Transcript On board CLIL to outer space: basic Astronomy CLIL

Konstantina Zavalari , EFL Teacher
(MEd – Applied Linguistics (OU))
Gymnasio Loutrakiou, Korinthia, Greece
SlovakEdu - Bratislava , 1 December 2016
CONTENT
CLIL
LANGUAGE
plurilingualism
pluriculturalism

acknowledging that bilingualism is
not the case in the present-day
Europe. Europe is multilingual.
It does not simply have to do with one’s ability to use more
than one languages. It views language as a social product, born
in social interaction, and plurilinguals can act, react and interact
in different sociolinguilistic environments, making use of a
series of sociolinguistic skills. ( Coste et al. 2009)
It relates to an individual’s socio-cultural skills,
which allow them to act and interact in and across
different cultural environments, making those
linguistic and cultural choices towards effective
communication . (Coste et al. 2009)
To my understanding, whereas
multilingualism/ multiculturalism can be
viewed as a situation, a condition,
plurilingualism / pluriculturalism can be
viewed as a (social) skill, which equips
individuals with the necessary tools to perform
effectively in complex social environments.
Systemic
Functional
Grammar
(Halliday)
Grammar
of Visual
Design
(Kress and
van
Leeuwen)
Sociocultural
theory
(Vygotsky)
Sociocultural
theory
Systemic
Functional
Grammar
Grammar of
Visual
Design
Plurilingualism
Pluriculturalism
Sociocultural
theory
Grammar
of Visual
Design
Systemic
Functional
Grammar
The general concept of the famous Vygotskian
theory is that :
‘human activities take place in social contexts, are mediated by
language and other symbol systems, and can be best understood
when investigated in their historical development’ (John-Steiner
and Mahn, 1996, p. 191)
 individual and social processes are interdependent
development is the ‘transformation of socially shared activities into
internalized processes’ (John-Steiner and Mahn , 1996 p. 192)
individuals rely on the transmitted experiences of the others to
develop mentally. Hence, social interaction is a key aspect to mental
development
semiotic systems (e.g. numbers, works of art , pictures, signs, etc) –
one of which is language – are central means to mental development
and the internalization of knowledge
 internalisation is a mental process intertwined with social ,
historical cultural and material processes (John-Steiner and
Mahn,1996)
learning occurs in the zone that covers the area between the level of
an individual’s actual development, where they can independently
manage knowledge, and the level of one’s potential development,
where knowledge is achieved with the aid of a more knowledgeable
person (Zone of Proximal Development)
M.A.K Halliday
recognizes language as a system
of meanings. Language usage , at any level and in any
context, is a process towards meaning construction.
For Systemic Functional Linguistics ‘a language consists
of a set of systems, which offers the speaker (or writer ) an
unlimited choice of ways of creating meaning’ (Bloor and
Bloor, 2004, p. 3)
 Language choices depend on the context and the
purpose of communication, and interlocutors partly make
their language choices consciously (acknowledging the
context) and partly without reflection (as speakers of a
language). This process is known as the meaning potential
of the language. (Bloor and Bloor, 2004)
Functional : language serves different
communicative functions ( e.g. the function of
greeting, joking, reprimanding, etc)
Interlocutors are offered a variety of choices within
their linguistic system to serve a function
Functions can be realized both/either
grammatically and/or intonationally
Interpersonal metafunction: language allows us to get
involved ‘in communicative acts with other people, to take on
roles and to express and understand feelings, attitudes and
judgements’ (Bloor and Bloor, 2004, p.13
 Ideational metafunction: ‘language is used to organise,
understand and represent our perception of the world and of
our own consciousness’ (Bloor and Bloor, 2004, p. 13)
Textual metafunction: language connects the content of a
text both within it and to other linguistic events
Central concept: visual structures, alike linguistic structures, directly
relate to expressions and interpretations of experience, as well as
aspects of social interaction (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006)
 Meanings are culture-dependent. The way different cultures choose
to express meanings, visually and/or verbally, is historically specific.
