Implementation of CLIL approach to legal English courses

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Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIL APPROACH TO LEGAL ENGLISH COURSES

Artsyshevska A.L., Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor,

Hrynya N.O., Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor

Kuznetsova L.R. Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor

Annotation

The article deals with a newly implemented method of teaching a foreign language which is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Content and language integrated learning has become the trendy approach of bilingual education. In recent years, CLIL is gaining more importance across Europe and Ukraine as well in terms of number of educational establishments implementing it and in numbers of related studies done in this field. The term scaffolding has been overviewed and analyzed. An important fact about CLIL is that it combines both language and subject teaching. Students do not just study a foreign language, but use it to study subject related authentic content. The article also deals with such important task as the lesson planning process which is of vital importance for the successful development of the class. CLIL has profound methodological implications in terms of planning, teaching strategies and particularly on the teacher's role. CLIL lesson is supposed to require a precise and extensive preparation. Six stages of the effective CLIL planning and the 4Cs framework developed by Coyle have been analyzed and researched. Moreover, CLIL planning requires a change of the traditional concepts of the lesson planning and the authors consider the urgent problems concerning CLIL in Ukraine in this article. Realising difficulties of CLIL implementation at a university level, the authors of this article try to investigate the ways of possible implementation of CLIL approach to Legal English courses. Developing appropriate CLIL plans or adapting existing ones require three core competences: competence in a target language, target subject and CLIL methodology. The results prove that looking at the issue from a broader perspective brings us to the conclusion that, if there is a proper development of legal and regulatory framework for CLIL implementation in Ukrainian higher educational establishments, there will not be any problems for teachers interested in applying CLIL theoretical basis to the existing experience and realising enormous perspectives this approach yields to the educational system.

Key words: Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), CLIL approach, bilingual education, scaffolding, lesson planning.

Анотація

ВПРОВАДЖЕННЯ ПІДХОДУ CLIL ДО ЮРИДИЧНИХ АНГЛІЙСЬКИХ КУРСІВ

Арцишевська А. Л. кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри іноземних мов для гуманітарних факультетів Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка Львів, Україна

Гриня Н. О. кандидат філологічних наук, доцент кафедри іноземних мов для гуманітарних факультетів Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка Львів, Україна

Кузнецова Л. Р. кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри іноземних мов для гуманітарних факультетів Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка Львів, Україна

Стаття стосується нещодавно впровадженої методики викладання іноземної мови - інтегрованого навчання за змістом та мовою (CLIL). Комплексне навчання за змістом та мовою є одним із сучасних підходів до двомовної освіти. Останніми роками CLIL набуває все більшого значення в Європі та Україні, а також з точки зору кількості навчальних закладів, що впроваджують цю методику, та кількості відповідних досліджень, проведених у цій галузі. Термін “scaffolding” було розглянуто та проаналізовано. Важливим фактом щодо CLIL-підходу є те, що він поєднує у собі викладання мови та навчальних предметів. Студенти не просто вивчають іноземну мову, а використовують її для вивчення автентичного змісту. У статті також порушується таке важливе завдання, як процес планування заняття, який має життєво важливе значення для успішного його проведення. У CLIL є глибокі методологічні напрацювання з планування стратегій викладання, в якому особливо приділяється увага ролі викладача в аудиторії. Заняття CLIL вимагає точної та всебічної підготовки. Проаналізовано та досліджено шість етапів ефективного планування занять за методикою CLIL. Більше того, у статті зазначається, що ці планування вимагають зміни традиційних концепцій планування занять, і в цій статті автори розглядають нагальні проблеми, що стосуються CLIL в Україні. Усвідомлюючи труднощі впровадження CLIL на університетському рівні, автори цієї статті намагаються дослідити шляхи можливої реалізації підходу CLIL на курсах юридичної англійської мови. Розробка відповідних планів CLIL або адаптація наявних вимагає трьох основних компетенцій: компетентність у володінні матеріалу рідною мовою, цільова тема та методологія CLIL. Якщо розглянути проблему з ширшого ракурсу, ми дійдемо висновку, що, якщо буде належним чином розроблена правова та нормативна база для впровадження CLIL в українських вищих навчальних закладах, не буде проблем для викладачів, що зацікавлені у застосуванні теоретичної бази CLIL та наявного досвіду та реалізації величезних перспектив цього підходу в освітню систему.

