Given the importance of students' English level to the school's enrollment and growth, the school has very high expectations for its CLIL program. Unfortunately, however, the school finds that the current practice of the CLIL program does not meet the prescribed program expectations. Finding #2: Students identified three favorite aspects of the CLIL program and the three most improved skills during the program.
The practice problem is that current CLIL program practices do not meet these outlined program expectations. This can further affect students' level of English proficiency, college acceptance rates, and how the public perceives the quality of the school's CLIL program. Behavioral theory emerged in the mid-20th century and had a significant impact on second language learning.
In the 70s of the 20th century, Krashen distinguished the difference between "second language learning" and "second language acquisition". One of the reasons is rooted in the difference between the Chinese language system and the English language system. As students and teachers are the first-line users of the programme, data was collected about their experiences in the CLIL programme.
For the journey mapping activity, the school contact point helped me to recruit the students. In this study, teachers are asked to self-rate their teaching practice on its ability to construct a motivating learning environment from "N/A" (meaning not doing it at all or not even aware of it) to "Expert." The table below summarizes the questions I asked in the teacher survey. Finding #2: Students identified their three favorite aspects of the CLIL program and their three most improved skills throughout the program.
Students Rating on Teaching Practices
Short-term)
These trainings will help them understand the importance of their role as language teachers in the CLIL program and equip them with. Recommended training content includes theories of second language acquisition, what CLIL is, misconceptions about the CLIL programme, the balance between content and language, CLIL pedagogical approaches and CLIL for learners with difficulties. The recruitment of teachers also gives more weight to the pedagogical qualifications of the subject content than to the acquisition of a second language.
As a result, the teaching process lacks focus on "grammatical accuracy, lexical specificity and variety, sociolinguistic acquisition" (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012, p.253). Training should address five key dimensions: teachers' self-identity as content and language teachers, a supportive program structure that provides teachers with time, resources, and pedagogical support, a collaborative model for teachers to learn and grow together , increasing awareness of the balance of content and language, and a sequence of language development alongside content instruction (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012, p.257). Supporting struggling CLIL learners has also been identified as an area for improvement by teachers and students.
Training incorporating the skills to identify a struggling CLIL learner and the five instructional techniques should be provided to teachers. The support includes increased training and preparation time for teachers, increased opportunities for collaboration, the provision of mentoring and coaching opportunities and the allocation of a CLIL program coordinator to oversee the development and adaptation of the curriculum. The designated program coordinator should be responsible for setting program expectations, language standards, and outlining English instructional time across the program to achieve the best learning outcomes (Goris, Denessen & Verhoeven, 2019).
In order to achieve ideal CLIL learning outcomes, a high level of exposure to the target language of more than 50% of the teaching time or at least 25% of the content in the academic year should be used (Sabina A Nowak, n.d.; Scott . & Beadle, n.d.). The design of a CLIL lesson or unit is content-based with particular emphasis on language development alongside content.
Medium-term)
Krashen (1994) asserts the importance of an "affective filter" in second language acquisition, meaning that the learner's emotions/feelings play an essential role in mediating the learning process. Research has long empirically documented that language learners' social-emotional skills are highly correlated with their academic achievement. Much evidence shows that student self-efficacy has played an essential role in closing the academic achievement gap (Soland & Sandilos, 2021).
Motivation is considered by many researchers (Anjomshoa & Sadighi, 2015; Gomleksiz, 2001; Reece & . Walker, 1997; Shulman, 1986) as an essential element for the success of the second language learning process. Under the umbrella of the Second Language Motivation Process Model, Dörnyei (2003a) identifies three areas that are important for the motivational process: willingness to communicate, task motivation and the use of language learning strategies. Motivation plays a vital role in learning English for Chinese students as Chinese students consider English the most difficult subject to learn (Zhou, 2004).
Therefore, students need to develop their self-identity as English learners, grow resilience during the learning process and keep motivated.
Long-term)
- Learning environment: Teacher approaches to teaching, course and group dynamics
- Learner engagement
Looking at the students' and teachers' experiences, this study of the CLIL program at MSA confirmed the elements and aspects that work well and effectively support the teaching and learning process, such as students' positive experience of the CLIL program and project-based learning activities. This study is important as the recommendations will help the CLIL program to fully meet the program's expectations. In the long term, the change will improve the quality of the CLIL program and, in the long term, increase the school's reputation and enrollment.
After looking at the research findings, I am confident in informing the school's management team that despite the negative aspects they identified that need to be improved, students have had positive experiences learning English in the CLIL program. Students spoke highly of the program's non-traditional approach to English, their increased level of English proficiency, and their improved self-awareness. On the other hand, the teachers found teaching in the CLIL program to be challenging, as they felt that they are neither properly trained for teaching in a CLIL program nor sufficiently supported by the structure and structure of the program.
I am confident that my recommendations will support the MSA CLIL program as they wish to continue to improve the quality of the CLIL program and support the school in its sustainable growth. To what extent content and language integrated learning (CLIL) as a language-based project approach promotes student motivation in MFL teaching in three secondary schools in England. Effects of content and language integrated learning in Europe: A systematic review of longitudinal experimental studies.
Content and integrated English language teaching: Teacher interview questions A. Content organization and the integrated English language curriculum. What are the advantages of the immersion program for students, teachers, department and school. What strategies do you use to enable students to use English for immersion classes?
What do you consider to be the key elements of content and integrated teaching/immersion in the English language that increase student motivation? What impact do you think the English immersion program has on students' perception of their learning process? Thinking about the impact you think learning this way has on students' attitudes to learning – what are students' attitudes like?
Do you think there will be any benefits from participating in this program in the future? What kind of skills do you think you learn by using English to learn?
Individual Journey Mapping
After a year of interacting with the teachers and my classmates in English, I noticed my progress in English skills.” (G9). In class we have many opportunities to communicate in English; my academic English improved through various subject reports; since we have to do research in English, my reading skills have also improved.” (G12). The reason I joined MSA was that I am really interested in English creative writing and poetry.
Almost every class has at least one class presentation, And at G10 and G12 we have to do defense as our milestone project in English. 34;Not every teacher will teach in English, but all reading and learning materials are presented in English. Compared to my previous school, a public school that offers a traditional English program, MSA's English learning is fun.
Lower level students should be mixed with higher level students so that students have the opportunity to use more English and learn from higher level students.” (G9). It's depressing when you see that your peers can do well and progress, but you can't catch up. Everyone would know you can't do it because you just can't answer the question or express yourself in English, which makes me really worried.” (G11).
Some students jumped when the time to use English (with a good foundation) increased, but some really struggled because of a poor foundation.” (MSA teacher). However, as the school is growing, we found that some of the newly enrolled students have been really struggling with the program and we don't know how to help them." (MSA teacher). I really wanted to support the students. mine to learn well in English and I wanted English not to be a barrier to learning their content, but I don't know how to support them.
As a new teacher, I often contacted the experienced teachers in the department for help when struggling with CLIL teaching. If the school really thinks English is important, I wish they could add the English proficiency goals to the school's "defense" (G10 & G12) standards and develop rubrics for it." (MSA Teacher). We need a Curriculum Coordinator to map the courses, English teaching time distribution across the subjects, English teaching resources, including the English-speaking teachers.” (MSA Teacher).
