Title: Current trends in L2 vocabulary learning and instruction' Is CLIL the right approach
1Current trends in L2 vocabulary learning and
instruction. Is CLIL the right approach?
Greek Applied Linguistics Association 14th
International Conference Advances in Research on
Language Acquisition and Teaching 14-16 December
2007 Capsis Hotel, Thessaloniki Greece
- Maria Xanthou
- University of Cyprus
2- Introduction
- Educational aims of European Union? increasing
exposure to L2 - Teaching subject matter through the medium of a
second or a foreign language ? Content and
Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). - Common European Framework participating in
courses in other curriculum subjects which employ
L2 as a medium of instruction (Council of
Europe, 2001 2). - Commission of European Communities (2003) -
Action Plan 2004-2006 pupils need to be able to
study at least some of their curriculum through
the medium of a foreign language (p.11). - This study examines the impact of
- CLIL on L2 vocabulary knowledge.
3Implementing CLIL
- Canadas immersion education from the 1970s
(Harley et al, 1990) - United States? transition (Schleppegrell et al,
2004). - Last two decades ? gaining prominence
- (Chapple and Curtis, 2000)
- Wide applicability? the last 15 years (Hong Kong,
Australia, Indonesia, Argentina, Europe)
4CLIL in Europe
- CLIL approach ? a fast expanding phenomenon in
Europe as in the rest of the world (Van de Craen
Mondt, 2007). - The Eurydice survey reveals that the initiatives
in the field of CLIL have increased in recent
years (European Commission, 2005 55 p.55)
5Studies revealing foreign language gains
- Stoller (2004)? improved language abilities and
content-area knowledge gains - Short (1994)? retention of vocabulary and content
concepts - Gramkow (2001 13) ? more investigations into the
effects of CLIL teaching are needed. - Wesche (1993 74) ? need for carrying out more
longitudinal studies
6L2 vocabulary development
- Vocabulary development is central to language
acquisition (Zimmerman,1997) - An effective approach deep vocabulary learning,
activating prior knowledge, learning vocabulary
in context, active processing, recalling new
words, being provided multiple exposures to new
vocabulary allowing incremental vocabulary
learning ? CLIL satisfies these learning
conditions
7Vocabulary knowledge
Mental Lexicon
A view of the structure of the mental lexicon,
illustrating a lexical entry (Radford et al,
1999 233)
8The lexical entry in the mental lexicon (Jiang,
2002 619)
9Word pairs and lists, and the Depth of
processing hypothesis
- The majority of word pairs are not wholly
synonymous in terms of cultural or grammatical
aspects. - Depth of processing hypothesis deep mental
processing, elaborate thought and manipulation of
new word (Craig and Tulvig, 1975)
10Activating prior knowledge
- New words need to be incorporated into language
that is already known (Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995,
Stahl, 1983, Stoller and Grabe, 1993, and Martin
et al, 2002) - The formation of a rich network of interwoven
associations around old-established words seems
to enable their recall.
11Learning vocabulary in context
- Context morphological, syntactic, and
discourse information in a given text ( Nation
and Coady, 1988 102) - When learning a language ? Consider all systems
of language discourse, semantics, phonology,
pragmatics (Rutherford, 1987, Nation, 2001) - Comprehension of discourse ? when students make
meaningful connections between vocabulary and the
contexts in which it is found - Integrating content and language (CLIL) is rooted
on learning new vocabulary in the environment of
meaningful context.
12Learning vocabulary in context
- Research in this area? exposure to meaningful
language enhances vocabulary knowledge. - Coady (1997 275-276) ?synthesis of research
exposure to meaningful language enhances
vocabulary knowledge - CLIL methodology provides content-based language
environments where contexts demonstrate the
pragmatic value of target words
13Active processing
- Research review on vocabulary learning by
Mezynski (1983 273) identified active processing
as an important factor associated with effective
vocabulary - CLIL? provides opportunities for being involved
actively with target L2 words.
Recalling the new word
- Vocabulary programmes should allow opportunities
to the learner to recall a new word (Schmitt and
Schmitt, 1995 135)
14Repeated exposures to targetvocabulary
- Providing several exposures to new words enables
knowledge of the words to grow. A single
exposure not enough for learning a new word. - Nation (1990)? learners need to be involved in
5-16 repetitions in order to learn a new word. - Herman et al (1987) ?the probability of learning
a word from context after a single exposure is
only .05. Repeated encounters with target words
can expand word meanings and illustrate new
associations with that word. - Rott (1999) examined the effect of exposure
frequency on intermediate learners incidental
vocabulary acquisition six exposures produced
significantly more vocabulary knowledge than two
or four exposure frequencies. - A content-based approach provides recurring
exposure to new vocabulary - Robinson (2005) explored CLIL teaching
- ? frequent repetition of the key vocabulary
15Repeated exposures allow incremental vocabulary
learning
- The meanings of a word can develop and expand
while dealing with meaning making (Schmitt, 2000).
16Repeated exposures-Linguistic frameworks
Providing meaning using a linguistic framework
(Robinson, 2005 442)
17Learning L2 vocabulary in CLIL classrooms
- CLIL opportunities to activate background
knowledge, learn vocabulary in context, process
actively the new words, recall target words, and
be offered multiple exposures to the new
vocabulary.