Ключові слова: навчання за змістом та мовою (CLIL), CLIL-підхід, двомовна освіта, планування заняття.

Problem statement

The foundation of the EU set forward a number of issues necessary to be solved in order to create a community of citizens with equal opportunities. The present days are highly dynamic and rapidly changing, so teaching and learning of foreign languages would necessarily adapt to these changes. The aim of education should not only broaden a cultural horizon of a man, but also provide an opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills required by an international labour market. The basic communication competences include the ability to use and communicate at least in one of internationally used languages; therefore, teaching of at least one foreign language should become a common and essential part of basic education. The condition for achieving this ability within education is the need for the introduction of integrated approaches in the process of language learning/teaching. Ideas and recommendations expressed in these documents promote new language teaching methods, encourage pedagogical experiments at all levels of education, recognise the importance of life-long language learning, and foster other activities. A newly implemented method of teaching a foreign language is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) which is considered to be a suitable and effective method because the content of non-language subject is presented by the target foreign language.

Content and language integrated learning has become the trendy approach of bilingual education. In recent years, CLIL is gaining more importance across Europe and Ukraine as well in terms of number of educational establishments implementing and in numbers of related studies done in this field. CLIL as well as any other approach is specific for educational and specific methodological principles. It is a tool in promoting learner understanding of a foreign language. It is one of the crucial added-value propositions of bilingual education: rather than a simplistic approach to teaching in a foreign language, there is an emphasis on the integration of subject and language learning. CLIL is paid special attention including the support for the development of subject teachers' foreign language (FL) skills so that they are able to instruct in a FL as well as improving FL teachers' professional training to make them capable of teaching non-language disciplines [11]. Learner-centred approach, as CLIL is regarded to be, belongs to the active learning methods because teachers act as facilitators and all the work involvement and thinking is put on learners. Work in pairs and groups lowers learners' distress of failure and, on the other hand, develops the motivation and the co-operative work helps to achieve language, content and learning outcomes. Active learning efficiency was proved in many researches among which we can mention that of Rotgans and Schmidt, who investigated how situational interest developed over time and how it was related to academic achievement in an active-learning classroom [8, p. 58-67].

Recent research and publications

David Marsh is considered to be among the first researchers in his attempt to analyze CLIL experience and prospects for its development in Europe in his book “CLIL/ EMILE: The European Dimension: Actions, Trends and Foresight Potential” [5]. The book consists of papers written by European CLIL professionals in this field comprising positive examples of using CLIL at schools and universities, and practical suggestions and theoretical guidelines for further development of this teaching method. In this book CLIL is overviewed in different dimensions and from a linguistic point of view. The works of the prominent scientists such as D. Coyle, P. Hood, D. Marsh, M. Sepesiova, Wolff are considered to be the ground material of the researched topic.

The purpose of the article

The main purpose of this article is to research the newly introduced and implemented method of teaching a foreign language - Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), its perspectives in higher education system of Ukraine.

Presentation of the main material

It is obvious that CLIL gives teachers an opportunity to develop all language skills and allows students to acquire both language and communicative competences. Studying in a foreign language is a demanding task even more challenging and time-consuming though is creative and critical. CLIL methodology enhances systematic building on a learners' previous knowledge that is possible when scaffolding is applied. The term scaffolding was originally used to refer to teacher talk that supports students in carrying out activities and helps them to solve problems. Examples include simplifying tasks by breaking them down into smaller steps, keeping pupils focused on completing the task by reminding them of what the goal is, showing other ways of doing tasks. Scaffolding also includes support strategies for writing. Scaffolding is a temporary support which is gradually taken away so that learners can eventually work without it. It provides the support learners need “to take another step forward and not just coast in comfort” [6, p. 29].

