Reflection about Assessment forms

12th Jan Minor TEA 2021

Ping Dai

I received 3 assessment forms from 4 mentors. Here is my reflection.

Professional Attitude:
It was all sufficient and good. I have a good professional attitude in internships. I made lesson
plans and discussed with mentors and adjust my planning each week.

Subject Matter Expertise:

It was all sufficient and good. But there is still room for improvement. I have to be more confident
and voice it out.

Didactic Expertise:
The mentor from the reception class in ISB pointed out some I need to improve. The other two
teachers from group 7 in Dutch schools gave me all-sufficient and good.
I think I behaved differently in different age groups. That is why some said I am very good, but
the others said I am not good enough. I still prefer older students.
I have to pay attention to class management, differentiation, linking theories with practice.

Pedagogical Expertise:
The mentor from the reception class in ISB pointed out some I need to improve. The other two
teachers from group 7 in Dutch schools gave me all sufficient and good.
I created a good pedagogical climate in Group 7 but not in the reception class. I didn’t show much
of my confidence and leadership in front of little ones. But I will not give up. I will keep trying in
last week's internship.

Task 5:
Session about research
Minor TEA 2021
Ping Dai

Title: How does the CLIL influence the students’ motivation to learn a language?
Key words: CLIL, motivation, language
Aims: I would like to seek information about the effects of CLIL on students’
motivation to learn languages.

Justification of the research topic:

I observed a significant decrease in motivation to learn a foreign language among my

students. They complained about the boredom, pointless of studying foreign
languages, and the lack of reasons to do it. I decided to introduce the CLIL method
into the classroom context to raise the level of motivation and based on the research
done in Canada about immersion and successful bilingual implementation. In
compliance with much research done by educators, Content and Language Integration
promises the authentic context for communication, provides cognitively demanding
tasks that encourage students to learn FL and facilitates the process of motivation to
learning by promoting hands-on learning, autonomy, and collaboration.
Methodology:
Phase 1: literature research

Phase 2: observation & experiment

Phase 3: Students’ opinions and ideas on their process of learning

Concepts and theories:

1. Dick Allwright: Exploratory Practice

2. Integrated Learning

Questions:

1. How can I introduce the CLIL method to motivate my students to use the FL?
2. Which parts of the CLIL method motivate my students the most?

Report

How does the CLIL influence the students’ motivation to learn a language?

Introduction:

CLIL is an acronym that stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning and it
can be described as a dual-focused educational approach in which the emphasis is put
on teaching and learning content along with the language (Do Coyle, 2010). It means
that they are both interwoven, and there is the focus not only on the language or the
content. CLIL is an innovative fusion of both, even though at a given time the interest
is greater on one or another (Do Coyle, Philip Hood, and David Marsh). Content and
language integrated learning were first coined in 1994 (Marsh, Maljers, and Hartiala,
2001) within the European context to design practices helpful for teaching and
learning an additional language.

I decided to implement (CLIL) Content and Language Integrated Learning approach

into the classroom context to find out its’ effect on the students’ motivation.

CLIL promotes diversity and addresses various students' needs and learning styles
which makes it inclusive and holistic. Therefore, it can be adapted to many contexts
providing that the theoretical basis and rules of implementation are clearly stated,
transparent in practice, and commonly achievable. What is more, CLIL may visibly
raise the motivation for learning foreign languages as it promotes gaining knowledge
through the vehicular language and by providing an authentic environment to use the
language.
Competence may increase motivation with a CLIL methodology due to greater
involvement resulting from the use of real‐life contexts (Pavesi et al, 2001; Montalto
et al, 2016).

Theory: Exploratory Practice by Dick Allwright

EP's radical positioning of learners as co-researchers, alongside teachers, teacher

educators, and others, means crossing boundaries – (re-)negotiating identities, in
language learning/teaching/researching. It is also a form of professional development
for teachers who may have little spare time to dedicate to classroom research (or,
indeed, any form of continuing professional development), limited access to library
resources, and a lack of training in academic research methods. This approach is the
most convenient for teachers because T is a part of society and he/she should take part
in significant changes happening around Allwright’s framework gives more priority to
understanding the quality of classroom life, as a social matter, rather than instructional
efficiency.

