Task-based Language Learning (TBLL)

Another interesting method we have had the chance to learn about in class is Task-based Language Learning (TBLL). We have seen that this method has been applied in Montessori schools, where children spend three hours per day engaged in individual learning activities that they choose freely following their interest. The teacher introduces each activity and explains how the materials should be used, and after that the child is free to use it.

Montessori schools were concerned that their methodology didn't encourage foreign language production when it was applied to learning English, as children were mainly engaged in individual activities. Therefore, they have designed tasks that require information exchange and lead to closed outcomes in order to increase the production of meaningful outcome in children when they learn a foreign language. That kind of activities are very adequate to use during free circulation, or whenever the teacher wishes to have children conducting exercises in pairs or small groups without the teacher's continued supervision.

We have been able to integrate two of the proposals in our project, and we think they are very interesting, because not only can children carry them on their own, but the can also assess how well they performed, as the exercises are self-assessed.

Where is our project?

At the end of this course, we have to present the project we have create. The rest of the classmates will post their project in the Blog, but we decided to do it in a different way. We have created a WIX page just for our project. We think that it's a easier way to read it because you won't have all the things in the same post. So, if you to know how our project is going, click here!

TPR: ways to express "I got it" without (necessarily) talking

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language learning method based on link motor activities with language learning. Learners listen to the teacher and perform reacting to what the are told with their bodies. They are also encouraged to speak when they feel ready to take that step. TPR is especially effective in the context provided by songs, games and stories.

Pointing to a picture when the teacher pronounces a certain word, mimicking the actions while they are told in a story by the teacher or sang in class, or raising hands when the teacher asks to do so would be typical TPR activities, just like games such as "Simon says" or charades.

We find that TPR is very well suited for our project and our principles about English learning, as we intend to base our set of exercises on a book.

Improving our role playing

We have done some more role playing during the past week. We have improved greatly compared to our first attempts, but we also realise we still have a long way to go before we become graceful stewardesses at EnglishAir! Stewardesses really do CLIL, because you manage to understand them even if you don't know the language (or even if they don't know the language, as often happens when you fly with a Spanish company and they talk in English).

One of the big issues we face is getting feedback from children. We talk to them making ourselves more clear now, but we need to improve the ways to find out if the message gets across. Do they understand us, how can we know if they do? What resources can we offer them to communicate with us in English?

The elephant in chains

Some days ago we read in class one of Jorge Bucays stories: The elephant in chains. We said that this story can be related to many things of our lifes, including English learning.We will never know if we can be good at speaking English if we never try to. As it says in the mentioned story:

"I can't and I never will."

"Your only way of knowing if you can do it is to try again, putting your whole heart into it... Your whole heart!"

Eleanitz project

Eleanitz is a project created by the Ikastolas to improve the English of their students. The reason of the creation of this project was the necessity of knowing another language to live in Europe. The purpose of the project is to join two things: get all the development that the Basque language needs to get its field and know and manage another language, which means, Eleaniztasuna, multilingualism. To be a multilinguist has some positive benefits, such as getting more creative mind and mind flexibility.

To put this project to work, the Ikastolas had to decide which was going to be the foreign language between French and English, and, at the end, they decided to teach the English language. In addition to that, they knew that everything we have said before wouldn't work if they used the method that they used to use. They needed another way to teach language but one which didn't take out the Basque language; so they decided to start teaching English at the age of four. Because of that, they created a proposal:

From 3 to 16	Basque language would be the main language
From 8 to 16	Start with the Spanish subject
From 4 to 16	Control of the English language
From 12 to 16	Start with the French language

 

Last week's role playing: our group's view

The role playing activities we did last week were very instructive and fun; we learnt a lot while having fun, although it was a bit hard for those who played as teachers because of the constant breaks and suggestions.

There was a lot of collective learning involved, because we saw a great difference from the ones that did it at the beginning to the groups that came last. So, we all learnt and improved through the activities.

