Developing CLIL training for modern languages teacher trainees

The development of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) could be one way forward in motivating pupils to expand their foreign language learning in England. Following the removal of the requirement for all pupils to learn a foreign language at key stage 4 (ages 14-16) there has been a decline in the take-up of languages after the age of 14. Concurrently, the entitlement to learn a foreign language throughout key stage 2 (ages 7-11) has led to diversity of pupils’ experience before starting at secondary school at age 11. CLIL could be one solution to enthuse pupils through their first stage at secondary school. This paper outlines a collaborative action research project to integrate a training module in CLIL for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) teacher trainees as part of their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme at the University of Warwick with the support of Tile Hill Wood School and Language College. Tile Hill Wood School has a national reputation for innovative work in CLIL; it was one of the 2006 winners of the European Award for Languages for its CLIL work and in 2007 was a CILT (English National Centre for Teaching of Languages) 14-19 network for immersion teaching. The research reports on trainees’ evaluations of their teaching of CLIL lessons in a range of secondary schools, and the impact of the CLIL approach on learners, their own teaching, and the school departments in which they were teaching. It also reports on the challenges trainees encountered in using this approach. The project culminated in a successful Association for Language Learning showcase event in June 2008 where trainees presented their work and considered the impact on learners and schools