Session Information
10 SES 09 A, Teacher Knowledge, Perception and Competence
Paper Session
Contribution
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an educational approach where some curricular content is taught integratively with a foreign language to students participating in some form of mainstream education aiming at the acquisition of both content and the foreign language language (Dalton-Puffer, 2011). Despite not being a completely new approach, since its appearance, CLIL has been implemented around Europe and in all educational levels (Eurydice, 2017). However, CLIL implementation has been quicker than the research on the impact of this approach on the teaching and learning process (Cenoz, Genesee, & Gorter, 2014).
Nevertheless, the main threat for CLIL implementation and sustainability is the lack of qualified teachers within this approach (Eurydice, 2017). The MIF report states the implementation of CLIL was not accompanied by the necessary CLIL training in initial teacher education programmes (Grup de treball d’Anglès del Programa MIF, 2016). This lack of training has been partially the cause of the lack of sustainability of CLIL projects in some schools, as well as the less positive impact on students’ learning (Fernández-Sanjurjo, Fernández-Costales, & Arias-Blanco, 2017). Several studies have arrived to the conclusion that CLIL teachers present considerable training needs, especially in terms of language and methodology (Durán-Martínez & Beltrán-Llevador, 2017; Pérez-Cañado, 2014). Additionally, the evidences seems to indicate that teachers need time to get use to these approach (Durán-Martínez, Beltrán-Llavador, & Martínez-Abad, 2016; Lo & Macaro, 2015). Other studies reported that there is a gap between what is considered a good CLIL practice and the pedagogies CLIL teachers use (Kampen, Admiraal, & Berry, 2016). Frequently, CLIL methodology has been aligned with the characteristics of good pedagogy, indicating that future teachers should receive CLIL training regardless that they will teach through an additional language in the future or not (Nikula, Dafouz, Moore, & Smit, 2016).
Due to the importance of initial teacher education in the future development, as well as CLIL expansion, it is necessary to train the teachers within this approach so that they can develop the teacher competences that allow them to face CLIL teaching and learning. Some previous studies have proposed what competences CLIL teachers should develop, such as the Methodological, Classroom Management, Language, Assessment and Project Management competences (Bertaux, Coonan, Frigols-Martín, & Mehisto, 2009; Marsh, Mehisto, Wolff, & Frígols-Martín, 2012). However, for these competences to be developed, teacher education must adopt a competence-based approach. That is, the teaching and learning process should: a) integrate learning and assessment activities that are contexualised and allow the mobilization of different types of knowledge (conceptual, procedural and attitudinal); b) promote students’ active role in their learning process; c) use active methodologies (PBL, case studies…); guide the learning so that s/he can be more autonomous; and, e) use different assessment strategies and instruments, as well as to involve different assessors (Cano, 2015).
The aim of this communication is to analyse how the competence-based approach impacts on pre-service teachers’ perception of their development of CLIL teacher competences. For this reason, the following research questions (RQ) are established:
RQ1: Does the competence-based approach affect pre-service teachers’ perceived level of competence?
RQ2: Does pre-service teachers’ perceived level of competence change over time?
Method
The study presented here is part of a Doctoral Thesis. This PhD has to main objectives: 1. To identify the training needs of Catalan primary teachers relative to CLIL teaching and learning. 2. To design, implement and evaluate a teacher education proposal for pre-service teachers. The results presented in this communication are relative to this second objective. The implementation of the proposal is carried out in three different subjects from the double degree of infant and primary education from the University of XXX: XXX (1st course, 2nd semester; academic course 2016/2017); XXX (2nd course, 1st semester; academic course 2017/2018) and XXX (2nd course, 2nd semester; academic course 2017/2018). These subjects were selected because they were taught in English and were consecutive. Therefore, the pre-service students’ development of CLIL competences could be studied over time. The participants were 40 pre-service teachers (38 women, 2 men) enrolled in this degree (there is only one group per year). The participants’ average age is 18.6 years old. For most of them, it is their first time at university and these are their first higher education studies. The objective of the implementation of the programme design was to evaluate the impact of the competence-based approach on the development of CLIL teacher competences. For this, in order to analyse the competence development of the experimental group and associate this development to the competence-based approach, two control groups were selected for each subject. The control groups had the same teaching plan, but the teachers and the teaching language were different: the experimental group was taught in English and the control ones either Catalan or Spanish. Additionally, the control groups did not use a competence-based approach. To analyse the competence development, several strategies and instruments were used: - Self-perception of competence development questionnaire (pre- and post-test). - Learning and assessment activities. - Marks. For the purpose of this communication, the results of the self-perception of competence development questionnaire will be presented. This questionnaire consisted of different items, which were linked to the competences analysed, that had to be rated with a 10-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was administered during the first and last lesson of each course. Students answered the questionnaire in class through a google forms. The results of this instrument were analysed descriptively and inferentially using the software package SPSS 22.