An important fact about CLIL is that it combines both language and subject teaching. Students do not just study a FL, but use it to study subject related authentic content. So teachers, practising CLIL, rely not only on language teaching methods, but also apply didactic instruments used in subject instruction such as analysis of tables, diagrams, maps and/or studying authentic sources [12]. In fact, it is more correct to call CLIL not a teaching method but a general approach to instruction which provides effective FL learning. In his attempt to define CLIL, Phill Ball (2017) makes reference to the opinions of different scholars on the matter and underlines such vital characteristics of CLIL as a dual-focus teaching and simultaneousness of the achievement of these goals. Moreover, he identifies two groups of teachers using CLIL: those who lean towards language learning goals, while others favour subject teaching [1].

The lesson planning process is of vital importance for the successful development of the class [9]. Not many teachers enter a classroom without some kind of plan. Lesson plans are systematic records of a teacher's thoughts about what will be covered during a lesson. To be prepared to implement CLIL into the teaching, the theoretical background has to be transformed into practice. It includes not only partial planning of the lessons but rather a long chain of steps for this approach to be efficient. Above all it requires effective planning and usage of alternative ways, patience, professional support and a great amount of time. All lesson plans must have measurable objectives. CLIL has profound methodological implications in terms of planning, teaching strategies and particularly on the teacher's role. Indeed, these factors may decide upon the successful or unsuccessful final result of a CLIL lesson. CLIL lesson requires a precise and extensive preparation. First, the teacher has to decide in great detail which content is going to be taught and also has to define the English parts of the lessons [10].

Coyle, Hood and Marsh divide a process-oriented method required for effective CLIL planning into six stages:

1. Concept of CLIL. When the idea of CLIL implementation to a school occurs it is necessary to set up a team of language teachers, subject teachers and school management to conduct ideas and visions and jointly agree on overall goals. By drawing on the concept of planning, Coyle shows that priority is to reach goals through discussion and brainstorming; these goals might “increase learner engagement” [4, p. 50] or “develop confident learners who use the CLIL language spontaneously in a range of settings” [4, p. 50].

2. CLIL in context. Once the vision has been completed focus should switch to practice implication. The author recommends consideration of special needs a particular institution has, either it is a location of school, its specialization regional and national policies, and type of institution. Above-mentioned issues play an important role in determining the type of CLIL appropriate for different context.

3. Planning a unit. This stage describes the 4C's conception for planning a lesson, which should be a core of every CLIL lesson. 4 C's stands for: Content, Communication, Cognition, and Culture. The 4 Cs framework developed by Coyle is the key principle for lesson planning as well as material planning. The model consists of four main components and its integrative nature “offers a sound theoretical and methodological foundation for planning CLIL lesson” [7, p. 3]. For a lesson to be successful all four components should be combined.

4. Preparing a unit. Once the teaching objectives and outcomes have been decided upon all the experience acquired in traditional teaching has to be combined with the methodology of CLIL approach in order to achieve these aims.

5. Evaluation and monitoring. The importance of this stage lies in understanding the process of teaching in the classroom and the ability of the teacher to use observed acumens for future lesson planning.

6. CLIL community. Discussion of ideas and experience provides support while dealing with new challenges and difficulties [4, p. 49-70].

Planning a CLIL lesson might be a challenge for a teacher in early stages and so it is recommended to prepare for a lesson intensively and not to overload one in order to achieve perfection. “As confidence grows and as issues from specific contexts are addressed, then those involved become better prepared to explore tensions between visions or ideals and the realities of classroom contexts” [4, p. 48].

