28.2284, Review: Applied Ling; Ling Theories: Smit, Dafouz, Moore, Nikula (2016)

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Subject: 28.2284, Review: Applied Ling; Ling Theories: Smit, Dafouz, Moore, Nikula (2016)

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Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 12:14:51
From: Anna Krulatz [anna.m.krulatz at hist.no]
Subject: Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-3382.html

EDITOR: Tarja  Nikula
EDITOR: Emma  Dafouz
EDITOR: Pat  Moore
EDITOR: Ute  Smit
TITLE: Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education
SERIES TITLE: Bilingual Education & Bilingualism
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Anna M Krulatz, Sør-Trøndelag University College

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has received a great deal of
attention in the last decade. The volume “Conceptualising Integration in CLIL
and Multilingual Education,” edited by Tarja Nikula, Emma Dafouz, Pat Moore,
and Ute Smit, brings together the no baby allwork of sixteen contributors
under the project “ConCLIL – Language and Content Integration: Towards a
Conceptual Framework” funded by the Academy of Finland, in which data was
collected from three countries with diverse CLIL policies and repertoires. The
contribution aims to complement the existing CLIL research by focusing on
institutional, pedagogical and personal perspectives on integration in
multilingual and CLIL educational contexts. The book is organized into the
following sections: “Foreword”; an introductory chapter “More Than Content and
Language: The Complexity of Integration in CLIL and Bilingual Education;” Part
1, “Curriculum and Pedagogy Planning,” which focuses on the integration of
content and language at curriculum level; Part 2, “Participants,” which
explores integration from the perspective of teachers and students; Part 3,
“Practices,” which is devoted to the realization of integration through actual
classroom practices; and “Conclusion,” which summarizes the volume and
synthesizes the approaches to integration it presents. 

“More Than Content and Language: The Complexity of Integration in CLIL and
Bilingual Education,” by Tarja Nikula, Christiane Dalton-Puffer, Ana Llinares
and Francisco Lorenzo, serves as the introduction to the volume. It explains
the rationale for the book and introduces and defines the three perspectives
on integration that serve as the organizing principle: the what, or the
institutional level of curriculum planning; the who, or the participants’
perspectives on integration; and the how, or the classroom practices. The
section also gives a review of previous research in each of the three areas of
integration, as well as provides a summary of each of the parts in the book.

Chapter 1, “Cognitive Discourse Functions: Specifying an Integrative
Interdisciplinary Construct” (Christiane Dalton-Puffer) applies a
transdisciplinary construct of cognitive discourse functions (CDFs) to link
subject-specific cognitive learning goals with the linguistic representations
relevant in specific classroom interactions. The classification of the seven
CDFs types (classify, define, describe, evaluate, explain, explore, and
report), their underlying communicative intentions and their members are
provided, followed by detailed descriptions of the seven CDF components
illustrated with classroom examples obtained from the data pool of the ConCLIL
project. The chapter is of interest for CLIL researchers, and CLIL teachers
and teacher educators in that it offers an organized heuristic tool for
conceptualizing discourse functions. By focusing on how to increase the
visibility and teachability of CDFs, the chapter enables teachers and learners
to better access and communicate subject-specific knowledge in CLIL. 

Chapter 2, “Historical Literacy in CLIL: Telling the Past in a Second
Language” (Francisco Lorenzo and Christiane Dalton-Puffer) explores teaching
and learning of history within CLIL. The authors give an overview of the
evolution of the construct of historical literacy and explain how the
broadening of the notion of literacy led to changes in school curricula, which
they illustrate with two concrete examples. They then present a classification
of historical literacy into three levels, namely historical notions, gestalt
historical principles and historical heuristics, and show how these correlate
with predictable units at three language levels, i.e., genres, functions, and
lexico-grammar. The framework is then expanded as the authors provide specific
examples of communicative discourse functions that characterize the oral and
written language performance of teachers and learners in L2 history courses.  

Chapter 3, “Learning Mathematics Bilingually: An Integrated Language and
Mathematics Model (ILMM) of Word Problem-Solving Processes in English as a
Foreign Language” (Angela Berger) addresses the issue of interaction between
mathematics and language, focusing specifically on cognitive processes
involved in solving mathematical word problems. The chapter opens with an
overview of previous conceptualizations of how mathematics and language are
related, highlighting the issues pertaining to learning mathematics in a
foreign language. It then moves on to present an Integrated Language and
Mathematics Model (ILMM), which is based on the results of a study that
utilized think-aloud protocols of 48 beginners in English language learning
who were solving word problems. The model visualizes interaction between
content and language-related processing while mathematical word problems are
being solved in a foreign language, and it leads the author to conclude that
cognitive and mathematical processes form a complex, integrated whole, and
that therefore, deliberate attention to language needs to be given in the CLIL
mathematics classroom. 

