Manapova G.K., Manapov E.K.

Kazakh state women’s teacher training university, Kazakhstan

CLIL - innovative method of learning foreign languages

Nowadays much attention is paid to introduction of multilingualism in the system of technical and professional education. Use of this technique allows teachers of special disciplines to work systematically and competently on integration of English at the lessons of special disciplines.

Teaching and learning method develop every time and it can change the educational process as a whole. Human development, technology, even culture are reasons to change the educational teaching method. The multicultural and multilingual era also support teaching method to create a good education, which focuses not only on content but also on language. In this century, researchers found a new teaching method called CLIL, which stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning and it is based on the idea that subjects like Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, etc. can be taught and learned in a language which is not the student’s mother tongue. CLIL method is gaining an increasing popularity in teaching English. The emphasis in the CLIL learning process is not on the language used to teach the subject but on the subject itself, which is often unrelated to language learning.

One can say that we can study English and Biology separately. But it has turned out that such combined lessons significantly increase motivation of students to the language study. Children often find it difficult to understand the need to learn English. They, of course, know that it will be useful to them sometime in the future, but it is such a vaguely distant perspective that it does not always motivate them enough to make efforts to learn the language right now. So, at the lesson where CLIL technologies are applied, language acts not as the purpose, but means of studying the other subject, that is, learners see that by means of English they can find new interesting information. Learning the language immediately becomes more meaningful, because it is used to solve specific problems now and here.

Of course, it is quite difficult to organize full studying of subjects in English, but CLIL technique elements take root into lessons of English successfully. For example, during one lesson children learn about Geography + English, history of medieval England, working out past simple tense at the same, on the other lesson — do a simple physical experiment and discuss it, using degrees of comparison of adjectives.

CLIL enables students to learn about various subjects as they listen to, talk about, read about and write about the content. Many language learning programs focus on teaching vocabulary that is used in everyday communication. CLIL incorporates subject-specific vocabulary in lessons.

Conversation activities in CLIL classes are very important to help students develop the ability to listen and speak about the subjects and the subject-specific vocabulary along with key sentence structures and other language. CLIL can be used in different areas of teaching including vocabulary comprehension since vocabulary is the common core of dealing with other language teaching skills such as reading, writing, speaking and listening. Thus CLIL means teaching through visuals and activities, presenting stories and teaching through fun and games.

Teachers can also present some authentic materials, such as newspaper articles or documentary clips, that use the grammar while teaching something related to a subject. Indeed, CLIL has a great deal of potential. Intercultural insight is becoming more and more valuable as the world becomes a smaller place.

So, the advantages of using CLIL are:

- it stimulates students’ motivation and encourages them to learn both the language and the taught language;

- it has positive attitude changes in learners towards learning a language, and towards themselves as language learners;

- it helps to understand culture of the studied language which leads to student’s sociocultural competence;

- it creates conditions for authentic language learning;

- it has a positive effect on language learning by putting the emphasis on meaning rather than on form;

-it develops students’ multilingual interests and attitudes.

- it increases language competences and develops oral communication skills;

Thus, CLIL in our opinion, requires an innovative, creative thinking from the modern teacher, an ability to solve problems independently, realize personal and social importance of professional activity, be responsible for its result.

References:

1. Baker, C. and Jones,S.P Encyclopedia of the bilingualism and bilingual education. Clevendon:Multilingual matters.

2. Marsh,D. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL)