<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This article describes the didactic principles underlying the creation of a ready-made fifteen lesson plan package for primary CLIL (for Maths, Geography and Science) for pupils aged 5 to 12, developed through the collaboration of an international group of English and primary teachers, teacher educators, researchers and teaching materials developers across four European countries in the framework of the CLIL for Children (C4C) project (2015-2018) on educating teachers for CLIL teaching environments. These principles are presented in the framework of a brief state-of-the art discussion on the lack of ready-made teaching materials for CLIL, their importance for teacher development and quality teaching and learning in CLIL classrooms, and criteria they should conform to. The article proceeds by summarising the findings of two C4C surveys, one on best CLIL teaching practice through national reports of four European countries (Italy, Portugal, Poland and Romania) and the other on Open Educational Resources (OER) available for CLIL Maths, Science and Geography, as well as by drawing on C4C Guidelines. The article then demonstrates these principles in practice through a module of a three lesson plan sequence for CLIL Science on the topic “The World of Plants” by showing how language (vocabulary or content-specific terminology and language functions), specific communication skills, content and culture are integrated and developed through a child-centred, holistic (Brooks and Brooks), constructivist approach. Digital technologies are included as everyday learning processes for access to knowledge and playfulness in learning. Methodologies for active, experiential, discovery, problem solving and cooperative learning are foregrounded. The article further highlights how teacher cooperation and teacher identities (English and primary education teachers) as individuals with multilingual repertoires, expectations, and expertise are crucial for producing quality CLIL materials and resources.</abstract>

CLIL4CHILDREN: Teaching Materials for CLIL Lessons in Maths, Geography and Science for Primary School

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Speaking has been increasingly promoted in curricula, both nationally and internationally, as one of the major aims of foreign language teaching. However, the unique features of this skill make it the most challenging one to assess. Portuguese EFL teachers seem to be at odds with suitable assessment procedures designed to monitor students’ progress. This paper examines the rationale underlying some of the core concepts on educational classroom-based assessment, including their definitions and key characteristics, as well as briefly outlining the theoretical premises of the communicative competence model designed by Canale and Swain to suggest what may be assessed. It also focuses on a new approach to language assessment – learning-oriented assessment, by highlighting its twofold potential to be the link between instruction and what is learned and to promote effective student learning. The paper concludes with two different practical examples of how to assess speaking in the classroom with a learning-oriented perspective in mind.</abstract>

Assessing Speaking Proficiency: A Challenge for the Portuguese EFL Teacher

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper draws together a number of best practices identified over the course of the national ReCLes.pt CLIL project. Developed by Portuguese Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) associated in the Network Association of Language Centers in Higher Education in Portugal (ReCLes.pt, http://recles.pt), the project promoted pilot teacher training courses in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Ultimately, 33 CLIL course modules were implemented in six participating HEIs, impacting over 600 students. Over the course of three years to reach this initial long-term goal, the ReCLes.pt CLIL researchers collaborated to review the literature and work through the resulting debates. The resulting overarching course of action is reflected in the teaching manual, written collaboratively and published with the related data-gathering tools for the study partially funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. The best practices focused on in this article include promoting the perspective of FL learners as FL users, the practical implementation of communities of practice and learning, and the development of CLIL modules to include scaffolding and ICT.</abstract>

Some Lessons Learned: The ReCLes.pt CLIL Project in Higher Education

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Recent scientific studies have demonstrated the clear existence of brain sexual dimorphism, with distinct structural, chemical, genetic, hormonal and functional differences between the two sexes. In spite of the complexity of this theme and even though science acknowledges that many questions are still not answered, it is a fact today that the brain is a sexed organ. The differences between girls and boys regarding cognitive and emotional processing naturally have consequences in teaching-learning situations. Nevertheless, most teachers are not aware of these differences and their effects. Each group of students is not a selection of androgynous individuals, therefore differentiated strategies according to sex are an optimisation tool in teaching-learning situations, both in single-sex and co-ed contexts.</abstract>

Foreign Language Teaching in a Sexed Classroom

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Educational provisions, such as Early Bilingual Education (EBE) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), where curriculum content is learnt, taught and assessed through the means of an additional language, are not yet widespread in general primary and secondary education in Portugal. Knowing how to assess in such provisions, which have a dual focus on the mastering of language proficiency and content knowledge and skills, can be intricate. The first step towards building a rationale for soundly assessing language and content at early primary level in Portuguese schools needs to first understand how teachers working in EBE and CLIL education settings view assessment and what they do with it in the classroom. This article analyses the research findings of a small scale national research study conducted in Portugal in 2013/2014 on EBE and CLIL assessment beliefs, knowledge and practice on the part of teachers working in a national pilot on early bilingual education – the Bilingual Schools Project teachers (BSPT) and teachers working in similar provisions in private schools – the Non-Bilingual Schools Project teachers (NBSPT).</abstract>

Early Bilingual Education and Content and Language Integrated Learning Assessment in Primary Education: Assessment Beliefs, Knowledge and Practice in Portuguese State and Private Schools

