This presentation aims to set out clear parameters for identifying the language of natural Science subjects. The presentation also then goes on to present instruments for developing this language in the classroom. There are a number of ways of looking at language within specific Science subjects. We can look at the subject-specific language itself which makes up much of the content curriculum of a subject-specific topic area like ‘cells and tissues’ in Biology. We can investigate the general academic discourse of the topic which interests us and see how it is used in class. Lastly, we can examine the role of the non-academic language of the classroom. All of these perspectives make up the complete picture of the discourse of the language of a Science subject. Knowing what language is used in these dimensions can help us plan for the development of this language both in the input and in the output of the content of the subject. This presentation will present ways and means of identifying and organizing the language of Science from these three perspectives.
Another area of particular interest in integrating content and language in Science education is that of tasks. There are two main significant areas we need to examine: firstly, we need to look at how learners are guided in processing input language in Science. This means how learners are supported in their reading of Science text, and how they are guided in listening to Science language. The second area is to do with output. Students may need considerable support in producing the language of the Science subject through writing and speaking. CLIL practitioners need to know how to provide this support. This presentation will offer guidelines and examples for materials and task design for Natural Science Education through the medium of a foreign language.
Keith Kelly is a freelance education consultant based in Bulgaria. He has an undergraduate degree in Modern Languages and a PGCE in French, Russian and German from Bristol University. He then took a Masters degree in English Language Education at Manchester University. He is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer, a team member of Science Across the World, and an Associate Tutor for the Norwich Institute for Language Education (NILE). Keith is also a founder and coordinator of the Forum for Across the Curriculum Teaching (FACT). From 1999-2003 Keith was coordinator of the English Across the Curriculum project for the British Council in Bulgaria where he worked in and with bilingual schools around Bulgaria and the region. Keith, along with John Clegg, is co-author of the CLIL MA Module for NILE and Leeds Metropolitain University. Keith is author of the Macmillan Science and Geography Vocabulary Practice Series and was made a Fellow of IUPAC (The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) in January 2008 for his contributions to the programme. He has been working as a freelance education consultant since August 2003 on education projects mainly focusing on the teaching of content through the medium of a foreign language.
