Teacher-developed materials for the integration of content and language : an action research project in Argentina

This action research project explores the principles that teachers follow when developing their own materials for lessons aimed at integrating content and language in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lessons in state secondary education

Promoting metalanguage awareness among CLIL content teachers

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach particularly implemented and investigated in Europe. CLIL usually refers to the teaching of a subject or curricular content together with another language (Dale & Tanner, 2012). Conceived as an umbrella term, the multiplicity of models found in practice (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010) may be placed along a continuum which moves from content-driven models such as bilingual education to language-driven models such as project work. The Roles of Language in CLIL is positioned at the content end with a two-fold aim: examining discourse and genres in the CLIL classroom and promoting language awareness among CLIL content teachers

Teacher, what page today? A look at materials development

Learning materials are core components of our practices. Sometimes they become useful tools and some other times they dictate the courses we teach. In this talk I will explore learning materials in different formats and modes but I will particularly focus on coursebooks at primary and secondary school levels. Some of the questions I will raise are: What do coursebooks usually feature? Have they evolved? What do digital materials offer? Are materials challenging enough? Do they offer cognitive-rich opportunities? Are they culturally-responsive? Are there any people against marketed materials? What do more recent materials offer? What’s the role of materials today? And more importantly, what’s our role in this hard-to- resist marketed world

Review of the book CLIL activities : a resource for subject and language teachers (with CD-ROM)

CLIL Activities may be taken as a handbook focused on practice as more than half of its pages do offer wide-ranging activities. The authors state that the book is targeted at subject and language teachers probably with the intention of showing that both content and language are equally important and interrelated

Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL:A case study

El desarrollo profesional para AICLE enfocado en la lengua: un estudio de casoO desenvolvimento profissional no CLIL com foco no idioma: Um estudo de casoTeacher Professional Development in Language-Driven CLIL: A Case StudyThe professional development of and language integrated learning (CLIL) continues to be a niche in the language education literature, particularly in Latin America. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of a continuing professional development course delivered in 2018 to support language-driven CLIL implementation in state secondary schools in Argentina. Built as a case study, the investigation draws on data from one teacher collected through multiple sources for triangulation purposes. Two research questions guided the study: 1) What beliefs does a teacher have of language-driven CLIL? and 2) What are the effects of a continuing professional development course on language-driven CLIL targeted at EFL secondary school teachers? Findings show that authenticity, rather than language-content integration, is a salient feature of language-driven CLIL in this teacher’s practice. Findings also reveal that CLIL success depends on learners’ English language proficiency. Drawing on its teacher’s beliefs of CLIL, the course had an impact on the teacher’s identity as a materials developer and autonomous and critical practitioner who could theorize by reflecting on her practices and the readings provided by the course tutor. To reference this article (APA) / Para citar este artículo (APA) / Para citar este artigo (APA)Banegas, D. L. (2019). Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL: A case study. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 12(2), 242-264. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2019.12.2.3Received: 05/02/2019Approved: 23/04/2019Published: 11/05/2020El desarrollo profesional para AICLE enfocado en la lengua: un estudio de casoO desenvolvimento profissional no CLIL com foco no idioma: Um estudo de casoEl desarrollo profesional en AICLE continúa siendo un nicho en la literatura sobre educación en lenguas en América Latina. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo explorar los efectos de un curso de formación docente continua brindado en 2018 para acompañar la implementación de AICLE con foco en la lengua en escuelas estatales secundarias en Argentina. Dos preguntas guiaron el estudio: 1) ¿Qué creencias sobre AICLE con foco en la lengua tienen los profesores de inglés?, y 2) ¿Cuáles son los efectos de un curso de formación docente continua sobre AICLE con foco en la lengua en un grupo de profesores de inglés para la escuela secundaria? Presentado como un estudio de caso, la investigación remite a datos de una docente recolectados a través de múltiples fuentes con fines de triangulación. Los resultados muestran que la autenticidad, más que la integración de lengua y contenido, es una característica destacada de AICLE. Los resultados también demuestran que el éxito de AICLE depende del nivel de competencia en inglés que posean los estudiantes. Con base en las percepciones de la docente como caso, el curso produjo un impacto positivo en la identidad de la docente como desarrolladora de materiales, y como docente crítica y autónoma capaz de teorizar sus prácticas a partir de la reflexión y la lectura de material.To reference this article (APA) / Para citar este artículo (APA) / Para citar este artigo (APA)Banegas, D. L. (2019). Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL: A case study. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 12(2), 242-264. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2019.12.2.3Received: 05/02/2019Approved: 23/04/2019Published: 11/05/202