We learnt as teachers to speak slowly, use short and simple sentences, repeat sentences and useful formulae so children can learn them. We also experienced that the teacher has to start certain activities on her/his own, such as singing, and that children will join in when they feel ready. We saw that flexibility is needed to shift activities when one doesn't work or connect with the children, or to conduct the same activity in a different way. But, at the same time, we realised that flexibility doesn't mean lack of planning; on the contrary, apparent improvising is necessarily based on very fine planning, because only when the teacher has thoroughly planned the activities will she/he be able to pick the right one for a particular situation.

Another interesting part of the role playing was to get into our children's shoes. It was amusing to see that we didn't manage to act as children at the beginning, and it took us some time to take that role. It seemed as if we found it easier to act as teachers, or we knew better what teachers are like. At the same time, during the role playing we paid less attention to how well we were playing the children's role, and we made very few suggestions about that. We think that this is a very important issue for two reasons: on one hand, if we don't act as real children, the teacher's role playing will be somewhat fake and, on the other hand, if we cannot act as children, it means we don't really know them, and it will be very difficult for us to design activities that will interest them.

Our child's profile

Our children for the role playing is a three years old girl called Elene. She is a quiet girl who has never gone to an English academy. Her parents are Basque and they have a positive attitude to the English language even if they don't speak it.

Additions to our language resources

We have updated our language resources page. Now, you can find a new section on on line resources offered by universities. Enjoy!

What our project will be about

We have had our first serious brainstorming session on our project. We find it really difficult to think of activities that will be carried out only in English and will have meaning and interesting content.

First, we thought it would be nice to prepare activities about literary creation, because we enjoyed so much the unit on children literature and we really wanted to do a project where children were active players, and not passive recipients. But when we began to design activities, we realised that we couldn't think of ways to make children analyse stories in order to learn how create them, doing it all in English. It seemed far too complicated for our first trial. So, we thought we had to forget about the idea, although it was dissapointing.

So, for now, we have decided to start off with a bit less ambitious and complex idea. Following what we have learnt so far in the unit, we are aware that children need a lot of contextual information in order to build meanings when they are learning a new language. Therefore, we think that illustrated books can be a very interesting way to get in touch with the language, because children have already learnt the structure of story books and the relationship between text and image through their experience in Basque and Spanish, both at home and at school. Thus, illustrated albums offer them an awful lot of information that can compensate their limited understanding of English itself.

We have chosen two illustrated books that will enable us to work on content that is very close to children's everyday experiences and will give us plenty of opportunity to propose activities in which children will play an active role, as we decided when we set our principles for the project:

Who else was born in Zerain?

We have been asked to design several activities that could be integrated within the Zerain project. These activities should help children learn English, as well as which ever contents we might decide, all set in a CLIL approach where context will play a fundamental role.

We have decided that our set of activities would develop around a question that could well be posed to the children towards the end of the Zerain project: who else was born in Zerain at the same time Uxue and the other three newborns? In this case, it wouldn't be humans, but farm animals (or other living organisms). This question could lead to a single activity, in case children didn't find it too interesting, but it could also be the beginning of a whole new project; this time regarding other living organisms. We have prepared several activities around farm animals, but if at the moment of being questioned children would show interest in researching other kinds of living organisms (wild animals and plants, for instance), we would obviously have to design new activities.

In the following lines, we will list the activities we have designed, together with a short description of each. The last activity is the one we intend to put into practise in class through role-playing.

We assume that our group of pupils in Zerain would be aged 3 to 8. Therefore, the situation would be very well suited for creating interactive groups where cooperative learning and peer tutoring could be applied. Children would be distributed in several small groups, making sure that each group had children of different ages and abilities.

The activities and exercises would be conducted in a coordinated way by the class tutor and the English teacher (if there is one). Therefore, the set of activities would have unitary sense, contents would build on, and some would be conducted in Basque, and others in English.

Activities and exercises set within each of them:

Activity number 1: Visit several farms in Zerain in order to know the animals that were born at the time Uxue was born

Exercise 1: Interview with Zerain's farmers' cooperative representative

Since the mother of one of the pupils is a member of Zerain's farmers' cooperative, she will come to class in order to have a conversation with the class about the farms where different animals have been born lately.

