Example of a CLIL Teaching-Learning Sequence About Geology and Evolution for Pre-Service Teachers

Introduction

The current chapter describes in detail a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) using the CLIL approach to teach contents related to sedimentary rocks and fossils to pre-service Primary Education Teachers. English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approaches are used throughout the sequence. The TLS was designed and implemented at two different stages during the academic year 2021-2022, within the discipline of Didactics of Experimental Sciences. The main results of the implementation are discussed. Then, a SWOT analysis, evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the TLS, is provided at the end of the chapter, in order to assess its usefulness and potential.

The main objectives of the chapter are as follows:

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  To present a case study of a CLIL TLS implemented at the University of Granada with pre-service Primary Education teachers of a bilingual group, highlighting their initial lack of familiarity with the CLIL approach.

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  To provide core materials that may be modified and adapted by other Secondary Education and University teachers to use CLIL in the science classroom.

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  To show the positive outcome of introducing the CLIL approach to pre-service teachers.

Background

Bilingual science teaching has become the norm in most bilingual schools in Spain, where Conocimiento del Medio Natural, Social y Cultural is usually the first of the Non-Linguistic Areas (NLAs) to be included in bilingual programmes from primary education onwards. In Andalusia, the southern-most region of Spain, 695 bilingual Primary schools (as in 2021/22; Consejería de Educación y Deporte, 2022) teach that subject of Science in English. They follow the regional government’s Order of 28^th of June of 2011 that regulates bilingual education in Andalusia (Orden de 28 de junio de 2011) and establishes Science as its priority area and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL, or in Spanish AICLE: Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos y Lengua Extranjera) as the preferred methodological approach (Barrios & Milla, 2020; Fernández-Viciana, Barrios & Ramos, 2019; Ruiz, 2019).

Mehisto, Marsh & Frigols (2008) define CLIL as “a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language” (p. 9).

Therefore, to be adequately prepared for teaching Science in a bilingual classroom, Science teachers need to develop a wide range of competences that define the CLIL teacher profile, such as proficient linguistic communication in the foreign language, familiarity with a variety of pedagogical approaches and resources, depth of scientific knowledge about the theory of learning and language underlying CLIL, organisational competence to manage different groupings and learning modalities, interpersonal and collaborative skills, and reflective and developmental competences (Coyle, Hood & Marsh, 2010); the training these teachers are receiving, however, does not yet make the grade (Pérez, 2018; Custodio-Espinar, 2019; Pavón & Rubio, 2010; Ramos-García & Fernández-Viciana, 2022).