Rick de Graaff

An Observation Tool for Effective L2 Pedagogy in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

In Europe, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is becoming a popular and widespread practice of immersion education. In the Netherlands, for example, over 90 secondary schools offer a CLIL strand. Most CLIL teachers, however, are nonnative speakers of the target language, and do not have a professional background in language pedagogy. How, then, can these teachers effectively contribute to the target language development and proficiency of their students? In this paper we will discuss the findings of a study carried out in three secondary schools offering CLIL. The purpose of the study was to observe and analyse effective CLIL teaching performance facilitating language development and proficiency. The analysis was carried out by means of an observation tool for effective CLIL teaching, based on the following principles from second language pedagogy: (1) exposure to input; (2) content-oriented processing; (3) form-oriented processing; (4) (pushed) output; and (5) strategic language use. We will discuss how the CLIL pedagogy observed is related to content-based teaching and task-based language teaching, and provide recommendations for effective language pedagogy in CLIL. We will argue that not only CLIL teachers can profit from effective language-pedagogical approaches, but that language teachers can profit from effective CLIL approaches and experiences as well.

Verbal interaction in Second Life: towards a pedagogic framework for task design

Within a European project on Networked Interaction in Foreign Language Acquisition and Research (NIFLAR), Second Life was used as a 3D virtual world in which language students can communicate synchronously with native speakers in the target language, while undertaking action together. For this context, a set of design principles for interaction tasks was developed aiming at maximizing authentic social interaction and intercultural awareness, while exploiting the specific affordances of the virtual environment being used. These design principles were applied and tested in a case study in which two foreign language learners of Spanish and two pre-service teachers carried out four interaction tasks in the virtual world of Second Life. In this article we first present and discuss the framework for task development and assessment. We then show the results of the case study conducted in Second Life which aimed at: (1) applying and assessing the design principles for task elaboration, (2) analyzing the kind of interaction the tasks elicited in the virtual world, (3) exploring whether the specific affordances of the virtual environment were adequately used for enhancing interaction, and (4) studying whether and how the condition anonymity versus familiarity may play a role in modeling virtual interaction.

CLIL in junior vocational secondary education: challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning

Abstract In many countries, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in secondary education, whether by default or design, focuses primarily on high-achieving students. This paper presents a study of CLIL programs for a different population: junior vocational students in the lower streams of secondary education in the Netherlands. On the basis of a context description of the highly streamed Dutch secondary education system and a literature review related to bilingual education for lower achievers and vocational CLIL, the paper examines the implementation of bilingual education programs at school and task level. More specifically, it describes the perceptions and motivation of junior vocational students and their teachers with respect to the organization and practice of vocational CLIL. As a result, the paper reports the successful linguistic, curricular, and pedagogical characteristics of bilingual education programs for this type of learner and summarizes the challenges and opportunities for CLIL in junior vocational education.

The development of community competence in the teacher education curriculum

Teachers are expected to frequently collaborate within teacher communities in schools. This requires teacher education to prepare student teachers by developing the necessary community competence. The present study empirically investigates the extent to which teacher education programmes pay attention to and aim to stimulate the development of community competence in the intended curriculum, the implemented curriculum and the attained curriculum. Various types of data are gathered and analysed in respect of these three curriculum representations. It appears that community competence is weakly conceptualised in the intended curriculum. In the implemented, and especially the attained curriculum, this results in no systematic and explicit practice in terms of the development of community competence.

Aspirations and assumptions: a researcher's account of pupil involvement in school-based research

This paper describes a research project conducted in collaboration with 10 ‘pupil co-researchers’ (PCRs) and their classes in a secondary school in the Netherlands. The main research tools employed were online and face-to-face group discussions, in which PCRs contributed as consultants, co-designers and assistants. The research proved a learning experience for both the adults and the young people involved and led to the collection of insightful qualitative data. Working collaboratively with pupils, however, presented a number of challenges. Ethical issues such as consent, inclusion and the pressure placed on pupils, and logistical challenges such as the availability of time and resources, were particularly prominent. Perhaps the most valuable challenge, however, was the opportunity that this research presented to the adult researcher to reflect upon the role played by her own assumptions when working with young people.