Previous to that interview, children will prepare questions and detail their interests, so they can conduct the interview with the cooperative representative.

The objective of the interview will be to select the group of farms the class would like to visit and the animals they would like to know, so the member of the cooperative can consult the farmers involved afterwards.

Exercise 2: Naming farm animals

Once children have selected the farm animals they would like to know more about, and the farmers' cooperative representative clarifies which farms they will visit, the class will do a bit of research on the animals' names. 

For the purpose of this exercise, we have assumed that children select the following farm animals, which are quite common in the farms of Gipuzkoa: cattle, pigs, horses, chickens and sheep. Children will thus divide into five mixed groups, and each group will select one farm animal kind to research about.

Children will ask their parents, grandparents and neighbours about the different names given to their group's animal in Basque, and they will write (or ask the adult to write) the differences that each term implies. One same kind of farm animal will have very different names depending on sex, age, moment of the reproductive cycle they are at, function, etc. For an example of the names given to farm animals in Basque, you can consult a text by Juan Ignazio Iztueta written on the 19th century.

Each group will explain in class the different terms related to their animal that have been found during the research, as well as what they mean. The objective of the exercise will be to gather information prior to the farm visits that will enable them understand the explanations that farmers will give them, as well as recognise each animal. Children should be able to list at least the following for each animal: name given to the cub or young, name given to the adult female (mother of cubs), name given to the adult male (father of cubs).

Exercise 3: Basic characteristics of farm animals as opposed to humans

Since children have conducted some research on human babies during the Zerain project, they will discuss and select the attributes and characteristics that they would like to ask about during the farm visits. These are some of the things they might like to ask about:

• The differences in hair/feather and skin colour that each animal can have, depending on the race.
• What each animal eats when they are born, and when they are adults.
• Where each animal is born from: mother or egg.
• How long it takes for each animal since the egg is laid or conception until it is born.
• How many cubs are born in each litter or clutch.
• How much each animal grows since they are born until they become adults (weight and height).
• The names of the body-parts of animals.

Children will write down the list of questions they would like to ask about and will design a field record sheet to take with them to the visits.

Exercise 4: A nice story on farm animals

The English teacher will tell the story written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury titled "Farmer Duck". This is a very interesting story that might lead to new questions children would like to add to their list for the farm visits. You can watch this video telling the story with the original book or this other one where the illustrations have been animated.

It tells the story of an unfortunate duck who is unfairly treated by the farmer, who is portrayed as a dictator. The duck does all the work while the farmer lies in bed. The duck grows tired, sad and hopeless. Then, his animal friends (cow, sheep, hens) decide to start a revolution and they kick the farmer out. From that day on, the farm animals own the farm and work in cooperation.

The story will offer a great opportunity to learn animal names in English, but will also arise other interesting issues about social conflict: social injustice, dictatorship, rebellion, cooperation, etc. Children might want to ask farmers about animal well being, how they are treated, etc. They might also like to share personal experiences of being treated unfairly, and reflect on these issues.

Exercise 5: Farm animals song

After learning farms different animals names, we will learn a couple of songs about farm animals:

1.  Old MacDonald had a farm. A really known song, in different countries and different languages.

These are the lyrics:

" Old MacDonald had a farm (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O), 
And on that farm he had a cow (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O), 
With a Moo Moo here and a Moo Moo there, 
Here a Moo there Moo everywhere a Moo, Moo. Old MacDonald had a farm (Ee-Aye-Eee-Aye-O),   

Sheep - baa

Pig - oink

Ducks - quack

Horse - neigh"

2.  Astoak ia ia ia.This are the lyrics:
"Astoak ia ia ia
zakurrak uau-uau!
oilarrak ku-ku-rru-ku!
katuak miau-miau!
Eta kanta, kanta
kanta, kantari;
eta dantza, dantza
dantza, dantzari.
Eman, eman, eman bai
danborrari,
eman, eman, eman bai
turutari..
Gaur arratsaldean abere denak
menditik zelaira etorri dira. (bis)
Eta kanta, kanta…
Astoak ostikoz, zakurrak hozka,
oilarrak mokoka, katuak zarpa!
Eta kanta, kanta…
Astoa beheraka, zakurra gora,
oilarra hegan, katua jiran. (bis)
Eta kanta, kanta…"

Exercise 6: Conducting the farm visits

After having completed the planning exercises, children will visit the farms, where they will ask questions, write down notes on the survey sheets and take pictures of farm animals, so they can have an extensive record of what they have learnt when they return to school.