Expected Outcomes
As for the first research question, the results of the first course show that the starting point was different for each group since there was a main effect of competence x group (F(2)=8.219, p<.001, η2=.136). This difference was significant for the experimental and the control group 2. It is worth noting that the pre-service teachers tended to perceive that their level of competence was similar for all the subjects at the beginning of the course. This result may indicate that teacher students were not aware of their starting point or what each item of the questionnaire implied. However, at the end, the results of the post-test show a partially different situation. While the experimental group still perceives that their competence level is higher than the control groups’ one, the significant differences can only be found for the methodological competence (F(2,91)=1.855, p=.031, η2=.85) and language (F(2,91)= 5.007, p=.009, η2=.79) and content knowledge (F(2,91)=.4.256, p=.017, η2=.82). Interestingly, the findings show that the students do not have a homogeneous perception of their competence level, but it varies depending on the competence. The preliminary results of the second course show a similar scenario in which the students in the experimental group benefit of the competence-based approach and their learning is not neglected by the teaching language. However, until the end of the experience (May 2018), it will not be possible to provide a clear answer to the second research question and draw some general conclusions. Overall, the already available results seem to indicate that the experience has a positive impact on the development of the competences associated to CLIL teachers. If these results are confirmed in all three courses, there will be more evidences to confirm the need to focus CLIL teacher education on a competence-based approach.
References
Bertaux, P., Coonan, C. M., Frigols-Martín, M. J., & Mehisto, P. (2009). The CLIL Teacher’s Competences Grid. Retrieved from http://cclleu.eu/cms02/fileadmin/daten/Dateien/Konferenzen/THE_CLIL_TEACHER_latest_version.pdf Cano, E. (2015). Evaluación por competencias en educación superior. Madrid: La Muralla. Cenoz, J., Genesee, F., & Gorter, D. (2014). Critical Analysis of CLIL: Taking Stock and Looking Forward. Applied Linguistics, 35(3), 243–262. http://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt011 Dalton-Puffer, C. (2011). Content-and-Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 182–204. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190511000092 Durán-Martínez, R., Beltrán-Llavador, F., & Martínez-Abad, F. (2016). A contrastive analysis between novice and expert teachrs’ perceptions of school bilingual programmes. Cultura Y Educación, 28(4), 738–770. http://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2016.1237339 Durán-Martínez, R., & Beltrán-Llevador, F. (2017). Key issues in teachers’ assessment of primary education bilingual program in Spain. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. http://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1345851 Eurydice. (2017). Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe – 2017 Edition. Luxembourg. Retrieved from https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/images/0/06/KDL_2017_internet.pdf Fernández-Sanjurjo, J., Fernández-Costales, A., & Arias-Blanco, J. M. (2017). Analysing students’ content-learning in science in CLIL vs. non-CLIL programmes: empirical evidence from Spain. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. http://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1294142 Grup de treball d’Anglès del Programa MIF. (2016). La Formació Inicial de Mestres a Catalunya en Relació a l’Anglès: Estat de la Qüestió i Propostes de Futur. Barcelona. Retrieved from http://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/led/sites/grupsderecerca.uab.cat.led/files/16_Escobar et al_Informe MIF.pdf Kampen, E. Van, Admiraal, W., & Berry, A. (2016). Content and language integrated learning in the Netherlands teachers self reported pedagogical practices. International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. http://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1154004 Lo, Y. Y., & Macaro, E. (2015). Getting used to content and language integrated learning: what can classroom interaction reveal? The Language Learning Journal, 43(3), 239–255. http://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2015.1053281 Marsh, D., Mehisto, P., Wolff, D., & Frígols-Martín, M. J. (2012). European Framework for CLIL Teacher Education. A framework for the professional development of CLIL teachers. Encuentro, 21, 39. Retrieved from http://clil-cd.ecml.at/EuropeanFrameworkforCLILTeacherEducation/tabid/2254/language/en-GB/Default.aspx Nikula, T., Dafouz, E., Moore, P., & Smit, U. (2016). Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Pérez-Cañado, M. L. (2014). Teacher training needs for bilingual education: in-service teacher perceptions. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 50(December), 1–30. http://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2014.980778
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