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This article considers the reformulation of foreign language classes as spaces of cultural politics, dynamic social activism and holistic education, in order to enable schools, teachers and students to set the foundation for a more inclusive society. It starts by recognizing some of the challenges of the 21st century European context, addressing the need to explore new directions in the intercultural and plurilingual approaches in Foreign Language Education. Using Cultural Studies as a starting point, it will be argued that Gloria Anzaldúa's cultural, feminist, queer and linguistic concepts, with a focus on the crossing of different borders, the forging of relational strategies between groups, and a holistic view of the world, can contribute to current debates on interculturalism and plurilingualism, providing an alternative framework for educational practices that empower students from diverse backgrounds with self-knowledge and tolerance towards alterity.</abstract>

Foreign Language Education in the 21st European Context: Exploring New Directions in Intercultural and Plurilingual Approaches Using Anzaldúa’s Border Epistemology

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This article introduces a literacy programme based on a linguistic approach to teaching reading and writing across the curriculum, Reading to Learn (Rose, “Reading to Learn: Accelerating Learning”; Rose and Martin), with proven effectiveness for accelerating literacy development in both the L1 (e.g. Rose and Acevedo, among other studies) and for L2 in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and programmes. Underlying the pedagogy are powerful theories of language, educational psychology and sociology which are applied to text analysis, lesson preparation and classroom interaction around reading and writing. Teachers starting to use the pedagogy see immediate results in students’ engagement and learning, and the written texts they produce. The pedagogy is based on a functional analysis of a text from the curriculum – its structure and the way its language makes meaning in that subject-, and on scaffolding/ modelling the processes of reading and writing with the whole class. In this paper, we offer a brief presentation of some strategies from the R2L pedagogy, and provide examples of text analysis, teacher preparation and application in state bilingual schools in Spain.</abstract>

Reading and Writing to Learn: A Principled Approach to Practice in CLIL/Bilingual Classes

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Despite their alleged dual focus on content and language learning, CLIL classes are, more often than not, focused on meaning transmission and comprehension and promote an incidental approach to language learning. Yet, empirical evidence from second language acquisition research points out that a mere focus on meaning is not enough for learners to reach proficiency in the target language and some awareness of the linguistic form is necessary for language learning to occur. In order to foster simultaneous subject matter and foreign language learning, CLIL practitioners need to create opportunities for learners to notice the language of the content while performing content-related activities and tasks. We propose a series of pedagogical strategies to achieve this awareness of the form in the context of the CLIL class, drawing on empirical evidence from language learning research and our own experience as CLIL teachers and teacher trainers.</abstract>

Focus on Form in Content-Based Instruction: in Primary School Arts and Crafts CLIL

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper discusses the use of WebQuests as an activity to combine competencybased learning and digitalization in a CLIL context through social tasks. In the 21st century, people need to use the knowledge they acquire in multiple scenarios. Thus, the educational system must provide learning contexts where students develop competences so that they are able to apply the knowledge they need in a culturally heterogeneous world. Integrated learning advocates the use of social tasks in bilingual scenarios. In order to solve a problem or explore an issue while creating a specific learning product, students connect different types of knowledge and thus acquire a more contextualized perspective of learning as a socially relevant activity. This kind of learning can be perceived as a bridge between the students’ educational context and daily lives. The digitalization of education is crucial for understanding how society advances and works as many of the jobs that appear in the future will require digital literacy. In this paper, an example of a WebQuest in a CLIL class in Spain is presented as a model for competency-based learning and digitalization through a social task.</abstract>

Digital Competence and CLIL: The Use of WebQuests in Bilingual Education

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Recent growth in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) across educational levels in Portugal has positioned it in European Commission reports (Eurydice 2012; 2017) and attracted much needed attention to the educational practice which warrants further in-depth exploration in order to better understand it and ensure quality provision in the country. This article explores the concept of CLIL at work in Portugal and highlights its brief trajectory to date as well as the challenges and opportunities it presents teacher educators and researchers. It provides an overview of the recently established <italic>Working CLIL</italic> research strand of TEALS (Teacher Education and Applied Language Studies) which is actively engaged in connecting CLIL communities in Portugal and beyond.</abstract>

(Net)Working CLIL in Portugal

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an approach thought to provide, mainly during Content (non-language, subject) classes, a meaningful environment at school for the use and learning of a foreign language (FL), and may also improve conditions and practices of the specific subject. Moreover, CLIL can represent a research context to gauge the importance of language-aware teaching as is the case with the Portuguese “English Plus” project (EP), in which History and Science are taught/ learnt with/in English at lower secondary school. Our doctoral research is designed as a descriptive-explanatory case study on the EP project and its participants (English and Science teachers, former and current students). More specifically, this work focuses on students and shows their relationship with the EP approach and (dis)advantages in learning a subject with a FL. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and interview, with subsequent content analysis. The importance of “integrated learning” and of diverse strategies used by the teacher to support/scaffold learning is present in students’ perspectives which may further influence teaching practices</abstract>

What Students Tell Teachers about Practices that Integrate Subjects with English in a Lower Secondary School in Portugal