Teacher educators’ personal practical knowledge of language

Abstract This paper describes teacher educators’ understanding of language for classroom communication in higher education. We argue that teacher educators who are aware of their personal practical knowledge of language have a better understanding of their students’ language use and provide better support for knowledge construction. Personal practical knowledge originates from teachers’ professional practice and is based on their past experience, current awareness and future expectation. Data from focus group interviews with teacher educators (N = 35) were used for content analysis. Findings demonstrate an emerging conceptualization resulting in two language modalities of personal practical knowledge, specified as: ‘language-sensitive and interpersonally oriented’ and ‘language-focused and pedagogically oriented.’ The insights contribute to building a professional practical knowledge base of language and communication-oriented teaching.

The multi-feature hypothesis: Connectionist guidelines for L2 task design:

This study focuses on the effects of task type on the retention and ease of activation of second language (L2) vocabulary, based on the multi-feature hypothesis (Moonen, De Graaff, & Westhoff, 2006). Two tasks were compared: a writing task and a list-learning task. It was hypothesized that performing the writing task would yield higher retention and ease of activation of the target words than performing the list task. Translation tests and picture description tests were used to measure acquisition of the target vocabulary. Think-aloud protocols were used to study task performance. Results show that the writing group significantly outperformed the list group on both test types and on both direct and delayed tests. These findings are discussed in the light of task design characteristics and the issue of time on task.

Teacher educators’ conceptualization of ongoing language development in professional learning and teaching

Abstract Sociocultural and dialogic theories of education have identified the need to integrate both pedagogical content and language knowledge into teachers’ professional development to promote effective interaction with students about subject content. In this intervention study, a meta-perspective on language was developed to understand how experienced teacher educators (N = 29) conceptualize ongoing language development in professional learning and teaching (referred to as language-developing learning in this study) as part of their pedagogical content knowledge. The data were analysed using content analysis. Language-developing learning was mainly conceived as teacher-oriented professional development. In this process, the language aspect was regarded not only as a tool that applies regulatory and explanatory language but also as a target that connects academic knowledge and interpersonally oriented language. The results increase our awareness of teacher educators’ practical knowledge of academic and interpersonal language in specific disciplinary contexts of teacher professional development in higher education.

Motivation for or from bilingual education? A comparative study of learner views in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been said to increase not only foreign language proficiency but also learner motivation (Coyle, D., P. Hood, and D. Marsh. 2010. CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). In contexts where CLIL is elective, however, the question can be raised as to whether its motivational effects can be distinguished from the pre-existing motivation that may have influenced the learner’s choice of educational route. The current study examined motivational differences between learners in Dutch-English bilingual and mainstream education. The aim was to establish whether the learner groups were differently motivated and whether their motivation appeared to be diachronically related to their chosen educational format. 581 learners in the first three years of general secondary education completed a questionnaire exploring their views on (language) learning. Results were analysed in terms of differences between bilingual and mainstream learners and across year-groups. Learners in bilingual education displayed more motivation in nearly all of the areas examined. There was little evidence, however, of this being a result of exposure to bilingual education, reinforcing the idea that motivation may be inherent to this group of CLIL learners.

Virtual project rooms for education in engineering

Virtual project rooms (VPRs) may support collaborative project-based learning groups by facilitating project management, documentation and communication. In this study a set of experiments was carried out at Eindhoven University of Technology using the MS Outlook/Exchange software as a groupware platform for design-oriented group projects. The results of the questionnaires filled out at the end of the courses show that students are fairly positive about group work supported by groupware. The documentation function is appreciated most by the students, also for those groups who collaborate intensively in a face-to-face setting. The involvement of the tutor, the flexibility of the VPR and the technical performance of the groupware are important factors for the success of a VPR for group work.