THE CLIL NETWORK

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THE CLIL NETWORK

• Good practices in teacher training

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Foreign languages in the Italian education system

• English compulsory
• From primary to end of secondary (6 to 19)
• Junior School (11-14) two foreign languages
  (English and French/Spanish/German)
• Two or three foreign languages in some secondary
  schools (14-19)

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CLIL in Italy

• A lot of CLIL projects started in the 1990s,
  mainly in secondary schools
• New School Reform 5th year of secondary -one
  subject is taught in a foreign language
• Taught by subject teachers

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Our regional and local framework

• CLIL first pioneered in technical schools (ITI
  Malignani and ITC Zanon, Udine)
• CLIL local network in Udine
• Regional School Authority Office encouraged
  dissemination of practices and training
• CLIL network in Friuli Venezia Giulia

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Our local experience

• Province of Gorizia area of bilingualism and
  minority language
• 2002 a group of secondary school teachers of
  English decided to set up a CLIL project in two
  technical and vocational schools
• Informal meetings followed to lay the foundations
  of the project

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WHY CLIL?

• Teachers expressed a wish to improve their
  knowledge of English or attend English classes
• Some could already speak English fluently, and
  wanted to do something new in class

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Why should I become a CLIL teacher?

• It is like starting afresh
• To enhance interaction and communication
• To foster interdisciplinarity
• To give students (and myself) the opportunity of
  improving their (our) L2 skills

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How we started

• Informal chats with colleagues during school
  break to get to know their views
• Non-language teachers were then asked to join the
  project officially by filling in a
  questionnaire
• The project was then approved by most local
  secondary schools which set up a network

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Trainers tasks

• Trainers are
• L2 teachers with experience in training
• Main tasks
• Organize and run CLIL courses
• Collect resources
• Monitor and share experience
• Maintain contacts

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Training also means

• Help learners find specific materials in L2
• Encourage colleagues to produce their own
  activities
• Help learners to prepare lessons
• Keep records of CLIL products
• Be ready to support colleagues

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Who are trainees?

• Non-language teachers initial L2 test to assign
  them to groups
• Ideal number of trainees per course 12 - 15
• Learners competence should be at least B1
• They should be aware of what kind of long-term
  involvement the project requires

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CLIL teacher training

• Main phases
• CLIL course language and CLIL methodology course
• Self-study/group study finding resources and
  materials lesson preparation
• Language course abroad (LLP, Comenius)
• Subject-specific workshops
• Seminars at local and regional level

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The long and winding roadthe training course

• Minimum 30 hours
• Both language and CLIL methodology
• Based on tasks which both develop L2 and get
  students familiarize with new teaching strategies
  and activities
• Encourage pair and group work
• Use both language course and authentic content
  materials from the beginning

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Activities

• Reading comprehension
• Questionnaire
• True/false
• Pre-reading and while-reading discussion
• Vocabulary explain terms using L2, give
  opposites/synonyms
• Chart completing

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More examples

• Reporting texts/situations
• Note taking
• Role playing
• Problem solving
• Summarizing
• Micro-lessons
• Listening comprehension

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CLIL teacherS individual work

• Regular reading of content-related texts and
  materials
• Creation of specific glossary
• Development of L2 communicative skills
• Lesson preparation choice of content/creation of
  activities
• Self-analysis
• Regular contact with trainer and other colleagues

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Some problems

• The CLIL teacher
• May find it unnatural using L2 afraid of
  making mistakes
• May feel L2 methodology too distant from his/her
  own teaching habits
• Tends to focus on quantity of content given
• Might feel isolated among other teachers

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Training tips

• Have CLIL learners observe peers lessons and
  fill in grids
• Analyse observation grids
• Discuss in plenary after lesson
• Examine both quality of content and class
  interaction
• Have learners share feelings

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The future

• Compulsory attendance of language and methodology
  courses run by university
• Full implementation of Secondary School Reform
• CLIL in junior and primary schools to enhance
  language learning

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• THANK YOU
• carlatoso_at_libero.it