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Language and culture are interconnected and teaching a language should also be concerned with offering learners a wide range of opportunities to gain insights into other cultures. Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approaches have an invaluable contribution to make towards developing learners’ intercultural understanding (ICU), by making the content culturally relevant to the language of instruction. Within this paradigm, this paper presents the findings of an action-based research project seeking to develop ICU among secondary learners of French in England, through the teaching of a series of lessons following a CLIL approach. Stemming from its findings, it is proposed here that a renewed understanding of CLIL be defined, in which CLIL would stand for <bold>Content and Language Intercultural Learning.</bold> Within this framework, the <bold>content</bold> would be conceptualised through the lens of culture, to offer learners opportunities to compare and contrast experiences and viewpoints, to develop their cultural knowledge, as well as their <bold>intercultural skills and attitudes</bold> – by means of exposure, independent exploration and collaborative work. The <bold>language</bold>, still driven by the content, would encompass both the language of learning, and the language required through the learning processes - and would be language that is both accessible and cognitively challenging. <bold>Learning</bold> would occur through cognitively demanding content that is real, relevant and engaging, yet accessible to all.</abstract>

Developing Learners’ Intercultural Understanding through a CLIL Approach

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This article presents the results of a survey conducted in the Innovative University of Eurasia (InEU) about the necessity of implementing English as a medium of instruction (EMI) at the baccalaureate and master’s degree levels. It describes the findings obtained through semi open-ended questionnaires and interviews with two focus groups: InEU administration members and faculty representatives. The data collected suggest a rather positive general attitude of the respondents of both groups to English-medium instruction at the university, a special emphasis being made on the global status of English and internationalization of education. However, the majority of respondents raised concern about the impact of English-medium teaching on the quality of subject learning since it depends on an English proficiency level of both students and teachers and their motivation to study/teach in English. The survey data also indicate other important issues connected with teaching-in-English implementation at the university, such as finance, the pace of implementation, preparedness of students and teachers, support structures and incentives.</abstract>

English Medium-Instruction as a Way to Internationalization of Higher Education in Kazakhstan: An Opinion Survey in the Innovative University of Eurasia

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), an educational approach in which an additional language is used to teach school subjects, has become increasingly widespread within state schools across Europe since the acronym was coined in the mid-nineties. This now includes Portugal where CLIL activity across educational levels has been growing in recent years. Like other national contexts in Europe, this has also been through the grassroots initiatives of individual schools keen to influence positive change in educational practices and reap the benefits which CLIL is purported to bring about. One such case is the GoCLIL project at Escola Secundária Dr. Joaquim Gomes Ferreira Alves in Valadares, Vila Nova de Gaia, which has been operating a CLIL programme through English since the academic year 2013-2014. This article outlines fundamentals of implementing CLIL in schools and provides an overview of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the case. It uses data collected from questionnaires administered to teachers, pupils and parents, lesson observations, pupil focus groups, and teacher reflections obtained during the ongoing monitoring process led by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto. The data contribute to the rich description of the project from which it has been possible to identify and compare findings across years, as well as factors which have contributed to its sustainability. Insights gained from this case study will be interesting and potentially useful for schools which are considering setting up a project of this kind.</abstract>

Implementing CLIL in Schools: The Case of the GoCLIL Project in Portugal

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Understanding what the use of a coursebook implies is at the heart of any consideration of how ELT instruction in Portugal operates and, as such, should also be central to any pre-service teacher education. Since the curricular reorganization prompted by the ‘Bologna Process’, the Faculty of Letters, the University of Porto (FLUP) has included within its ‘Masters in English and other Foreign Language Teaching’ course (Mestrado em Ensino de Inglês e de Alemão / Francês / Espanhol no 3.º ciclo do Ensino Básico e no Ensino Secundário) an optional, one semester subject called the “Production of Didactic Materials”. This talk will demonstrate and discuss how, in this case, training student teachers to develop a criteria based framework for evaluating FL teaching materials, and applying that same framework, can be considered a way of re-focusing the traditionally, largely theoretical, lecture-based training courses typical of the Portuguese paradigm.</abstract>

Doing It by the Book: Training Student Teachers at the Faculty of Letters, the University of Porto (FLUP) to Evaluate English Language Teaching (ELT) Materials

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Research in the study of affect in L2 learning acknowledges that attention to the social dimension can ‘improve language teaching and learning’ and that negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, stress, anger or depression may compromise our learning potential, whereas positive emotions such as self-esteem and empathy can ease the language learning process (Arnold and Brown 1). For the majority of learners, the classroom environment should be a place which encourages interaction and minimises negative emotions such as anxiety, which could interfere with such interaction. This study seeks to describe episodes of humour during peer oral interaction which may help generate a positive social dimension amongst learners.</abstract>

Humour in Peer Interaction in the L2 Classroom

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e-TEALS

an e-journal of Teacher Education and Applied Language Studies

Financed by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects: UID/ELT/04097/2016; UID/ELT/04097/2019; UIDB/04097/2020 <A...

Financed by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects: UID/ELT/04097/2016; UID/ELT/04097/2019;...

e-TEALS

an e-journal of Teacher Education and Applied Language Studies

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