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Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach where students learn a subject and a second language at the same time. A science course, for example, can be taught to students in English and they will not only learn about science, but they will also gain relevant vocabulary and language skills.

It’s important to note that CLIL is not a means of simplifying content or reteaching something students already know in a new language. CLIL courses should truly integrate the language and content in order to be successful – and success is determined when both the subject matter and language is learned.

Who is CLIL for?

CLIL can work for students of any age, all the way from primary level to university and beyond. So long as the course content and language aims are designed with the students’ needs in mind, there is no limit as to who can benefit from this teaching approach. However, it is most commonly found in primary and secondary school contexts.

What are the main benefits of CLIL?

Many teachers see CLIL as a more natural way to learn a language; when a subject is taught in that language there is a concrete reason to learn both at the same time. And as students have a real context to learn the language in, they are often more motivated to do so, as they can only get the most of the content if they understand the language around it.

Moreover, being content focused, CLIL classes add an extra dimension to the class and engage students, which is especially advantageous in situations where students are unenthusiastic about learning a language.

CLIL also promotes a deeper level of assimilation, as students are repeatedly exposed to similar language and language functions, and they need to produce and recall information in their second language.

Furthermore, it has the advantage that multiple subjects can be taught in English, so that students’ exposure to the language is increased and their language acquisition is faster.

CLIL also encourages students to develop 21st century skills, including the ability to think critically, be creative, communicate and collaborate.��

What are the challenges of CLIL?

As CLIL is subject-focused, language teachers may also have to develop their own knowledge of new subjects in order to teach effectively.

They must also structure classes carefully so that the students understand the content of the lesson, as well as the language through which the information is being conveyed.

And when it comes to classroom management, educators need to be very aware of individual student understanding and progress.

It’s therefore important to consistently concept check and scaffold the materials to be sure both the language and content are being learned.

How can you apply CLIL to your class?

It’s important to have a strategy in place when applying CLIL in your courses. One of the key things to remember is that the language and subject content are given equal weight and that it shouldn’t be treated as a language class nor a subject class simply taught in a foreign language.

According to Coyle’s 4Cs curriculum (1999), a successful CLIL class should include the following four elements:

• Content – Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements of a defined curriculum
• Communication – Using language to learn whilst learning to use language
• Cognition – Developing thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete), understanding and language
• Culture – Exposure to alternative perspectives and shared understandings, which deepen awareness of otherness and self

Using a number of frameworks can help you prepare your lessons and make sure activities are challenging yet achievable for your learners.

Bloom’s Taxonomy, for example, classifies learning objectives in education and puts skills in a hierarchy, from Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) to Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).

In the diagram below, you can see the levels increasing in complexity from the base up to the triangle’s peak.

Praise in the classroom is a valuable resource that every teacher has in their toolbox.��It can encourage struggling students and reward learners who have been studying diligently and working hard on their language skills.

But not all types of praise have the same effect. Let’s take a look at different types of praise and how you can use it to boost your learners’ motivation and��self-esteem.��

Different types of praise in the classroom

There are three types of praise that teachers commonly engage in - but they’re not all equal and are not all desirable:��

• Personal praise: Here you praise a student for a specific ability or quality. For example, you might say something like,��“You have a great memory for vocabulary”.����
• Effort-based praise: This��is when you comment on a student’s efforts. For example, you could say,��“I can see you tried really hard with this vocabulary homework – well done.”����
• Behavior-based praise:��This type of praise��is where you comment on how a student is acting, an example would be,��“You were really paying attention during the vocabulary lesson – good job.”

So how – and when – should we use these types of praise in the classroom?��

Try not to praise ability

The first type of praise – personal praise – should be avoided in the classroom.����has shown that this type of praise doesn’t have a beneficial effect on motivation.��

In fact, praise for intelligence actually has a detrimental effect on student achievement. When students were praised for their intelligence, they tended to care more about their performance goals – the score they achieved on a test, for example. Learning goals, like mastering a new skill, became less important to them.��

Moreover, personal praise has been shown to undermine student resilience in the face of failure. Students showed less persistence when it came to challenging tasks and less enjoyment of the challenge. They also performed more poorly than children praised for effort.��

Furthermore, when you praise students for their ability, they also tend to see intelligence or aptitude as a fixed trait. However, students who are praised for effort are more likely to see ability as something they can improve on. This feeds into the development of a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset.��It’s important to��instill��a growth mindset in learners to enable them to reach their full potential.��

How to praise effort and behavior

When it comes to praising effort and behavior, what’s the most effective way to do it? Here are some techniques to employ:��

1. Be specific ��

General praise such as “Good job” isn’t nearly as effective as a comment that shows you’ve been paying attention to what the student is doing. A precise compliment will make a much bigger impact on a student, for example:��“I was really impressed at how hard you concentrated during the listening exercise. Well done.”����

2. Give praise in the moment��

Immediate praise doesn’t need to be disruptive, but it shows students that you are paying attention and noticing good behavior and effort.��

3. Avoid comparisons with other students��

Instead of saying, “You got the best mark in the class – well done!” say something like,��“You got a really high score in the reading test. Your hard work has really paid off this term.”

4. Keep track of praise��

Before your class, choose three or four students you’re going to praise that day. That way, you can be sure that each and every student will benefit from the motivational power of effective classroom praise!

