Something to Talk About: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Modern Languages in British Higher Education
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Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions. If you have discovered material in Aston Research Explorer which is unlawful e.g. breaches copyright, (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please read our Takedown policy and contact the service immediately ([email protected]) SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT Content and Language Integrated Learning in Modern Languages in British Higher Education. A case study of German at Aston University Elisabeth Wielander Doctor of Philosophy ASTON UNIVERSITY October 2014 ©Elisabeth Wielander, 2014 Elisabeth Wielander asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this thesis. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without appropriate permission or acknowledgement. Aston University Something to Talk About: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Modern Languages in British Higher Education. A case study of German at Aston University Elisabeth Wielander Doctor of Philosophy October 2014 Summary This thesis investigates Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in German undergraduate programmes in the UK. At its core is a study of how one German department integrates the teaching of language and content in its undergraduate programmes and how instructors and students experience this approach. This micro- context is embedded in the wider macro-context of UK Higher Education and subject to outside forces - be they political, economic, socio-cultural - whose effects will manifest in more or less obvious ways. Data was collected via an online survey of Heads of German at British universities to determine the status quo of CLIL in UK Higher Education and to investigate how certain institutional parameters determine the introduction of CLIL in Higher Education. This project employs a mixed-method case study approach and is based on student questionnaires and semi-structured interview with German teaching staff. The study brings to light a number of significant aspects. For example, contrary to popular belief, content provision in the L2 is rather common at British universities, which is currently not reflected in the research. Student data indicates that German students perceive clear advantages in the university’s approach to CLIL. They consider German- taught content classes challenging yet beneficial for their language development. Staff interviews have yielded intriguing information about perceived advantages and disadvantages of CLIL, about its implications for classroom practice, and about instructors’ attitude towards teacher training, which echo findings from similar investigations in European contexts. Finally, the results of the macro-analysis and the case study are compared and contrasted with findings from European research on ICLHE/CLIL to determine differences and similarities with the British context, a set of recommendations is made regarding CLIL practice at the case study institution, and some implications these findings may have for the future of CLIL in British higher education are discussed. Key words: Content and Language Integrated Learning, UK Higher Education, German as a Foreign Language, MFL Teaching and Learning, Case Study 2 Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Gertrud Reershemius, without whose encouragement, guidance and support I would not have embarked on, let alone finished this journey. She has been an inspiration and role model in both academic and personal matters. My sincere gratitude goes to the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University for providing an invigorating research environment, and to the Centre for Language Education Research at Aston (CLERA) for awarding me a generous two-year fully funded studentship which allowed me to focus on this project. None of this would have been possible without the members of staff and the undergraduate students of the German section at Aston University and colleagues in German Studies departments around the country who participated in this study and shared their experiences and opinions in personal interviews, questionnaires and an electronic survey, respectively. Thank you for your invaluable input. Finally, my thanks go to my colleagues, friends and family, both here and back home. Your continued vocal support and encouragement over the years are deeply appreciated. I couldn’t have wished for better cheerleaders. 3 List of contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Theories of Language Learning and Teaching ..........................................................16 1.1 A brief history of Second Language Acquisition research ................................................... 16 1.1.1 Interlanguage: Making it up as you go along ..............................................................17 1.1.2 Transfer - interference - influence: L1’s long shadow .................................................18 1.1.3 Input - intake - output ..................................................................................................20 1.1.4 The role of the learner in SLA .....................................................................................24 1.2 Similarities and differences between L1 and L2 acquisition ................................................ 27 1.3 Approaches to second language teaching: To use or not to use L1 .................................... 28 1.4 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 2: Bilingualism and bilingual education ..........................................................................34 2.1 Terminology matters ............................................................................................................ 35 2.1.1 Of native speakers and their mother tongue(s) ...........................................................35 2.1.2 Is every speaker of two languages bilingual? .............................................................37 2.1.3 Language acquisition vs language learning ................................................................40 2.2 The many faces of bilingual education ................................................................................. 42 2.2.1 Dual Language Bilingual Education ............................................................................43 2.2.2 Immersion education in Canada .................................................................................47 2.2.3 Content-Based Instruction ...........................................................................................50 2.3 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 51 Chapter 3: Content and Language Integrated Learning ..............................................................53 3.1 Bilingual education in Europe: European Schools ............................................................... 53 3.2 Content and Language Integrated Learning: A European label .......................................... 55 3.2.1 CLIL in the British education system ...........................................................................57 3.3 The road to CLIL .................................................................................................................. 59 3.4 Theoretical-pedagogical concepts of CLIL ........................................................................... 61 3.4.1 The role of language in CLIL: The Language Triptych................................................62 3.4.2 Multidimensional learning: The 4 Cs ...........................................................................65 3.5 From Theory to Practice: CLIL in the Classroom ................................................................. 66 3.5.1 Walking the tightrope: Balancing Content and Language in CLIL ..............................67 3.5.2 Language in CLIL ........................................................................................................68 3.6 Differentiating CLIL from other bilingual models .................................................................. 73 3.7 CLIL vs ICL: Two sides of the same coin? ........................................................................... 76 3.8 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 78 4 Chapter 4: Bilingual tertiary education in Europe .........................................................................80 4.1 The internationalisation of HE: English as lingua pedagogica ............................................. 80 4.1.1 Motivation for English-medium Higher Education .......................................................81 4.1.2 Criticism of English-medium Higher Education ...........................................................84 4.2 L2-medium tertiary teaching: Findings from Europe ............................................................ 86 4.2.1 Language outcomes in L2-medium HE .......................................................................86