CASRI: Innovative Pedagogy Approaches
Research Project #1 –Chinese Language Development in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
Current endorsed research topics:
1.What language content and development comes naturally from working in a particular curriculum area, e.g. general science, at a particular age/grade level:
- The language of the content (Coyle’s ‘language for learning’)
- The in-room language needed for the teaching and assessing the learning (Coyle’s ‘language of learning’)
- The linguistic development affordances – the language forms and words/phrases available for concentrated work in order to develop linguistic competence in all skills more generally, beyond the specific topic
- What this concentrated language work would consist of.
2.How can language growth be taught, monitored and built upon effectively and efficiently in a CLIL program:
- What should the relationship be between CLIL content areas and developing knowledge of Chinese language?
- How should language be taught and assessed in a CLIL program?
- How much new language can CLIL students at (X) Level handle well over time?
- What constitutes progress in language development over time in a CLIL program?
- Where does understanding of Chinese language as a system (Language Awareness) fit in a CLIL program?
- How should Language Awareness be taught and assessed in a CLIL program?
3.How can CLIL learners be provided with accelerated and generative literacy development that enables active engagement with printed material in CLIL from the earliest opportunity?
- What is the nature of Orthographic Awareness (conceptual understanding of the Chinese writing system) that learners need to develop at different levels of schooling?
- What types of Orthographic Knowledge (knowledge of specific features within the character system, e.g. components, sides etc)?
- What types of classroom activity are most beneficial to developing Orthographic Awareness and Orthographic Knowledge?
- How can literacy development be integrated into ongoing reading and writing activity within CLIL units of work?
4.How can dedicated language teaching and learning be effectively scoped and sequenced in a CLIL context:
- Should there be a dedicated language and literacy strand to support CLIL?
- If so, should such a strand be introductory or run concurrently throughout the CLIL curriculum?
- What should the key components of a dedicated language awareness strand be?
- How might a CLIL Language Awareness strand (curriculum) vary from a mainstream (CSL) curriculum? Are there distinctive components of a CLIL Language Awareness curriculum that distinguishes it from CSL Curriculum?