Language use in learning

Emma Borg, subject co-ordinator of physics, recently attended a course on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) for teachers, held in Colchester, UK. When using CLIL, teachers and students of content subjects, such as science, use a foreign or second language as the medium of instruction and communication.

In bilingual methodology, the content subject is the primary focus but students' language needs are also taken into consideration. Thus when preparing for CLIL lessons, one needs to keep in mind the learners' ability in the target language.

At first, lessons need to be challenging cognitively using uncomplicated language. Through adequate teaching materials, students develop until they start working at high cognitive and linguistic levels.

In Malta, written communication in science classes (and many other subjects), is done in English, since textbooks and exams are in English, therefore children who have low English language proficiency might be at a disadvantage if the level of the text is not appropriate.

During this course, participants could see how bilingual teaching could be used in schools at all levels with students of all abilities and language proficiencies. The teachers were made aware of the principles of bilingual methodology and roles of language and curriculum in CLIL pedagogy.

Some sessions included trainer presentation of concepts and materials which lead to a discussion and response from the participants. Other sessions encouraged teachers to critically evaluate currently available materials and adapt them to their classroom needs.

Participants also designed tasks for students, such as a debate, a role play, a simulation and a range of reading tasks, including jigsaw reading and writing. Some examples of 'difficult' text were changed to make them more accessible to students less proficient in the second language. Teachers also visited schools and observed bilingual and monolingual classes in their respective subjects.

Attending this course was made possible through financial support from the European Commission's Socrates programme, Comenius 2.2 Action. Ms Borg teaches at Liceo Dun Guzepp Zammit JL, Hamrun. She is currently reading for her Masters degree in science education and hopes to carry out her research on language use in learning and teaching physics.