 Linguistic grammar: ‘an inventory of elements and rules underlying
culture-specific forms of verbal communication’ (Kress and van
Leeuwen, 2006, p. 3)
Visual grammar: ‘a quite general grammar of contemporary visual
design in ‘Western’ cultures, an account of the explicit and implicit
knowledge and practices around a resource, consisting of the elements
and rules underlying a culture-specific form of visual communication’
(Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 3)
Pictures are signs and belong to the variety of signs available
for/to communication and knowledge internalization, as
Vygotsky stressed.
Signs are representations of objects or entities, physical or
abstract, through which the sign-makers express a complex
interest, rooted to their cultural, historic, social and
psychological history. Moreover, sign-makers make those
representational choices which the specific context allows them
to. (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006).
Signs express meanings and their production process
presupposes an interdependent relationship between their
form and the meaning they are to convey.
Pictures (visual design) are a semiotic mode. Hence,
they can :
a) serve the ideational metafunction → they are
representations of the world around us and inside us.
They represent our social, cultural and historic
knowledge.
b) serve the interpersonal metafunction → they enact
social interactions and relations
c) serve the textual metafunction → they are ‘texts’,
whose elements interrelate and at the same time they
relate to their relevant environment
The CLIL methodology was selected as an experimental ,
supplementary tool within the mainstream , lower secondary EFL
class
 My students range from A1 to B1+ in the CEFR scale and are 13-15year-olds.
 CLIL is taught for 3-4 teaching hours per month, out of the 8
teaching hours available for EFL teaching from the curriculum per
month (2 per week)
 CLIL is not officially taught in the Greek compulsory education; it is
rather non-existent, and only few teachers apply it in their EFL
teaching as a supplementary tool
 Since there is no teaching material available to the students, I have
got involved into designing and producing my own teaching material,
following the principles of the threefold scientific model explained
above
Astronomy is fascinating, attractive and motivating.
 Astronomy is part of the curriculum, maybe not as such, but as part
of the Physics class
 Students love anything that has to do with outer space and are
curious to learn more. They are also attracted by the unknown (the
affective factor)
 There is a considerable amount of social knowledge about
Astronomy, which has been stored and integrated into students’ prior
knowledge tank and can be stimulated quite easily
There is much useful language to be taught in an Astronomy class,
which is not strictly scientific (like the language in Maths, for
example), but shares bonds with many other school subjects and can
be used in many different social domains
My CLIL paradigm does not only teach Astronomy. It
integrates the cultural background of it, Mythology. Therefore,
science and legends are intertwined
Mythology is the pure cultural aspect of my CLIL teaching
approach ( the fourth C in Coyle’s 4Cs CLIL Framework –
Culture)
 The names of the celestial objects and the legends behind
them are investigated in an effort my students to see and
understand the development of human thinking towards
knowledge and meaning
 Science is seen as a social process, which starts with the
individual’s questions about nature and how these questions are
investigated and negotiated in the social environment
A lesson plan
 My CLIL lesson starts with the presentation and
negotiation of pictures, relevant to the chapter taught.
Therefore, if Mars is to be taught, we start with talking
about it, analyzing pictures of the planet. Pictures are
the input and our vehicle towards realizing facts about
the object.
Pictures can tell us several different things about Mars,
checking their foreground and background
information, their colour, the position of the objects in
it, the possible accompanying text. Let’s see how it
works below.
Mars
 Let’s talk about the surface of Mars. What colour is it ? What
other colours can you see? Why is Mars red? Can you give it a
nickname?
 Now let’s check the ground on Mars. What does it look like? Is
it red? Are there any plants, trees or flowers ? Is there any other
sign of life?
 Let’s study the texts on the pictures. Which new facts about
Mars can you find in these texts? Did you know any of them?
 Let’s add some captions to the pictures on the right.
 Study the pictures again and decide what you can tell the class
about Mars.
Mars exploration
 Study the pictures and prepare your presentation about Mars
exploration. Here are some key words :
satellite station
uniforms
calendar camera
rover samples
A bit of ‘Curiosity’- What’s this?
How did ‘Curiosity’ land on Mars?
Watch first, then discuss ! [Tip: keep
vocabulary notes!!]
A journey to the centre of Mars
 Pictures can be a multimodal genre. They can incorporate graphics,
charts, short reading texts. Therefore, they can be a comprehensive
source of information and a great input in teaching language.
