Challenges To Speak In English In Class
- 1. Challenges to Speak English in Class Paula López Cabello Mª José Pedraja Fuentes Madrid, 15th June 2010 I International Conference on Bilingual Teaching in Educational Institutions
- 2. Outline School Description Project Outline Theory Problems in Class Activities within the project Examples Results Conclusions
- 3. Who are we? School Description GFC is part of the Bilingual Project of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid since 2005. Located in Madrid west-end and belongs to the district known as Latina-Carabanchel, a middle class neighbourhood. Small school: 300 students, infant and primary Visit us at: www.ceipgonzalofdezdecordoba.es
- 4. What do whe do? Project Description Research to help our students keep the pace with Science (taught in L2) Project designed to: Improve speaking skills in our students Overcome a general perspective about SLA Develop methodological concepts CLIL and SCAFFOLDING Present the elements for a good speaking class Establish activities which involve speaking
- 5. A bit of theory Paradox Academic achievements of immersion students of subjects studied in L2 is equivalent to that of non- immersion students studying the same subject in L1; despite the fact that the latter have equivalent to superior language development in the language the subject is taught M. Turnbull, Canadian Modern Language Review 57.(4): 531-40, 2001. F. Genesee , Second/foreign language immersion and at-risk English-speaking children. Foreign Language Annals, 25: 199-213. 1992
- 6. A bit of theory Good practice for CLIL teaching http://image.ee/core
- 7. Content based instruction Concepts L2 Scaffolding Natural Language and Content learning Learning strategies Reflection with L1/L2 practice Feedback Assesment L2 Communication and interaction key for actual CLIL L2 Exposure
- 8. What we face in the class Real life with primary students: our experience at GFC to put CLIL into practice Students a lot of diversity and mixed-ability classes Children’s background coming from non-bilingual programs Lack of motivation / interest in some students to participate Students struggle to understand Science concepts taught in L2 Use L1 to talk in the classroom Atmosphere Big classes : little time for real interactions Interaction is not real Teacher Class management Time consuming when planning Task syllabus/evaluation pressure from outside Usually accuracy (form) biased versus fluency (content)
- 9. Pe Di rs L2 ve on L3 rsity al ity ce Confiden les Sty d un g gro nin ack r Lea lB c ia So
- 10. Project Actors 3 & 4 grade Primary Education (8-10 yo) 56 students involved in the project 12 (21%) with remedial curricula Joined from non-bilingual projects Migrants learning L2(Spanish) and L3 (English) Very weak students 1 native Language Assistant
- 11. Experience in Class We need to make them speak Instructions have to be clear to avoid loss of focus Interesting topic Purpose to communicate Teachers PAUSES and provides time to THINK IN SILENCE We need to be able to track progress Short term: Everybody is involved, has the chance to speak and gets feedback (prasing and correction) Long term: class diary/recordings to asses individual progress in L2 for proper CLIL Reflection : students and teacher (self-assesments)
- 12. Project Timeline Individual presentations Weather Forecast: Map of Spain Animal presentations: worksheet Group presentations Interviews : Asking questions Let’s go shopping Weak Students Individualised assesment Feedback
- 13. Activity Flow Animals, historical characters, books, etc… Presentation Student presents his Audience ranks his jobs work to the others Feedback Name of the Student Good use of english Poor use of english Easy to understand Difficult to understand Good content Poor content I liked what he/she said I did not like how he/she explained it Write a sentence you’ve heard
- 14. Let’s go shopping Free speech oral production with natural language CLIL content Pre-scaffolding Strategies to keep communication Never mind, Hello/Good bye, can I help you? Self correction: awareness Real purpose Real scenario, with goods brought from home Memorable activity Video Let’s go shopping
- 15. Video Weak Students Third class Chinese student: Joined the bilingual project 2 years ago (2008-2009) No production at all in L2 (Spanish) nor L3 (English) Last year progress with L2 with individualised syllabus Very shy, (cultural influence?) Video Min 7’’20’’ 7 20’’ She has significantly improved understanding, confidence and linguistic skills Dramatic effect on her academic results in Science A Picnic Surprise Level 2, MacMillan
- 16. Assessment Who Peer, Language assistant and teachers When not until the end, it breaks communciation How carefully and praising, never rudely Why achievements of students/teachers have to be highlighted. It is part of the learning process 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% N N E D CY E RY IO O NC SE G TI RA CT LA UA US RE IA BU RA CU NG C HE C UN CA FO AC TE LA O N VO IN C C F O PI O D PR AN TO E US CY EN U FL
- 17. Results 9,00 8,00 Steady Progression in Science 7,00 6,00 I MARKs 5,00 II 4,00 III 3,00 2,00 1,00 0,00 ENGLISH SCIENCE I 7,06 6,31 II 7,03 6,81 III 7,63 7,34 Students actually improve their academic achievements in Science and as a consequence in L2
- 18. Results 7,40 7,20 III 7,00 II SCIENCE 6,80 6,60 6,40 I 6,20 6,90 7,00 7,10 7,20 7,30 7,40 7,50 7,60 7,70 ENGLISH Progress in Science inmediate progress in L2 has some delay
- 19. CONCLUSIONS Clil methodology implies a lot of hard work, but we still feel that it has been worthy Students are progressing in their academic results Assessment and self-assessment WORKSHEETS Feedback: When not until the end, it breaks communciation How carefully and praising, never rudely Why achievements of students/teachers have to be highlighted. It is parto of the learning process CHILDREN NEED TO SHINE! Solutions to our problems in class: Fast students help weak student s Adapt contents to students’ abilitiies Establish very clear rules/instructions from the beginning Big dreams leading to bigger ¡reasults!
- 20. Future Work Continue the project in 2010-2011 Systematic Video recording and transcribtion Academic Achievements in Science: more data More activities to improve oral skills: projects, oral descriptions, interuse, simulations,story performances… Analysis of external evaluation results in 4th class
- 21. Challenges to Speak English in Class Thank you Paula López Cabello Mª José Pedraja Fuentes plopez@educa.madrid.org I International Conference on Bilingual Teaching in Educational Institutions