A CLIL lesson is supposed to be not a language lesson neither is it a subject lesson transmitted in a foreign language. The 4Cs framework developed by Coyle is the key principle for lesson planning as well as material planning. The model consists of four main components and its integrative nature “offers a sound theoretical and methodological foundation for planning CLIL lesson” [7 p. 3]. For a lesson to be successful all four components should be combined. According to Coyle, 4Cs represents:

Content - subject with its themes and topics and “acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding” [3, p. 5]. Students consequently should learn facts not through the theoretical information but rather from practice reinforced by theory.

Communication - learning of a language is supported by communication but emphasis is put on language as a tool for communication. Accuracy does not interfere with fluency, although present [3, p. 5]. Whilst rich input is a vital quality a CLIL lesson is manifested when the student is in the centre of the learning process.

Cognition - in CLIL cognition does not mean simple transfer of information from a teacher to a learner or memorizing offered knowledge. It rather involves higher order thinking skills, and encourages learners to develop personal ways of understanding [3, p. 5].

Culture - or awareness of cultural aspects obliges learners to broaden their knowledge about other unknown cultures. Cultural differences help students to choose appropriate language in culture related situations [3, p. 5].

In a CLIL lesson, all four language skills should be combined. Furthermore, teaching aims or objectives and learning outcomes for both language and content should be considered. By teaching objectives' we encounter information and knowledge teachers intend to teach. Objectives are described as brief, clear statements that describe the desired learning outcomes of instruction; i.e., the specific skills, values, and attitudes students should exhibit that reflect the broader goals. Learning outcomes, on the other hand, identify what the learner will know and be able to do by the end of a lesson. Bentley (2009) proposes learning outcomes, should be measurable and achievable at the same time, to help the teachers as well as learners to have a clear idea of what goals are to be achieved. Coyle claims that it is crucial to reflect in CLIL lesson that the content of the topic guides the language [3, p. 4]. Moreover, two important factors should be remembered: teaching objectives and learning outcomes.

CLIL planning requires a change of the traditional concepts of the lesson planning. The urgent problems in Ukraine seem to be the following:

- The majority of teachers working on CLIL programs are not adequately trained.

- Most current CLIL programs are experimental.

- Subject teachers may be unwilling to take on the responsibility.

- CLIL is based on language acquisition, but in monolingual situations.

- There is little evidence to suggest that understanding of content is not reduced by lack of language competence.

Realising difficulties of CLIL implementation at a university level, there are factors in Ukrainian education system still encouraging pedagogical experiments in creating such courses. One of them is a vital necessity to find ways to accomplish state educational standards in FL acquisition within the deficiency of academic hours assigned for studying this subject. The goal of such disciplines is to develop a FL competence so that on the completion of the course students should be able to read and understand professional texts and to communicate on professional topics. Such a goal seems to be very difficult to achieve within the time allocated for the course and poor professional competence of the students at the beginning of their studies. However, there are compulsory subjects in the curriculum which are closely connected with FL: “History of Foreign Countries' State and Law”, “Constitutional Law of Foreign Countries”, “International Law”, and some others. These courses are taught in different years of studies; thus, introducing CLIL parts or sections within these courses enables students to develop and improve their FL skills during the whole period of instruction. For example, such topics as “The Legislative/Executive/Judicial branch of power of countries of the studied language” are almost always included in the “Foreign Language in the sphere of jurisprudence” syllabus [11]. As it was mentioned above, the current state educational standard goals are directed towards the formation of general cultural, general professional and professional competences. So developing and introducing CLIL courses into the educational process will intensify and improve the process. Syllabi analysis conducted from a CLIL point of view will provide a list of topics which can be taught in a FL. CLIL can help to achieve not only the goal of speaking one or more foreign languages, but also to develop general and professional communicative competences.

Conclusions

Returning to the beginning it is possible to state that one out of the most significant aspects affecting CLIL lesson planning is preparing for education process which requires appropriate training in CLIL method along with appropriate language qualification. Upon these two aspects, which function as pillars, one can possibly build a CLIL lesson with all its necessities. Teaching subject-field language is conducted in ESP classes and is a hard and many-sided process, where both participants - students and teachers - should follow certain rules.

