knowledge of text types
language skills
subject-specific
vocabulary
Various content subjects
Liberal Studies
HistoryScienceScience
Using knowledge structures to organise the curriculum
Using reading strategies to organise the curriculum
English and Science teachers working hand in hand
English Teachers taking a leading role
Knowledge to transfer
Subjects
short term (one level) long term (across levels)
Scale
Presentation Focus
Case 4Case 3Case 2Case 1