The LAC (Language Across the Curriculum) course has been running at NILE for a number of years now. I’ve been involved in its delivery in tandem with colleague John Clegg since 2002.

The course description can be found at the NILE website (www.nile-elt.com):

http://www.nile-elt.com/download/teaching/Language_Across_Curriculum.pdf

Each year the course is put together based on a needs analysis done with the participant teachers. John and I offer a shopping list of subjects we feel work well and based on dialogue with colleagues, we try to make the course fit their specific needs.

Our list includes among others:

• Integrating content and language – what is CLIL?
• Investigating CLIL contexts around the world
• Curriculum demands of CLIL
• Identifying the core language of a subject
• The language of thinking
• CLIL task design
• Providing language support
• Teaching vocabulary in CLIL
• Developing listening in CLIL
• Working with texts and words
• Teaching subject-specific writing
• Speaking and CLIL
• Professional development for the CLIL teacher
• Drama and music
• Classroom language
• Error correction
• Peer observation – watching teachers teach CLIL
• CLIL lesson planning
• Assessment in CLIL
• ICT
• Project work
• Classroom presentations
• Learning strategies
• School policy, administration and management in CLIL
• Networks and resources

Where possible we also offer subject-specific language development for course participants though this can be difficult with a large group of teachers from diverse backgrounds.

In addition, a central part of the courses we run is the preparation of a series of tasks based on the content of the course which colleagues then present to the group at the end of the course.

What follows is a series of examples from Science of the kinds of activities and materials colleagues consider and prepare during the ten day course at NILE.

• We investigate language activities for developing the specific language of subjects such as ’20 questions’.

• Participants look at techniques for developing vocabulary, such as word guessing games following a ‘taboo’ model:

• Colleagues consider preparation and use of substitution tables to support sentence creation in specific subject areas:

• Colleagues prepare frames to support writing and speaking for learners in their subjects

• Participants are offered techniques for encouraging speaking in their subject classroom with activities such as ‘question loops’:

… and then they make their own…

• Colleagues create information gap speaking activities based on the materials in their textbooks…

Or, similarly with illustrations:

We ask colleagues to investigate the ‘texts’ in their subject (spoken, written, diagrammatical or other) and identify the underlying structure…

… so that they can then use this structure to create tasks for their learners

• Colleagues prepare language support sheets to accompany speaking and writing tasks… with sentence models …

• Identifying/naming

This is a/the …

That is a …

That’s the …

This is called a/the …

It comes from a …

It’s from a …

The … structure is called the …

The … … are called ….

At the top of the … there is a (adjective) part called the ….

Together, the … and the … are called the ….

• Describing appearance/structure

It looks like …

It’s got/hasn’t got …

It has/doesn’t have …

All … have …, a …, and ….

The … are the often highly (adjective) parts which … (function verb).

They are (adjective) and are attached to the ….

The … are arranged in a ring around the centre of the ….

They consist of a … with a … shape at the end.

… and is shaped rather like a ….

… and is divided into two parts.

The top of the … is called the ….

The … is attached to the bottom of the … by a ….

A long tube grows out of the …, this is the ….

• Describing location

It is found in the … of the …

The … are found at the base of the ….

They are (adjective) and are attached to the ….

The … are arranged in a ring around the centre of the ….

The … is found in the centre of the …,

The … is attached to the bottom of the … by a ….

They are inside the ….

• Describing function

The … is the part which …

The … is where … is carried out

The … is used for …-ing

The … has the role of …-ing

The carries out the function of …-ing

The … has a …-ing role

The … is a …

The …’s job is to …

It does … the …-ing

… or with verb sheets …

Participants look at ‘semi-scripts’ (Geddes, 1978) for creating listening activities to focus learners during teacher monologues on new topics.

We try within the limits of the ten-day course to give participants the opportunity to carry out practical activities and then present the results of their work to their peers in the group in the same way that we ask children to do in their classrooms. The difference here is that the teachers have to make predictions about the language demands of the practical work and presentations so as to be able to support their learners in their classroom work.

One such activity is designing, launching and observing rockets, where participants are given language support sheets, and a frame to structure their observation, and subesequent presentation where they suggest modifications for their rockets.

The Rocket Factory is one kit you can use for this activity and can be purchased for Middlesex University Teaching Resources (www.mutr.ac.uk).

The practical work is exactly that, but in seriousness it contexualises the use of language to such an extent that learners frequently forget that they are learning language because they are so involved in the ‘activity’.

A key to the language development is the ‘language support’ sheets and ‘observation frames’ to help learners prepare a structured presentation and then to support the delivery of the presentation.

Learners make good use of such frames and phrases even during the presentation itself.

This represents a core element of the LAC course. We try to develop participant awareness of what key ‘frames’ and ‘phrases’ there are in their own subject areas. Teachers go on to identify these frames and phrases and prepare them as tasks to present to the group.

This is just a glimse of what goes on during the LAC course at NILE. If you’d like to know more please contact the NILE office through their website, or me directly at keithkelly@factworld.org.

Yours,

Keith

Norwich 09/08/05

Download the report in PDF format here.