Teacher research – is research done by the teacher as a response to the issues and
challenges encountered while teaching. Teachers' development is inseparable from
learner development. According to Allwright, getting into the research as a teacher is
a valuable apprenticeship to conduct satisfactory academic research alongside the
work. It provides an empirical experience to try out what works the best. It enables a
form of professional development for teachers who may have little spare time to
dedicate to classroom research (or, indeed, any form of continuing professional
development), limited access to library resources, and a lack of training in academic
research methods. It also helps to stay intellectually alive as a practitioner. (Allwright,
1992)

The context of my study:

I decided to work in Group 7 and the reception classes. I taught English lessons in CLIL approach.
Students learned English through drama, art, culture, music, etc.

Below I present the open-ended questions asked at the very beginning of the research and the end
of the project. The results fulfilled my expectations, and I am proud of my students, grateful for
this opportunity that provides me with another ‘weapon’ to make my teaching meaningful and fun
and to make reflections on my teaching.

Questions asked: Before the research After the research

How do you like the lessons? - I don’t like some activities. - I am glad that we changed
- I thought I like English, but the something in the lessons.
lessons are boring sometimes. - I am happy that we can do
something on our own and not
only listen to the teacher.
 - I love the way we work now so
that we are active and we can
also teach our friends.

Is there anything you would like - I would like to have more - I want to have even more
to change/ add to the lessons? games in the lesson to make it experiments!
less boring - I really enjoy the new lessons
- I want to do something and not and I want to have other lessons
only listen to a teacher like this.
- I like that sometimes the - I would like to have more
teacher lets us work in groups activities in pairs because it is
and pairs and I would like it to sometimes difficult to manage
happen more often. the tasks in the group and
everyone wants to be a boss.

Do you like the activities? -Some of them are really boring! - I love especially the
-I hate doing the activities in the experiments!
book because you have to be -I like them and that we could
focused all the time. work with our friends.
- Not really. *difficulties to - I like that there was Minecraft
explain why* and everything that we are
- no, they are not interesting at interested in!
all. - Finally, we didn’t have to fill in
the boring workbook.

How do you feel during the - I feel sometimes stressed that I -I feel like I can use the
lessons? am asked in front of my information from the lesson in
colleagues. my life.
- I am bored and sometimes sad. - Thanks to the experiments and
working in groups I felt more
confident and wasn’t afraid that I
didn’t know something.

Conclusion:

The aim of this research was to seek information about the effects of CLIL on students’ motivation
to learn languages. It turned out that content and language integration may visibly raise the
willingness to learn FL because it provides an authentic environment for using the language and
the whole process is meaningful for students. What is more, those lessons with CLIL’s
implementation were captivating for students and the cognitively engaging tasks were
motivational for students in comparison with the regular EFL classroom’s tasks. Thirdly, this
research asked students to present their opinion and they are the most vital participants in the
learning process.
• „bring people together.” - I approached my students with openness to suggestions and
improvements. When consulting the issue with others, I respected their ideas and I was not
afraid of criticism because it might have also been me and my methods that contributed to the
decrease in motivation among my students.
• „mutual development.” - I communicate my issues and asked for help the university
supervisor, teachers, my colleagues (teachers to be), and my students
• „make the work a continuous enterprise...” - I reflected on my own acts and areas for
improvement in the research journal. I also looked beyond for multiple solutions and ways to
enhance the motivation among my students. (Allwright,2005, p.360)
• „Integrate the work for understanding into the existing working life of the classroom.” -
When I gained knowledge about different solutions, I tried all of them out to achieve the most
desirable results. I kept asking my students questions and provide them more opportunities to
speak their needs up. I also advocated to my reflection and feelings to show them what is my
impression and to make them understand it. (Allwright, 2005, p.360)

Final reflections:
Content and Language Integrated Learning is a dual-focused approach that provides authenticity
for communication and cognitive challenges that keep students constantly engaged in the process
of learning.
CLIL also promotes collaboration and hands-on learning which invites students to take control of
their own educational process and that makes them motivated.
Students need constant stimulation to keep the brain active. To do that, using their background
knowledge, realia, scaffolding, experiments, and their interests is to achieve those objectives and
to raise the level of motivation.