Students can study the information about Mars shown on the
pictures and this way they can add information and knowledge in a
scaffolding manner: they have already used their stored knowledge
about the planets and the data the pictures provided them with to
initiate a talk about Mars at the beginning of the lesson. Now they
have the opportunity to address pictures accompanied by small
scientific texts and develop their vocabulary, grammar and syntax. The
teacher is there to assist this process and guide the students through
the lexicogrammatical and texture features of the picture genre.
As the CLIL lesson develops, students can be provided with
different reading sources about the chapter taught. My concern
is that the students should start reading texts that match their
level of language competence – so the texts can be adapted - ,
and they may be presented with authentic material which can
be a little more demanding linguistically, but not too lengthy.
The choice of the reading material always depends on the
students’ language level.
When students have become familiar with the proper
vocabulary, grammatical elements and the texture of the
scientific passages, they can start producing their own writing.
What does Mythology have to do with Astronomy? What do
legends and myths have to do with science?
To my view, legends and myths are not only entertaining tales. They
incorporate people’s effort a) to explain the natural world around them,
when no scientific means are provided b) to give way to their religious
speculations, their attempt to make ‘the divine’ a part of their everyday
practice c) to challenge and develop the human thought, during a
process of social negotiation. Therefore, to my understanding, there is a lot
of social truth and interaction within and behind a legend and there are also
important pieces of the fundamentals of social history in them.
Why do planets and other celestial bodies have the names of
mythological gods and other entities ? This is the crucial question
which persuaded me that Mythology could be a very interesting part of
teaching Astronomy, a window to a magnificent world of popular legends
before science and an amazing field of inter-cultural dialogue .
Ares in Greek, Mars in English: in Greek we use the Greek
name of the mythological god of war (Ares) to name the planet.
In English, the Latin name (Mars) is used. What about your
language ?
Who is Mars /Ares ? A whole debate and negotiation start,
based on students prior knowledge. We can talk about the
mythological god bringing information from the Greek
mythology, and then ask the students to look for information
about the god in the Roman mythology and what other
mythologies say about their god of war. That way we initiate an
inter-cultural dialogue, based on what students have to say
from their own knowledge or research.
Picture discussion: similarities and
differences
Classical representations
of Mars
Modern representations of
Mars
O, mighty Ares,
in you we trust, to you we bow.
You are our commander, you are our lord,
we leave our destiny in your hands.
Our body and soul are yours,
we do not have a father other than you.
To your legs we rest our weapons,
the shield, the bow, the spear, the sword.
Bless us, proud god .
More on cultural awareness:
weapons across time and culture
It is important that students get involved in reading, form various
sources, about Mars in Mythology. Reading can involve both legends
of Mars from different cultures and pragmatic information about the
god or other gods of war in other cultures.
Reading exercises can include making a family tree, creating a mind
map, filling in a chart, drawing a picture, filling in gaps in sentences,
answer comprehension questions.
Students can also be challenged to make their own presentation about
Mars in class, using pictures as their aid or starting a question/answer
game with their peers.
In Mythology texts are basically of two (02) kinds : narratives
and reports. These two are of the genres analyzed in SFG.
Narratives and reports have important differences as far as
grammatical and texture choices are concerned (e.g., past tenses
for narratives, present tenses in reports, more passive voice in
reports, more active voice in narratives, time development is
important in narratives, procedure development is important in
reports, etc).
Familiarizing students with the principles of these two genres
can give them a safe platform to produce their own writing.
Studying reading passages of either genre and guiding the
students through their development, we can provide them with
as many tools as possible for them to write successfully. It is not
an easy task, but it is worth the effort.
 Teaching CLIL has been a rewarding and thrilling experience.
Students, at their majority, love it, as it is an alternative way of
teaching EFL and they feel satisfied because they can use the
English language more and more effectively. Moreover, it
teaches them a fascinating subject and they seem to have many
things to contribute.
Teaching CLIL using the threefold linguistic model that I have
analyzed is extremely challenging. It requires lots of theoretical
studying and a constant investigation on how theory can be put
in practice. This does not only have to do with the preparation
and organization of the teaching material, but also with the way
the whole lesson should be organized.
I would be glad to answer any of your questions or
accept your remarks at the following email :
[email protected]
It has really been my honour
THANKS FOR WATCHING