18The studyResearch methodology
- Experimental pretest posttest research
- Quantitative data
- Observation of video-taped lessons
- Qualitative data
19-
- Hypothesis
-
- The CLIL group was expected to have
significant gains in L2 vocabulary knowledge,
outperforming their counterparts - a) who were not involved in CLIL
- b) who were not involved in CLIL but were
- exposed to the word list method
20Experiment
- The subjects involved in the experiment were
sixty 11 year old level 3 EFL learners
attending public primary schools. - NonCLIL
- G1 ? O1 ? X content L1 ? O2 (21)
- CLIL G2 ? P1 ? X content L2 ? P2 (24)
- NonCLILWord Lists
- G3 ? R1 ? word lists ? R2 (15)
Figure 1
21Results
There were no sig. differences between the three
groups on vocabulary knowledge at the outset of
the study
CLIL - Non CLIL t-test ,685 ? no sign.
difference CLIL Word List t-test ,635 (lt,05)?
no sign. dif.
22Pre test post test performance of the
experimental groups L2 vocabulary knowledge
(CLIL) Sig.difference (,000)
23Pre test post test performance of the control
groups L2 vocabulary knowledge
(NonCLIL) Sig.difference (,008)
24Pre test post test performance of the Word List
groups L2 vocabulary knowledge Sig.difference
(,000)
25Post tests demonstrated sig. differences between
the three groups
CLIL - Non CLIL t-test,000 ? sign.
difference CLIL Word List t-test,014 (lt,05) ?
sign. diff.
26Observation data Analysis of video taped lessons
- CLIL provides opportunities for
- 1. Activating prior knowledge e.g. Subjects
talked about the Amazon forests comparing them
with forests they know. - 2. Learning vocabulary in context e.g. They
learned the words flora and fauna together
with the words species, plants, jungle, birds,
reptiles, amphibians, mammals. - 3.Active processing of new vocabulary e.g. They
looked at maps and searched reading texts to find
information about topics and then had to decide
whether some statements were true or false, or
fill in missing words.
27The Amazon basin AmazoniaTrue or False?
Handout, p.3
- The Amazon is the second in length river of the
world - It starts from Andes (Perou) to the Pacific Ocean
- The biggest part of the Amazon basin is covered
by plains. - The Amazon is navigable (p??t??)
- Big boats can travel
- There are many plants because of the heavy
rainfall. - The jungle of Amazon is one of the most important
biotopes in the world - It is easy to walk and see all the jungle
- v
- X
- X
- v
- v
- v
- X
28The role of the Amazon in the life of the
countryFlora and Fauna (X????da ?a? pa??da)
Handout, p.4
- Flora (SWA 56)
- Look at the map. What kind of flora is there in
the Amazon? - Unscramble the words rtoipacl froetss
- ..
- Tropical forests
- Amazonia 55,000 species of plants
http//www.tourist4tourist.com/blog/wp-content/bra
zil_amazonia_rain_forest.jpg
http//www.brazadv.com/brazil_tours/flora.asp
29Observation data Analysis of video taped lessons
- 4. Recalling new words
- e.g. through memory games related to content
comprehension and language focus activities
30Lets play football!
-
- 1. In Brazil, it is with high
- temperatures and rainfalls.
- hot
- 2. The climate in Brazil is ..
- tropical
-
-
31- a) Guessing game - Pictionary Look at the
drawing. What is it? (A place where plants and
animals grow) - biotope
- b) I spy a word beginning with f.
- Flora
- d) afnua
- fauna
- e) r------l
32Observation data Analysis of video taped lessons
- 5. Repeated exposures to the target words
- e.g. During 2 minutes the teacher said the
target word tropical 7 times (lesson 2) - Using linguistic frameworks
-
e.g. Plantation is a big field. Its a
very big field. Its a very big
cultivated field (cotton, tobacco) (lesson
3)
33- Pedagogical Implications
- 1.Impact of CLIL in content and L2 vocabulary
development. - 2.CLIL provides increased opportunities for
exposing learners to L2 vocabulary knowledge in
meaningful situations - (Celce-Murcia and
Olshtein, 2000). - 3.Attaching words to their surroundings increases
the likelihood of comprehension and retention
(Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995 133).
34- Limitations
- a) Variables such as habits, student motivation
and personal exposure to other language learning
environments were not controlled - b) Small sample ? space and time triangulations
- c) The post-tests examined subjects immediate
performance. A delayed test could have examined
whether learning is retained or atrophied over
time. Re-testing participants ? long-term
benefits of CLIL.
35Directions for further research
- a) CLIL in subjects other than Geography ?
safeguard the generalisability of findings. - b) Examine the CLIL groups productive vocabulary
knowledge and not only receptive. - c) Explore the optimal conditions of CLIL
programs and the kind of instructional strategies
being used (Crandall, 1993119) - d) Consider assessment of content-based language
instruction -reliable instrument
36- Conclusion
- Results provide evidence that CLIL has beneficial
effects on L2 vocabulary learning. - Kaufman (2001 313) ? the symbiosis of foreign
language and content seems to be promising in
enhancing foreign language acquisition.
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