Activity number 2: Processing the information gathered

Exercise 7: Creating farm animal family cards

Using the pictures taken and based on the knowledge children have constructed, each group will make a set of cards of their animal, with at least three cards: one with the cub or young, another one with the adult female (mother of cubs), and another one with the adult male (father of cubs). They will write down the name in Basque and English for each on the cards.

Exercise 8: Card games

Once the complete set of farm animal cards has been completed in cooperation by the whole class, children will play several games with them:  Meet the offspring with their parents, Who am I?, Shuffle-shuffle, Which has ...?, The Photographer and The Intruder.

1. Match the baby animals with their parents: the children will be divided in five groups. Each group will have five cards with the five baby animals, and the parents' cards will be sticked in the wall. The teacher will say, for example, "take the lamb with it's mother", so the children will have to stick the card next to it's mother.

2. Who am I?: a child will take a card, without looking it, and will put it on her or his forehead. The rest of the group will have to explain which is the animal that he or she has; for example, talking about the mare, it runs a lot, it has a tail ... With the information given, the child will have to discover which animal he or she is.

3.  Shuffle-shuffle: For this game, children will sit down in pairs on the floor face to face. Each pair will have a pad of cards with all the animal families. One of the children of each pair will have the cards and will start shuffling them saying “Shuffle, shuffle…” until his/her partner says “stop!”. Then, the child who has the cards will have to say which animal is the one that appears in the chosen card. If he/she guesses correctly the partner will take the cards, now it’s his/her time to do shuffle-shuffle and guess the animal. When they don’t guess correctly they will do shuffle-shuffle again, until they guess an animal.

4. The Photographer: This game is played by all the classmates together. The teacher will put an animal family on the floor faced up and teacher will choose a photographer and a person who will turn over one of the cards. Before turning over one of the cards, the photographer will make as if he/she will take pictures of all the cards so as to memorise the animals on the cards. He/she won’t see which card is being turned over and will have to guess right which animal is the one missing. After that, other children will be the photographer and the one who turns over a card.

5. Which has ...?: every child will have a card with an animal. The teacher will ask for an animal but just asking features; for example, "which has a beak?". The children who have the animal with that features, would stand up and go to the centre of the circle, and explain why that animal respond to that feature.

6. The intruder: the teacher will create different piles. In each pile will be four different card; three of them will have a feature on common and the fourth card no.  For example, three cards of three offspring and the fourth one a mare.

Zerain Project - Is it CLIL?

After debating in the group, we have decided that Zerain project is CLIL. It is considerate CLIL because they are learning integrating language, contents and context based on the children knowledge. In that way, they learn languages at the same time they are learning another kind of knowledges such as maths, reading, writing and speaking.

Obituary in memory of the Happy Class Beginnings

Our Happy Class Beginnings died silently at the age of 2. We miss them deeply, even more now, when we will have three classes every week.

We pray in hope for a quick and full resurrection that will bring back joy into our lives. Oh, Lord (actually, Ladies), please listen to your children praying!

CLIL = LeLawn

One of the members of our group summarised it during the time we had on Wednesday to read about and discuss CLIL in small groups: CLIL actually is Learning Language Without Noticing (LeLawn, a poor acronym, half French and half English). As a matter of fact, others seem to have reached the same conclusion, such as El Taller de Arte Akademia, which offers craft workshops for children, where through "creativity, imagination and fun" children will learn English without realising.