Chapter 4, “A Bakhtinian Perspective on Language and Content Integration:
Encountering the Alien Word in Second Language Mathematics Classroom” (Richard
Barwell) uses Bakhtin’s dialogic theory of language and its key notions of
heteroglossia, and centrifugal and centripetal forces as a basis for
conceptualizing language and curricular content as one process. Using two
examples from an ethnographic study of interaction in elementary school second
language mathematics classroom in Canada, the author illustrates how such
interactions are shaped by tensions between institutional and political
requirements as well as students’ and teachers’ voices. According to Barwell,
an important implication of this perspective on integration is that learners
need to be supported in the development of content-related language and
language awareness through suitable pedagogical approaches. This chapter
concludes Part 1 of the book.

Chapter 5, “University Teachers’ Beliefs of Language and Content Integration
in English-Medium Education in Multilingual University Settings (Emma Dafouz,
Julia Hüttner and Ute Smit) presents a study of conceptualizations of content
and language in English-medium education in multilingual university settings
(EMEMUS). Specifically, using the corpus of 18 teacher interviews conducted at
four institutions of higher education (one in Finland, one in the UK, one in
Austria, and one in Spain), the study investigated teacher perspectives
utilizing the ROAD-MAPPING framework (Dafouz & Smit, 2016). The results, which
focus on participants’ position with regards to A, ING and AD of the
ROAD-MAPPING framework (Agents, Internationalisation and Glocalisation, and
Academic Disciplines) suggest a range of conceptualizations of integration of
content and learning across the subjects and sites. Teacher beliefs about
EMEMUS are shaped by the contexts and disciplines in which individuals work,
and are located on a continuum from “similar” to “different” in relation to
traditional monolingual education. This chapter raises important points about
teacher agency in providing language scaffolding and making curriculum
adaptations and about their views on diversity, and the use of languages other
than English in EMEMUS settings. 

Chapter 6, “CLIL Teachers’ Beliefs about Integration and about Their
Professional Roles: Perspectives from a European Context” (Kristiina Skinnari
and Eveliina Bovellan) examines what teacher accounts of how they understand
CLIL reveal regarding their beliefs about integration and how teachers define
their professional roles within CLIL. These research questions were informed
by findings from a study by Morton (2012), which suggest relationships among
teachers’ beliefs about the role of language in CLIL and their practical
knowledge of learners, subject and self.  The data used in this chapter comes
from the ConCLIL project and was collected through semi-structured interviews
with 12 secondary school CLIL teachers. Close reading, thematic analysis and
comparison of the data revealed five major themes, which are discussed and
illustrated with excerpts from the interviews: teacher content orientation,
orientation to language and language teaching, subject-specific language,
language as a tool, and additional benefits of integration. In line with
Dalton-Puffer (2011), the authors conclude that language and content are
integrated in dynamic ways and cannot be separated from each other. 

Chapter 7, “Integration of Language and Content Through Languaging in CLIL
Classroom Interaction: A Conversation Analysis Perspective” (Tom Morton and
Teppo Jakonen) opens Part 3 of the book, which is devoted to classroom
practice. The chapter explores the learner perspective on integration as it
examines interactional negotiation of language knowledge among students
engaged in content tasks. Multimodal conversation analysis methodology for SLA
(Kasper & Wagner, 2011), and the constructs of Focus on Form (Nassaji & Fotos,
2011) and languaging (Swain et al., 2009) are integrated to analyze two data
extracts from video-recordings of secondary school history CLIL lessons in
Finland. The authors conclude that spontaneous, student-initiated occurrences
of Focus on Form and languaging do not provide sufficient opportunities for
language and content integration, and that language areas of high functional
importance in relation to content should be explicitly identified and
reinforced in CLIL classrooms. 

Chapter 8, “Teacher and Student Evaluative Language in CLIL Across Contexts:
Integrating SFL and Pragmatic Approaches” (Ana Llinares and Tarja Nikula)
presents an integrated perspective on evaluation, addressing specifically
students’ ability to evaluate subject-related information and the use of
evaluative resources to establish social relations. Recognizing that different
educational traditions may place different constraints on language behavior,
and using ConCLIL data from four teacher-fronted classrooms in Austria,
Finland and Spain, the study explores how the type of subject and geographical
context affect student and teacher use of evaluation. The authors conclude
that teachers often employ appraisal resources to evaluate student performance
and that the local teaching culture in different countries may have a stronger
impact on evaluative practices than a shared CLIL methodology. They add that
instructional patterns present in the classroom are also related to the
evaluative resources employed by students. 

Chapter 9, “Translanguaging in CLIL Classrooms” (Pat Moore and Tarja Nikula)
employs the notion of translanguaging to explore integration from the
perspective of language choice and merger through a multilingual lens. The
authors briefly review the dominant monolingual orientation in CLIL research,
describe the origins and interpretations of translanguaging, provide a short
summary of translanguaging research, and discuss the issue of language choices
in classroom settings. Using the data from a corpus of CLIL classroom
recordings (ConCLIL project) and qualitative discourse analysis, the authors
examine the roles and purposes of translanguaging in whole-class teacher-led
discussions and group work. The findings suggest that two types of
translanguaging can be distinguished: the instances when it is employed to
explicitly focus on language and meaning, and revolves around key vocabulary
and serves to reinforce meaning, clarify terms, and disambiguate; and the
instances when it is used to improve the flow of interaction, for instance to
clarify instructions, to signal alignment with the interlocutor, or to
communicate emotionally charged messages. The authors conclude that
translanguaging in CLIL classrooms is purposeful and can be perceived as a
useful communication strategy, and that multilingual language practice should
be accepted as the norm in CLIL. 

