Crossing over to CLIL

1. Crossing over to CLIL From Business English to Business in English Dr. Helen Bicknell Hochschule Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Idstein ELTAF (English Language Teachers’ Association, Frankfurt)

2. Okie Dokie • Do you teach Business English? • Do you teach BE at a university? • Do you teach Business Skills, Presentation techniques, Intercultural Skills etc? • Do you teach Business or Economics (e.g. International Marketing, International Management courses etc) Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

3. My background • Business English • FH Mainz (2000-2007) • HSF Fresenius since Oct 2007 • International Management, and Business English Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

4. Agenda • What is clil? • Survey on clil challenges • Discussion, Q & As Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

5. CLIL(Content and Language Integrated Learning) • CLIL covers a wide variety of situations – in schools and HE • CLIL and English (over 50% - no 2nd for. lang) • EU 27, 23, 3, 60, 175 • EU policy to encourage language learning and promote linguistic diversity in society; to promote a healthy multilingual economy; to promote social integration though improved knowledge and acceptance of languages. • Grassroots situation Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

6. Surveys open till 15.12.08 • survey 1 for experienced CLIL teachers  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gEh7z2YWfK0zaswezxpigA_3d_3d • Survey 2 for teachers who have not yet taught in English http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=U7W7nn0GwW74jt4FrZ4waw_3d_3d • Survey 3 for students: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=scPtamqVXFXB_2feePtzpQ6w_3d_3d Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

7. Survey 1 – Teacher replies • 23 FH university lecturers – Business Studies departments • 17 Germans, 4 US, 1 UK, 1 Polish • Aged: 28 – 67 (18 = aged 35-55) • 6 females, 17 males • Survey 2 – teachers with no CLIL experience • Survey 3 – student responses Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

8. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

9. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

10. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

11. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

12. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

13. Teachers’ answers Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

14. Students’ answers Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

15. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

16. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

17. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

18. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

19. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

20. Other comments • Poor English skills may prevent some students from receiving a better grade. It is obvious that some students do not understand course texts or exam questions, which puts them at a disadvantage. Particularly many students with an immigration background (e.g. Eastern Europe) who have not gone through the German education system often lack the required language skills. Students with poor English skills have to work harder in the courses as it takes them much longer to read case studies, handouts etc. Finally, if content courses are part of the curriculum, students should be required to take a college entrance exam that tests their language proficiency (required level B2, if not C1). Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

21. Other comments • If at all possible, course held in English should be undertaken by English native speakers. • English courses should be exclusively taught by native speakers or teachers spent several years abroad. Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

22. Depending on the subject more courses should be taught in English. This certainly is problematic for subjects with dominating national perspective like taxation or auditing but it certainly is possible for Marketing, Management, Controlling and the like. I think it is important to lower the entry barriers for colleagues who want to start to teach in English e.g. by offering the possibility of co-teaching, splitting up a course or other possibilities to reduce initial workload. I also think it is a good idea to offer an incentive to teach in English to value the extra work it means and/or to build recognition. Other comments Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

23. Discussion Time • Does your university teach content courses in English? What kind of courses? BA? MA/MSc? Other? • to only ‘German’ students? Or ‘mixed groups’ German and Erasmus students? • Is a proven and tested proof of English level required for participants? • If so, which test? / which level? Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

24. Discussion Time • Do you think Content-based courses taught in English should be only taught by native speakers or C2 level teachers? • What kind of materials should be used? • How could CLIL courses be improved where you work? • What support do you think non-native CLIL teachers need? Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

25. To sum up • CLIL in HE means English • Has received little research attention (see survey!) • Assumes non-native speakers of English require little or no extra training or resources • Success often due to enthusiastic efforts of both teachers and students Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF

26. References/further reading • Graddol, D (2006) English Next • Coleman, J (2006)English-medium teaching in European higher education • European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/news/news2853_en.htm Besig 2008 CLIL workshop bicknell@fh-fresenius.de ELTAF