32.1262, Confs: Applied Ling, Gen Ling, Lang Acq, Ling Theories/Online

Fri Apr 9 23:29:11 UTC 2021

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-1262. Fri Apr 09 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.1262, Confs: Applied Ling, Gen Ling, Lang Acq, Ling Theories/Online

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Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2021 19:28:50
From: Jennifer Hill [tesol.valdadige.etschtal at gmail.com]
Subject: Issues with primary school CLIL: What teachers think

Issues with primary school CLIL: what teachers think 

Date: 14-May-2021 - 14-May-2021 
Location: Trento (via Zoom), Italy 
Contact: Jennifer Hill 
Contact Email: tesol.valdadige.etschtal at gmail.com 

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Language Acquisition; Linguistic Theories 

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Meeting Description: 

Issues with primary school CLIL: what CLIL teachers think 
A session of the Sixth Symposium on CLIL in the Adige Valley “From
International to Local”

Professor Carmel Mary Coonan (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy)

Discussions in Italy on how best to teach a foreign language in the primary
school have been underway ever since the law in 1985 (D.P.R. n. 104) that
introduced foreign languages as part of the primary school curriculum. Since
then, many aspects, e.g., the integration of the foreign language into the
school curriculum, methodological proposals suitable for the age range/type of
school, have been the subject of much reflection ad investigation. One
development - recently encouraged by the so called ‘Buona scuola’ law (Law
107, 2017) – can be found in the choice to use the foreign language as a
medium of instruction (alongside the other language of instruction, Italian)
in the belief that this instructional role will enable a better learning of
the foreign language by the pupils. 

The debate around foreign language medium instruction today is focused on the
concept ‘content and language integrated learning (CLIL)’. The concept
highlights an important realization, namely that it is not enough to use the
(foreign) language as medium of instruction. Care must be taken to ensure that
the (foreign) language is learnt as well, alongside the content that is being
taught. This awareness calls for changes in the way the foreign language is
broached, as well as the way the subject-matter is taught through it.

The talk will explore some of the many issues that experiences in Primary
school CLIL have evidenced. Although these issues have been identified within
a publicly funded (FSE) research project in primary schools in the Trentino
region, it is possible that such issues characterize other areas where Primary
CLIL is or will be practiced. Such issues concern the language dimension:
focus on language, language alternation; presumed content simplification and
consequent reduced learning outcomes (a negative connotation associated with
CLIL); methodological innovation and methodological clash. Voice will be given
to the teachers involved in the project via quotes from interviews conducted
in the research.

Prof. Carmel Mary Coonan is full professor of Educational linguistics at the
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia. Her field of specialization is foreign/second
language teaching and learning with particular reference to emerging teaching
methodologies (e.g., foreign /second language medium instruction) and new
target groups (e.g., infant/primary school children), theories of language
education, methodology of research in language education, psychological
aspects of foreign/second language learning, instructional design for
plurilingual education and issues in foreign language teacher training. She
has conducted and participated in several research projects both nationally
and internationally (Europe), especially in the field of foreign language
medium instruction (FLMI).

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