Successful results are possible only through mutual cooperation. On the one hand, to develop students' skills of subject-field English in all its aspects, a good command in vocabulary including terminology plays a significant role. On the other hand, knowledge of subject-field vocabulary seriously influences the knowledge of English in general. The more words and terms the students know, the more secure they feel in expressing professional ideas, the more successful they are in subject-field communication.

Even though a wide choice of prepared plans and activities are available online, teachers who are unfamiliar with CLIL methodology have problems using the activities and tasks correctly. The main difficulty could be summarized as a not effective use of methods and organizational forms. Teachers also need to use more activating methods aimed at students' autonomy and natural desire to explore through language. Teachers with lack of training also fail to accept a new role of “a facilitator of the learning process” and habitually put them to the role of a controller. Developing appropriate CLIL plans or adapting existing ones require three core competences: competence in a target language, target subject and CLIL methodology. Nevertheless, the language competence could be possibly improved with appropriate language courses aimed especially for teachers of CLIL. Further possible problems could be also eliminated by better cooperation with a language teacher. Ensuring language competence is tremendous in CLIL teaching. Lastly, knowledge of methodology for integrating both language and content is at the top of all competencies. Simply understanding how CLIL works can give teachers the necessary knowledge of how to prepare CLIL lessons to achieve global goals.

Looking at the issue from a broader perspective brings us to the conclusion that, if there is a proper development of legal and regulatory framework for CLIL implementation in Ukrainian higher educational establishments, there will not be any problems for teachers interested in applying CLIL theoretical basis to the existing experience and realising enormous perspectives this approach yields to the educational system. Moreover, CLIL can help to achieve not only the goal of speaking one or more foreign languages, but also to develop general and professional communicative competences which is of tremendous importance.

References

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2. Bentley K. The TKT (teaching knowledge test) course: CLIL, Content and language integrated learning module. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, published in collaboration with Cambridge ESOL, 2010. ISBN 05-211-5733-1.

3. Coyle D. CLIL. Planning Tools for Teachers. University of Nottingham. 2005. URL: http://www. unifg.it/sites/default/files/allegatiparagrafo/ 20-012014/coyle_clil_planningtool_kit.pdf.

4. Coyle D., Hood P., & Marsh D. The CLIL Tool Kit: Transforming theory into practice. 2014. URL: http://www.unifg.it/sites/default/files/alle- gatiparagrafo/2001-2014/coyle_hood_marsh_ clil_toolkit_pp_48-73.pdf.

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6. Mehisto P., Marsh D., & Frigols J.M. Uncovering CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Bilingual and Multilingual Education. Oxford: Macmillan Education. 2008. ISBN 978-0-230-02719-0.

7. Perez M. & S. Ramiro S. CLIL Lesson Planning in Primary Education: a case study. University of Almeria. 2010. URL: http://www.tesolspain. org/uploaded_files/files/CLIL%20Lesson% 20Planning%20in%20Primary%20Education% 20a%20case%20study.pdf.

8. Rotgans J.I., & Schmidt H.G. Situational interest and academic achievement in the active-learning classroom. Learning and Instruction, 2011. No. 21(1).

9. Salaberri Ramiro S. & Sanchez Pйrez M. `CLIL Lesson Planning.' / In Martinez Agudo J. Teaching and Learning English trough Bilingual Education. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Newcastle, 2012. Chapter 4.

10. Sepesiova Michaela. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 291103074.

11. Vyushkina E. URL: https://www.researchgate. net/publication/323089426_CLIL_Approach_ to_Legal_English_Courses_Analysis_of_Prac- tice_and_Experience.

12. Wolff D. On the importance of CLIL in the context of the debate on plurilingual education in the European Union. / In. D. Marsh (Ed.), CLIL/ EMILE the European Dimension - Action, Trends, Foresight Potential. 2002. Pp. 47-49. Jyvдskylд: University of Jyvдskylд.

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