Linguistics and Sociolinguistics of CLIL

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Pre-teaching period:

During the pre-teaching period, students will be required to complete reading that will be provided via LMS.

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject will review the linguistic and sociolinguistic issues involved in content-based programs including such issues as general vs specific purpose language, the language of the discipline (and the integral relationship between them) and of the classroom (including the language of instruction), discipline-specific terminology, and the conventions of writing in a discipline (including text structure and reporting). The subject will also refer to the notion of English as an international language, contextualisation, the nature of the language acquired by students in CLIL programs, and the effect of CLIL and learning through a second or foreign language on the first language, its development, possible domain losses, and the survival of the local language. It will also examine cultural issues in CLIL including issues involved in cross-cultural communication, the relevance of culture, the influence of culture on learning and on world view, ways of facilitating comprehension to promote learning of both content and language, the need for language support for the students, and the forms that such support might take. Reference will be made to the intellectual and cultural consequences of teaching through a second or foreign language and the relationship between culture, language, concepts and cognition and, in particular, the transfer of knowledge acquired through the second or foreign language to the first.

On completion of this subject, students should be able to demonstrate:

• understanding of the linguistic, sociolinguistic, cultural and cross-cultural issues that impinge on the success of courses taught through a second or foreign language
• awareness of the relationship between language, concepts and cognition
• understanding of the role of the first language, code switching, and bilingual dialogue
• understanding of the differences between the language of the everyday world and that of their particular discipline (e.g., science, mathematics or technology) and of how bridges may be built from the discipline- specific language to the everyday language
• understanding of the nature of discipline- specific terminology, text structure and oral and written conventions of discipline-specific language
• ability to identify and support the language needs of students who are learning through a second or foreign language, to facilitate their comprehension and learning of the content, and to help students developing their language through a discipline also to develop their general proficiency and their ability to communicate outside of their discipline

There are 3 graded assessment tasks

• Forum contributions (totalling 1500 words) due throughout the teaching period (30%)
• Essay (2500 words) due mid-subject (50%)
• Essay comments and response (totalling 1000 words) due late in the subject (20%)

This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 80% attendance at all tutorials, seminars and workshops.

Llinares, A., Morton, T., & Whittaker, R. (2012). The Roles of Language in CLIL. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Commitment to professional and academic ethics and excellence
• Ability to set personal targets and plan to achieve them
• Development of the students' ability to direct their own independent learning
• Ability to discuss their discipline area in appropriate English and to communicate it to students
• Ability to read critically and present material concisely and coherently in written and oral presentations relevant
• Skills in observing teaching, evaluating it and applying their findings to their own teaching situations
• Skills in reflecting upon, evaluating and developing their own teaching
• Ability to develop pedagogical strategies appropriate to their teaching situation (in CLIL)
• Reflect critically on their teaching, program planning and/or the management of relevant educational programs
• Understand and apply principles of teaching, assessment and evaluation
• awareness of the nature and implications of the global role of English and the impact that English and learning through English can have on the students' first language.