5. Personalize your praise, depending on the student��

Young students enjoy being praised publicly, but shy students, older children and teenagers prefer positive feedback to be given quietly.��

Don’t overpraise and watch your positive bias��

It’s important to be sincere. Older children, especially adolescents, have an extremely low tolerance of insincerity. So, don’t be tempted to praise students too often, or too effusively – it can actually have a negative impact on your relationship with your whole class. Insincere praise can lead students to question your judgement.��

It’s also really important to be aware of your positive bias.��that teachers consistently give students of color more positive feedback on their work. It’s done with good intentions, but it can actually be harmful. If you regularly overpraise students for minor achievements, it can imply that you have low expectations for these students. And, this can make your students feel like they might not be capable of fulfilling the high expectations that you should have of them.��

So, instead of overpraising, focus on giving specific, immediate praise to motivate your students, boost their��self-esteem and unlock their potential.

Find out how to��nurture creativity in your learners��and this post will tell you how to��promote student happiness��and wellbeing.��

It’s almost Halloween, and the ghosts and vampires will soon be coming out to play. Did you know that although we often associate Halloween with pumpkin carving and eating candy, the festival has much older origins?��

is an ancient Gaelic festival that celebrates the end of the harvest and the start of winter. This is why people often associate the colors of orange and black with Halloween: orange is the color many leaves turn in autumn and black is the color of the darker winter months.

People used to believe that spirits walked the Earth on the night of Samhain. The tradition of dressing up as ghosts and demons started as a way to hide from the spirits who walked the streets. Similarly, people used to leave treats outside their houses for the spirits and from this came the tradition of trick-or-treating.

So to help get your younger students in the Halloween spirit, here are five spooky ideas to try in your primary classes.��

1. ‘Pumpkin’ oranges

Pumpkin carving is fun - but it’s also messy and pumpkins can be really heavy. Instead, bring in an orange for each student and give them a black marker pen. Get them to draw a scary face on their orange and then write a short text describing it.��

My pumpkin orange, Ghoulie, has two big eyes. He’s got a small nose and a big mouth, with lots of teeth. This Halloween, he’s going to sit outside my house. He’s going to scare people but he doesn’t scare me. I think he’s very funny.

2. Bat fishing

This is a great way to practice questions and review language with your younger students. Have your students cut out bat shapes on card and tell them to write a question on the back of each one. They can write personal information questions, such as ‘What do you eat for breakfast?’ or questions related to topics you’re studying at the moment, like ‘How do you spell dinosaur?’��

Attach a paper clip to each bat and put them on the floor, with the questions face down. Then attach a magnet to a piece of string.

Divide the class into teams and have students take turns to fish a bat from the floor. When they catch a bat using the magnet, a student from another team asks them the question written on the bat. If the team can answer correctly, they keep the bat. If they don’t answer correctly, the bat goes back on the floor.

When all the bats have been fished, the team with the most wins.��

3. Haunted house dictation

This is a good activity to review prepositions of place and house vocabulary. Before you start, elicit some scary things from the students, such as ghost, spider, witch, zombie. If these words are new for your students, draw a picture dictionary on the board for them to refer to in the next stage.

Next, give students an outline of a house with the rooms labeled, but without any furniture. Then dictate a sentence to the students and have them draw what you say on their individual houses. For example, ‘In the kitchen, there’s a big cupboard. In the cupboard, there’s a witch.’ Or, ‘In the living room, there’s an old sofa. A zombie is sitting on the sofa.’

You can then divide the class into pairs or small groups and have them take turns dictating sentences to each other. When they finish, they can compare their pictures and then write a short story about their haunted houses.��

4. Trick-or-treat board game

Draw a 7x5 grid on card and add Start and Finish squares. Number the other squares so the students know what direction to move in. Then, on some of the squares write Trick and on some of the other squares write Treat. Finally, prepare a set of ‘trick’ and ‘treat’ cards for each group. (There are some ideas for tricks and treats below).��

Before students play, teach them some phrases to use while playing the game. For example:

• Whose turn is it?
• It’s my turn.
• Roll the dice.
• Who’s winning?

Then divide the class into groups of four and give each group a board, a set of ‘trick-or-treat’ cards, a dice and a counter. Have them take turns to roll the dice and move. If they land on a Trick��or Treat square, they have to take a card and do what it says. Then they put the card at the bottom of the pile.��The winner is the first person to reach the Finish square.

Ideas for ‘trick’ cards

• Go back 3 squares
• Miss a turn
• Go back to the start
• Count down from 10 to 1 in English
• Say the alphabet backwards (Z, Y, X…)
• Laugh like a witch
• Pretend to be a ghost

Ideas for ‘treat’ cards

• Go forward two spaces
• Roll again
• Go forward five spaces
• Choose someone to miss a turn

5. Spooky stories

Are your students bored of celebrating Halloween every year? Mix things up with stories or readers. Allowing their imagination to run wild. There are lots of you can use or get inspiration from, creating your own. If you want your pupils more involved you could also have them make or take part in your very own 'create your own adventure' spooky story.��

After reading the story, have your students create comic strips of different parts of the book and display them around the classroom. If your students prefer theatrics, get them to act out or sing parts of the story.��