“Bilingual learning”: A buzzword or a substantial approach to effective learning in high schools?
Author(s):
Albert Düggeli Urs Lauer
Conference:
ECER 2010
Network:
27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Format:
Paper

Session Information

27 SES 09 B, Learning and Teaching Foreign Language

Paper Session

Time:
2010-08-27
08:30-10:00
Room:
M.B. SALI 12, Päärakennus / Main Building
Chair:
Bernard Schneuwly

Contribution

In Europe, bilingual subject-matter teaching - defined as "any dual-focused educational context in which an additional language, thus not usually the first language of the learners involved, is used as a medium in the teaching and learning of non-language content” (CLIL Compendium, 2009) - is booming even if the consensus about the real meaning of buzz-words, ranging from "total immersion" to "CLIL", seems to be somewhat shady. Likewise, the methodology of the learning / teaching arrangements can hardly be said to be based on a common theoretical concept (Zydatiss, 2007; Wildhage & Otten, 2003). In spite of such shortcomings, a whole range of studies (wbz, 2009; Bürgi, 2008; Hollenweger et al. 2005; Finkbeiner, 2003) have claimed the benefits of bilingual subject-matter teaching for quite a number of years. Apart from clearly heightened foreign language performance due to meaningful contents these seem to be the students' heightened motivation, their more elaborate cross-cultural sensitivity, a clearer link between instructed language teaching and its everyday, out-of-school use, the enhancement of autonomous learning and a goal-oriented development of concepts, understanding and utterance, henceforth also an improvement of the students' self-concepts and their notions of learning.The 2009 research project focused on the bilingual classrooms of a Swiss high school. The goal of the study was to show the kind of impact of bilingual subject-matter teaching on the students' language performance, on their attitude towards learning, and on their self-concepts as language learners and as students in the three bilingually taught subjects geography, biology, and chemistry. As the research project included three test intervals it was furthermore intended to examine possible changes of this impact after a didactic intervention (concept maps) in each of the three subjects.

Method

Based on a quasi-experimental design (no randomization) an experimental group (bilingual (L2) subject matter instruction) and a control group (monolingual (L1) subject matter instruction) of 87 Swiss high school students each, aged approximately 15 to 18, were evaluated according to both their foreign language performance (productive and receptive competences: Cambridge ESOL level C1 or B2) and the transformation respecting factors of their learner-self, for example motivation, self-concepts or self-efficacy (ANOVA; two factors, repeated measures).

Expected Outcomes

The findings pointed out positive impacts on the different groups' affinity to languages in general, and language learning (social/emotional indicators). In addition, indications of a different motivational system (intrinsic – extrinsic) were found between the experimental and the control group. Based on the core results, it will be discussed to what extend bilingual classes need a specific didactic setting, and that they need specific curricula: what can these look like? How do they fit into the culture of a whole school in which there is only one stream of bilingual classes?

References

Bürgi, H. (2008). Im Sprachbad. Besseres Englisch durch Immersion. Bern: hep Verlag. CLIL Compendium (2009) from: http://www.clilcompendium.com, October 28,2009. Finkbeiner, C. (2003) Bilingualer Unterricht: Lehren und Lernen in zwei Sprachen. Braunschweig: Schroedel. Hollenweger, J., Maag Merki, K., Stebler, R., Prusse, M. & Roos, M. (2005). Schlussbericht Evaluation "Zweisprachiger Ausbildungsgang an Mittelschulen". Zürich: ARGE bilingual (Uni Zürich, Päd. Institut; Uni und ETH Zürich; ZHSF Zürich; PHZH. wbz forum cps (eds.) (2009). Immersives Unterrichten. Bern:hep-Verlag. Wildhage M., Otten, E. (eds.) (2003). Praxis des bilingualen Unterrichts. Berlin: Cornelsen Scriptor. Zydatiss, W. (2007). Deutsch-englische Züge in Berlin (DEZIBEL). Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang.

Author Information

Albert Düggeli
PH (FHNW), Basel
ISEK I & II
Basel
Urs Lauer
PH FHNW
Basel

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