Seminar on Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

 

About the Instructor

1. Bachelor in Chemistry, University of Manchester

2. In-service International Teacher at Donshang Senior High school

 

It is our pleasure to invite Ian Garner, the head coordinator of Taichung FET program, talking about CLIL curriculum design today. His presentation is informative and vivid, which is so useful for TESOL practitioners who want to create their own CLIL curriculum. I would like to summarize a few key points in the following section.

First of all, we English teachers should not be confined by textbooks since they are not authentic at all. Try to implement something authentic in the alternative curriculum (彈性課程). In Taiwan, we are so used to teaching the materials in the textbooks, which is easy and time-saving. However, we fail to recognize that English is taken for communication instead of language tests. 

Second of all, try to be good friends with the General Guidelines provided by MOE in order to get to know more about the beliefs and goals of it. General Guidelines are so important when we want to make the lesson plans because they could help us pinpoint what to teach (from the perspective of teachers) and what to learn (from the perspective of students).

Last of all, work with your colleagues to design CLIL curriculum. Also, when encountering some difficulties, refer to the guidelines in inner circle of English would help.

It takes a lot of time to create CLIL curriculum. But if you finish one, you will feel that you become a super teacher in the field of English teaching because you teach not only English but also other subjects.

A Seminar on Incorporating Picture Books into TESOL

 

About the Instructor:

1. Master of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University

2. In-service English teacher at Kaohsiung Municipal Houjing Junior High School

It is our honor to invite Kitty Lee, an expert on English picture book-assisted language teaching, sharing her ideas on how to incorporate into English classroom. 

At the beginning of the the seminar, Kitty read the picture book entitled The Wonder Walkers for us participants. Personally speaking, picture books have the following benefits. Firstly, compared to English novels, the vocabulary and sentence patterns in picture books are relatively fixed. Secondly, picture books help boost social-emotional learning. Also, we TESOL practitioners can integrate social issues into English teaching. Lastly, we English teachers can develop CLIL curriculum with art teachers since the illustrations in picture books are so delicate and beautiful. 

Besides, Kitty mentions the reason for her to promote English picture books is that they help guard  the authenticity of the language. We readers can get to know more about the importance of language use (Pragmatics) in different contexts.

In the process of attending the seminar, I could understand how enthusiastic Kitty feels for picture books. She has read thousands of picture books and has classified these books into different themes. Therefore, we English teachers can save a lot of time scavenging suitable picture books.

If you are interested in Kitty's book recommendations, please click on the following link.