Sharing views of CLIL lesson planning in Language Teacher Education

Argentina seems to favour CLIL (content and language integrated learning) as a language-driven approach in secondary and higher education. In this paper, I investigate curriculum development and lesson planning based on trainees’ perceptions and lesson plans submitted to pass a module on Didactics as part of their formal initial English language teacher education. My aim is to compare what a group of trainees does in relation to the notion of CLIL as forward curriculum planning and the frameworks posited in the CLIL literature. My theoretical framework is guided by the concept of didactic transposition applied to CLIL and the literature on CLIL lessons plans drawing on teachers’ voices through their plans. In this paper I discuss how language-driven CLIL was envisaged by a group of 47 trainees enrolled in a teacher education course in southern Argentina. Data emerged from a survey and lesson plans aimed at secondary-school learners for whom English was usually taught two hours a week. Results show that language-driven CLIL follows forward design; it focuses more on content than on explicit knowledge of the language, and it is aimed at revising language with older learners

Motivating factors in online language teacher education in southern Argentina

Online teacher education is of growing interest and so is the study of motivation as a key factor in technology-mediated learning environments. This study is based on a pre-service language teacher education programme in Patagonia, a southern Argentinian region with no face-to-face training offers, limited Internet access and a large number of unqualified teachers. Our goal is to broaden the understanding of online teacher education programmes at undergraduate level in contexts where most trainees are practicing teachers and where online education is the only possibility for holding a teaching qualification. We focused on the motivating factors that led 71 trainees to enrol and to remain in this online teacher training course. Through a mixed methods approach, the trainees completed an online survey (n = 71) and participated in a follow-up interview (n = 24). Results showed that obtaining a teaching degree, autonomy, and individual activities were key factors in initial and sustaining motivation. Participants' experiences challenged collaborative learning in an online environment

Teachers developing language-driven CLIL through collaborative action research in Argentina

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an umbrella term for the integration of content and second/foreign language learning through different models. As in a continuum, these models range from content-driven to language-driven explorations. Such a broad learning approach may be European in origin and driving aims but its influence has reached other diverse contexts outside Europe. As a teacher-researcher working in collaboration with three colleagues, I investigated the beliefs, motivations, and overall experiences of a group of teachers and learners who adopted an indigenous language-driven CLIL version in a secondary school in southern Argentina. In the year 2009, we started to include curricular content in our EFL lessons. Although these were isolated episodes, I noted the potential of content and language integration and decided to research and improve our own practices through a collaborative action research project from March to November 2011. The action research comprised three cycles over the 2011 school year. Each cycle included three stages: action (teachers developed their materials), intervention (teachers taught with those materials; lessons were audio-recorded) and evaluation (student surveys and group interview with teachers and students). Data analysis focused on a thematic approach using inductive coding as categories emerged from the data themselves. The experience revealed (1) higher levels of motivation and participation among learners and teachers, (2) teachers’ professional development through collaborative materials development and research instruments such as group interviews, (3) a rise in teachers’ autonomy, (4) reconfiguration of teachers’ identity, (5) an interest in combining a grammar-based coursebook with teacher’s materials, (6) the belief that CLIL is an approach to be adopted after students have been exposed to a more traditional language learning approach for a number of years, (7) syllabus negotiation, and (8) the development of teacher-derived principles which may constitute the backbone of CLIL didactic transposition. This action research project indicates that language-driven CLIL experiences need to create spaces for equal participation and autonomy in syllabus planning which includes lessons and materials. Furthermore, CLIL in EFL contexts may offer significant outcomes if contents are truly context-responsive