CLIL Implementation: Teacher Training and Evaluation
Teacher Training in CLIL Programs
Teacher training should be the third key factor to be considered when implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programs. Teaching a school subject through a second or third language involves much more than the mere change of the language of instruction. It might require quite deep changes in terms of the instructor’s teaching methods. This heterogeneous teacher profile has caused the need to develop a CLIL teacher training program aimed at answering quite different needs:
- The needs of subject specialists, who obviously have a better grasp of the subject content but may lack pedagogical training and thus have little knowledge of the demands made for language support.
- The needs of English teachers, who are more confident with the language and have more methodological awareness of how to organize the classroom and tasks to promote communicative competence. However, they may have problems with the subject content and with some of the specific skills related to the discipline.
To answer those training needs, teachers involved in this CLIL project are offered in-service training based on an action-research model that was developed to train Eleanitz-English teachers. Eleanitz English teachers are all the English teachers who are involved in the Eleanitz English Project. This project is based on the early introduction of English (at age 4) and aims at enabling students to study Social Sciences or any other school subject through English.
Reflecting on practice and didactic materials has led to the identification of training needs in terms of methodology and classroom management. The opportunity for writers to witness teachers pilot the materials first-hand has facilitated a continuous piloting and improvement of the materials being used in the classroom, and it has given the teachers a real stake in the creative process. In addition, trainers would visit teachers and observe real lessons to offer more personalized and specific feedback to the instructors involved. Teachers are asked to ensure that they have some free time available after the class to discuss the lesson and issues arising from it with the trainer. Since the aim of these private visits is to offer a more personalized training, their content always remains confidential.
Evaluation of CLIL Programs
Evaluation is also crucial to the successful implementation of any CLIL program, especially those aimed at teaching a series of school contents or subjects through a second or third language. In the case of the Ikastolas, teaching Social Sciences only through English raised the following questions among parents, educators, and students:
- Will students reach the Social Science objectives stated by the official curriculum for that age range?
- Will the development of students’ linguistic competence in Basque be negatively affected because of studying Social Sciences through English?
- Will the development of students’ linguistic competence in English be positively affected because of the Eleanitz-English project in general, and SSLIC in particular?
To answer those questions, the Ikastolas evaluated the Social Science knowledge and level of English attained by the first SSLIC promotion, an evaluation that was carried out by the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU). To compare evaluation results, the same tests were given to a control group consisting of students who had studied the same Social Science contents, with the same textbooks, but in Basque. To evaluate the effects that using English as a medium of instruction might have on the development of Basque competence, the test was done in Basque, even though this decision may have limited the overall performance of those students who had studied the subject through English. There were two additional characteristics that differentiated the SSLIC groups and the control group:
- Students within the SSLIC groups had started learning English at age 4, whereas the control group had been introduced to that language at age 8.
- Teachers involved in the SSLIC groups had received stronger pedagogical support since they had received intensive in-service training and a set of didactic materials designed specifically for the CLIL project they were required to implement.
Social Science Test Structure
The Social Science test consisted of two sections:
- A set of questions aimed at assessing the comprehension and assimilation of the most important Social Science concepts assigned by the official curriculum for that age range. These questions did not require lengthy or substantial production on the part of the students.
- A set of questions designed to assess the students’ ability to express themselves in their own words, using the appropriate Social Science terminology and concepts, and the subject contents studied during the school year. These questions required more substantial linguistic productions and a higher cognitive effort on the part of the students.
Statistical Analysis of Data
Once the data had been collected, it was statistically analyzed using the statistical package SPSS.11. The following basic statistical analysis was carried out:
- Uni-variant descriptive analysis.
- Analysis of bi-variant relations: correlation and contingency coefficients.
- Comparison of mean values both through parametric and nonparametric tests: Student T-tests, Kruskal Wallis, Variance analysis, Manova Covariance analysis.