Julie Dearden's research on EMI




The British Council web site has just published
Julie Dearden's research on English as a medium of Instruction Julie Dearden is the Senior Research and Development Fellow in English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) at Oxford University Department of Education (OUDE) and has a particular interest in the global shift from English being taught as a ‘foreign’ language to English being used as a medium of instruction for other academic subjects. She is a member of the OUDE Applied Linguistics research group which aims to increase understanding of the acquisition and use of language from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. Julie manages a new research centre which was established in March 2014: EMI Oxford. This centre conducts research into English as Medium of Instruction

The report is a bird's eye view or a snapshot of the views and issues involved when implementing EMI. The report is based on a recent worldwide survey conducted with British Council staff acting as informed respondents and covers 55 countries, Spain included. The study was conducted from October 2013 to March 2014 and investigated the current situation of EMI in terms of country's particularities, subjects being taught through EMI and important variables according to educational phases. 

I reckon this publication offers a deep insight into the crucial factors which influence effective EMI and essential implications for classroom contexts are accurately described. In short, a must-read for CLIL practitioners.

A lesson plan on Globalization


A new year has just begun and I know that all of us are eager to fill it in with new hopes, projects and illusion in our personal and professional environments. 
My humble contribution at the start of this year will be a lesson plan I have developed for Secondary 3 and 4 level students on the topic of Globalization.

Although this topic can be included  both in Geography and Citizenship content areas,  I reckon that the proposal I offer might be just  an introduction to the topic in a Geography class but a complete sequence in Citizenship. 

CLIL  practice is much more effective when coordination between the language teacher and the subject teacher takes place so this lesson plan would work much better if this coordination took place and the English language teacher could present the basic  vocabulary and language  (mainly contrast clauses, language for expressing opinions and language  and structure of an opinion essay)

In case coordination between the subject teacher and the English  language teacher is not possible,  I have added some language support for the students and for the subject teacher who  might need it.

Regarding the focus on language, I have tried to choose some activities that help students with differences that are basic in any content area and not only in Citizenship or  Geography: language that is used to express facts versus language that is used to express opinions, language that  shows certainty and language that shows uncertainty; language that conveys caution; language for generalizations; language for contrast.

You can read the whole lesson plan and find all handouts for you and for the students here.

I hope you will find my proposal useful. We will talk about it in our next seminar session together.