of a foreign language and learning a foreign language by studying a content-based subject.” (The CLIL Compendium). In a course of studies such as “Restaurateur”, this methodological approach is, in my belief, the most suitable one. Students are able to amalgamate the theoretical concepts studied in the core subjects with the acquisition of the foreign language. Moreover, all learning styles are catered for so that group members can exhibit what they are capable of doing best. The strength of this project is that it draws together mixed-ability students and creates opportunities for them to contribute in ways which reflect their different talents and creativity. The less linguistically-gifted learners may gain self-esteem, which would be unlikely to happen in a more conventional language lesson.
References
CLIL Compendium Development Team (Maljers, A; D. Marsh; D. Coyle; A-K Hartiala; . Marsland; C.
Pérez-Vidal; D Wolff, and partner institutions) (ND): “The CLIL Compendium Rationale”, at Marsh, D. (1994): “Bilingual Education & Content and Language Integrated Learning”. International Association for Cross-cultural Communication, Language Teaching in the Member States of the European Union (Lingua) University of Sorbonne. Paris.
O' Hara, F. (2002): Be My Guest. Student's Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
“Spooky Sugar Cookies”, in “Halloween Recipes” (2007): at , retrieved on October 5, 2007.
Appendices
- Appendix 1:
Espacio Curricular: Inglés
Carrera: Restaurateur I (pre-intermedio) Profesora: Silvia Schnitzler
Tipo de Actividad: extra-áulica. Actividad a realizarse en la cocina del Instituto.
http://www.clilcompendium.com/clilcompendium.htm
http://www.britta.com/HW/HWr.html
PROJECT WORK 2007
Festivities and Celebrations: HALLOWEEN
6- Hands-on – team work:
Students formed two teams, assigned roles to each member and followed the instructions in each recipe. Copies had been distributed to all the students. Some reminders were written on the whiteboard for the students to bear in mind while working. Raw materials had been previously measured and were already available in specific containers. The procedures were supervised by the assistant pastry cook, who provided assistance only if needed. The language teacher was helped by the supervisor while asking questions concerning the partial preparations as the students were working.
7- Demonstration – team work:
Once the cookies and the cake were ready, the spokesperson of each team explained to the rest of the class the procedure they had followed to obtain the final product. He/she added comments related to the celebration itself, for instance, by making reference to “spooky” symbols and to the most representative Jack-o'-lantern.
Notes:
- some actual information gaps among the members of one team had to be bridged (such as students re-measuring ingredients in different fashions and spoiling the whole preparation)
- a mishap took place when they decorated the cake, still warm, with butter icing!
In any case, all the misunderstandings and “failures” were, in the end, extremely useful to the groups as part of their professional learning process.
(Appendix 4)
8- Tasting of the dishes – whole school:
All the members of both teams went about the classrooms offering their mates and teachers of other subjects their production with the famous “trick or treat”
phrase. If asked, they explained what the dishes consisted of.
Conclusion
CLIL describes “both learning another (content) subject through the medium
discussed technically.
4- Work on language – whole class:
In the language lessons, students were working with:
a- worksheets concerning Halloween, with activities such as matching pictures to texts, looking up key words in the dictionary, identifying parts of speech, completing charts (pair work) and writing a short text about the relationship between the supernatural and celebrations. (O'Hara, 2002: Units 7, 8 & 9, p. 71) b- pre-teaching of specific vocabulary items which fall under the following categories:
?measures & their abbreviations: teaspoonful (tsp) vs tablespoonful (tbsp);
kilogram (kg) vs pound (l); etc
?ingredients: plain vs raising flour; starch; baking powder; butter; sugar; etc
?utensils: bowl; baking tin; whisk, spatula; etc
?specific verbs: pre-heat; beat, whip, blend, stir; sift; sprinkle; etc
?methods of cooking: baking; roasting; poaching; marinating; etc
The mind-mapping technique was applied for systematization and consolidation. (O'Hara, ibid)
c- reading and analysing a recipe. Web surf and data collection. (Appendix 3) (Grandma's recipe, contributed by the teacher.)
5- Decision-making – group work: model cake decoration picture Students, in groups of four, had to either choose from the recipes they had gathered or translated one from their practical pastry lessons to be taken to the kitchen.
After a whole class discussion, two groups were formed: one of them was going to bake “Spooky cookies” and the other a butter pound cake called “Pumpkin Quick!”. For the former, they selected and translated the recipe they had learnt in their pastry lessons and chose to decorate the cookies in the way they are presented in the websites visited (ghosts and Batman shapes). For the latter, they picked the recipe provided by the language teacher, resorting to their own decoration style of the famous Halloween' symbol “Jack-o'-lantern”. -
terminology related to their tertiary studies. From the culinary point of view, they were supposed to be able to apply their previously acquired knowledge to the new recipes they got hold of in their foreign language lessons.
Procedure
The programme can be broken down into the following parts:
1- Presentation of the project to the school authorities – teacher's task:
The teacher in charge of the group had to present a formal proposal of the cross-curricular activity. In the first place, it had to be accepted by the director of the institute, following the institution's regulations. In the second, it had to be supervised by the cookery teachers so that they made sure the framework as well as the recipes were aligned with their syllabus. (Appendix 1)
2- Research and web surf – individual:
As a means of contextualization, students gathered information about Halloween as well as typical dishes prepared for the occasion and for other festivities around the globe. Their data sources were the internet and their Pastry teachers.
Some websites had been suggested in class and the teacher's own research was presented to the class and commented on. In this way, schematic knowledge was activated and some key words were passively introduced. (Appendix 2)
Note: reference to Argentinian celebrations, eating habits and traditional dishes was made at each step along the programme.
3- Report to the class – individual:
Students brought the information collected in print (cut and pasted from the web; in Spanish from their theoretical lessons; from other sources and translated by themselves) and reported their findings orally. This resulted in a very productive oral exchange about their experiences in the kitchen when preparing the recipes.
The students in the language lessons attended different cookery lessons.
Therefore, they participated in different practical cookery sessions with different specialists, which added to the variety of input. Methods of cooking were
Preparation:
Divide dough in half (or sixths). Only add milk or water if the dough is too dry. Chill 1 hour. Roll out half of dough 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375F/190C for 12 minutes. These can be frosted. Makes about 5-6 dozen standard-sized cookie cutter shapes.
- Appendix 3:
Silvia's Cake recipe Ingredients:
Butter 100 gr
Sugar 200gr
Eggs 2 units.
Vanilla essence ½ spfl.
Plain flour 0000 200gr
Starch 60 gr
Baking Powder 2 ½ spfl.
Salt ¼ teaspfl.
Milk 1 med. cup
Preparation
- Grease a (shallow) baking tin and sprinkle with flour or line the base with baking paper.
- Pre heat the oven to 176 º C.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with electric beaters or a whisk, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Gradually add the egg and the vanilla essence to the creamed butter.
- Sift together the flour, the starch, the salt and the baking powder into a bowl.
- Slowly incorporate into the previous preparation, alternating with the milk, in several additions. Stir with a spatula until homogeneously combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the tin and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean.
- Once you remove the cake from the oven, let it cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges of the cake pan to loosen the cake, and invert the
Picture 3
Fecha: martes, 30 de Octubre, de 18 a 20 hs Duración: 120 minutos
Picture 2 (Halloween recipes, 2007)