This view over the CLIL approach leads us to uncomfortable questions, such as those spitted by Pedro García Olivo in one of the readings (Educador irresponsable) proposed by our teacher, that bring him to say things like these:

"Caí, al fin, en la cuenta de que yo era el peor de todos, de que constituía el “éxito supremo de la Institución” -el tipo de profesor que ésta requería para ‘reformarse’, ‘modernizarse’, embaucar astutamente a los alumnos y adaptarse a la perversidad de los Nuevos Tiempos. Me había convertido en algo mucho más deplorable que un ‘profesor’: me había convertido en un ‘profesor amado’."

Why CLIL?
Are we teachers, or entertainers?

UK National Guidelines for CLIL

Since we had some spare time in class, we have read the second section of the UK National Guidelines for CLIL, which deals with what is CLIL.

In summary, the reading didn't help us understand the details about what CLIL is, as it didn't give much more information than previous readings, but it broadened our view about the benefits of CLIL (introducing cross-curriculary aspects, raising interest about othe languages and cultures, etc.).

ARTIGAL METHOD: READY FOR A STORY

Last day in class, I spoke about some aspects of Artigal’s methodology, which I saw in my Practicum. Here I would like to explain a little more of what is on the subject.

“Ready for a story” is an innovating method for preschool children to learn the English language as a foreign language. For this, a story is the mainstay. At the beginning the story doesn’t have visual  support, teacher tell children the story using body language and making them feel part of it; students and teacher stage jointly the story. Once children know the story, they start working it with pictures. This way, children learn English words and give them a meaning in relation to the story. When they see a word’s picture for which they know the word in their first language, they make a relation between the word they knew and the new one that both mean the same, what appears in the picture.

To tell the story with pictures and everyone together, this method gives children an especial material. It is a cardboard stage and the story’s characters that are stickers which can be glued and detached from the stage, so children can follow the story moving the characters stickers from one side to another. After they learn how to tell the story with that material at classroom, they bring it home to tell it to parents, brothers or sisters, etc. After that, they do more things in relation to the story, such as songs, card games, a wall, a drawing, etc. After that, they start with another story. Also mention that teacher speaks to students everything in English.

Finally say that I really liked this method, because at the Practicum I could see how children had fun and enjoyed their English lesson while they improved their English.

           

Learning about CLIL

We had three different materials to read for this week about CLIL. After having read them all, we have discussed what each of us understood in group. Our debate has been quite heated, and we have come to a general conclusion about CLIL: we understand the global concept about CLIL, that it deals with content and language at the same time, and that language is a tool for learning, besides being a tool for communication in itself.

We have had the chance to know a bit more about a CLIL project developed in preschool in Catalonia. These are the main ideas that we would highlight from this experience:

• It is important to bear in mind that a CLIL project implies producing materials for children, leaving behind the view of the traditional English teacher. In other words, we must broaden the view about what we would like children to learn about.
• Regarding the language part, we should place the focus on fluency and global understanding, rather than accuracy.
• All activities should be geared towards creating debates among children, making them talk.

What we didn't particularly like about the example from Catalonia was that the topics and activities of the project were fixed beforehand, even though they are supposed to be based on children's interests. It didn't seem like a flexible project.

We would underline the following ideas regarding the videos and text about CLIL contained in a different set of materials we read:

• CLIL is about using language to learn and learning to use language through the development of content.
• There is no "good" CLIL and "bad" CLIL, just bad and good ways to mix language and content. CLIL happens to be a successful way to combine language and content learning.
• CLIL is about "doing things", it is about having fun.

Finally, we have read an article on a project about newborns in Zerain. These are the most interesting ideas we have drawn from it:

• The project is about meaningful learning, about following the interests of children. If this project is CLIL, then clearly CLIL must have it's base on meaningful learning.
• A single project could be used to learn contents about very different subjects in an integrated way. In this project children learn about mathematics, spoken language, written language, analysing and plotting data, magnitudes, rhymes, English, Spanish, Basque, etc. Therefore, the general idea underlying CLIL could be applied to learning many contents in an integrated way.

Still, we feel that we would like to know CLIL more in depth, as we have only managed to grasp the general idea in an intuitive way so far. Besides, while the examples from Catalonia and Zerain are very practical, the other readings and videos were a bit more abstract and sometimes not that easy to follow.