In the final section of the volume, “Conclusion: Language Competence, Learning
and Pedagogy in CLIL – Deepening and Broadening Integration” (Constant Leung
and Tom Morton), the approaches to integration presented in the preceding
chapters are synthesized, and a conceptual framework for positioning the
approaches to integration in CLIL is drafted. The chapter concludes with
future directions for integrated approaches in CLIL.

EVALUATION

This edited volume constitutes an important contribution to the dynamic and
growing field of CLIL for several reasons. It brings to focus an integrated
perspective on content and language and explores it at three crucial levels:
curriculum, teacher and learner perceptions, and classroom practices, an
important fused approach to CLIL which has been stressed in recent
publications (e.g., Byrnes, 2005; Dalton-Puffer et al., 2019). The various
chapters in the volume apply a range of theories, frameworks, and constructs
in their analysis of integration of language and content in CLIL, including a
Bakhtinian perspective, ROAD-MAPPING, and translanguaging. In addition, new
useful frameworks are proposed, e.g., the ILMM and a matrix of approaches to
integration in CLIL. All chapters clearly focus on the aspect of integration
within the section of the book in which they are placed, and frequent
cross-referencing strengthens the relationship among the contributions. The
authors and the editors did a remarkable job conceptualizing the integration
of language and content in CLIL and highlighting connections between the three
perspectives on integration which serve as the organizing principle of the
book. 

In the Foreword, the editors make a claim that the volume will “inspire
teachers, teacher educators and educational researchers alike to take a fused
– or integrated – perspective” on CLIL. While I concur that the book’s content
is of great value to the latter two audiences, I seriously doubt that it
constitutes a resource that is accessible and useful for classroom teachers.
The volume is highly theory and research oriented, and mostly addresses the
questions of what? and why? in regards to integration of language and content
in CLIL, whereas teachers are more prone to reach for a publication that
contains practical, easy to follow tips that explain how to implement changes
in the classroom. While several of the chapters call for a development of
appropriate pedagogical approaches, none offers explicit solutions, which
would be of greatest value to teachers. Nonetheless, this audience could be
reached indirectly through CLIL teacher educators, for whom the volume would
be a valuable read. 

An additional, minor shortcoming of the volume is that while all chapters draw
on the data collected through ConCLIL, not all authors follow a unified
research chapter format, and some do not clearly state research questions and
explain research methods and analysis. Additional elaboration on the ConCLIL
methodology either in the introductory chapter or in the respective
contributions would have strengthened the book’s clarity and informativeness. 

Overall, “Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education” is a
great, well-organized resource for CLIL researchers and CLIL teacher
educators, complete with rich data excerpts and theoretical models. While the
volume may not be as accessible to classroom teachers as the authors and the
editors have envisioned, selected sections could be used as a basis for
through-provoking discussions in pre- and in-service teacher education
courses. 

REFERENCES

Burnes, H. (2005). Reconsidering the nexus of content and language: A mandate
of the NCLB legislation. Modern Language Journal 89(2), 277-282.

Dafouz, E. & Smit, U. (2016). Towards a dynamic conceptual framework for
English-medium education in multilingual university settings. Applied
Linguistics, 37(3), 397-415.

Dalton-Puffer, C. (2011). Content-and-language integrated learning: From
practice to principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31, 182-204.

Dalton-Puffer, C., Nikula, T. & Smit, U. (2010). Charting policies, premises,
and research on content and language integrated learning. In C. Dalton-Puffer,
T. Nikula & U. Smit (Eds.), Language Use and  Language Learning in CLIL
Classrooms (pp. 279-291). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Kasper, G. & Wagner, J. (2011). A conversation-analytic approach to second
language acquisition. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative Approaches to Second
Language Acquisition (pp. 117-142). New York: Taylor & Francis. 

Morton, T. (2012). Teachers’ knowledge about language and classroom
interaction in content and language integrated learning. PhD dissertation,
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Nassaji, H. & Fotos, S. (2011). Teaching Grammar in Second Language
Classrooms: Integrating Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Context.
Abingdon: Routledge. 

Swain, M., Lapkin, S., Knouzi, I., Suzuki, W., & Brooks, L. (2009).
Languaging: University students learn the grammatical concept of voice in
French. Modern Language Journal 93(1), 5-29.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Anna Krulatz is Associate Professor of English at the Faculty of Teacher
Education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim,
Norway, where she works with pre- and in-service EFL teachers. Her research
focuses on multilingualism with English, pragmatic development in adult
language learners, content based instruction, and language teacher education.





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