Матасова И.Н.

Карагандинский государственный университет им. акад. Е.А. Букетова,

г. Караганда, Казахстан

The use of CLIL methods

in the development of the lesson structure

CLIL abbreviation means Content and Language Integrated Learning, i.e. an integrated teaching of a foreign language and other academic disciplines. The term was firstly used by David Marsh (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) in 1994. “CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taught through a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language” [1]. This type of teaching characterized educational situations where disciplines or their individual sections were taught in a foreign language, thus pursuing a dual purpose: the study of the subject and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language. David Marsh continued his studies, and already in 2001 the essence of the method was interpreted as follows: CLIL considers learning of a foreign language as a tool for the study of other subjects, thus forming the student’s demand for learning, which allows him to re-think and develop his abilities in communication, including those in his native language [2, 21]. 

The method is considered to be one of the most successful, as it allows to combine the study of two or more subjects, one of which is a foreign language. This method can be used in primary, secondary and high school.

The specifics of the CLIL technique consists in the fact that knowledge of language becomes a tool for studying the content of the subject. In this situation, the emphasis is placed on the content of texts, as well as on the required subject terminology. The language is integrated into the education program, and the necessity for immersion into the language environment to be able to discuss the thematic material significantly increases the motivation of the use of language in the context of the subject studied [3, 360].

This is facilitated by the carefully selected education materials not only for the study of a particular subject, but also for the language learning: its lexical and grammatical units and structures, all kinds of speech activity (reading, speaking, writing, listening).

Types of tasks should be developed according to the level of their complexity, built with an emphasis on the subject content, its understanding, verification and subsequent discussion.

At CLIL lessons, it is equally important to develop the language skills and the subject knowledge. Most often such lessons are based on the four-stage scheme:

1. Text processing. The ideal text should include illustrations to visualize the reading material. Working with a foreign text, students need structural marking of the text (line numbers, paragraphs, headings, sub-headings), which largely facilitates the work with the text.

2. Comprehension and organization of the knowledge gained. Texts are often represented schematically that helps students to define the idea of the text and the information therein.

3. Linguistic understanding of the text. It is expected that students will be able to convey the idea of the text in their own words. They will be able to apply simple language means, as well as more advanced ones. There should be no clear gradation what vocabulary to use, but the teacher still needs to draw students’ attention to certain lexical items that are suitable for the topic and the subject. The teacher should pay students’ attention not only to the special vocabulary, but also to the universal language units: phrasal verbs, stable expressions, which will be useful regardless of the topic or the subject.

4. Tasks for students

Tasks should depend on the level of students’ training, on the learning objectives, as well as on the students’ preferences. Here is an indicative list of tasks for listening:

- listen and make a chart, table, map, etc.;

- listen and fill in the table;

- listen and look for specific information (date, place, time, etc.);

- listen and arrange the paragraphs in the logically correct order;

- listen and determine who is speaking, where the action takes place, etc.;

- listen and identify the course of action (e.g. in instructions);

- listen and fill in the gaps in the text.

Texts should be subject-oriented. Only in this case there is a development of the subject and linguistic competence. Here are some sample tasks for speaking:

- problem setting: question-answer, term-definition, part-whole;

- tasks, where it is necessary to fill in the gaps (often papers with questions are handed out);

- tasks to search for specific information;

- games, in which it is necessary to guess the word;

- questionnaires;

- tasks to put questions to the text, in this case there is a pictorial diagram of different types of questions;

- oral presentation of the work supported by visuals.

In terms of the language component, CLIL method does not present anything new for the teacher of a foreign language. The only difference is that the foreign language teacher should be the subject teacher, or the subject teacher should be able to teach his subject in the foreign language. The versatility of the teacher is the basis of the CLIL method.

Literature:

1. http://www.onestopenglish.com/clil/what-is-clil

2. Marsh D., Marsland B., Stenberg K. Integrating Competencies for Working Life. – Jyväskylä, University of Jyväskylä. – Helsinki, 2001. – 158 p.

3. Yurassova E.S., Gorbacheva E.A. CLIL technology at the English language lessons // Readings at Tsarskoe Selo. - 2015. - № XIX. – Vol. 1. - P. 360.