{"id":1493,"date":"2018-04-04T12:45:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T11:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2018-04-04T12:45:59","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T11:45:59","slug":"dans-ma-trousse-jaisioe-conference-offers-inspiring-models-for-learning-in-a-foreign-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/sioe\/2018\/04\/04\/dans-ma-trousse-jaisioe-conference-offers-inspiring-models-for-learning-in-a-foreign-language\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDans ma trousse, j\u2019ai\u2026\u201dSIoE conference offers inspiring models for learning in a foreign language"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inaugural Association for Language Learning \/SIOE cross-curricular language learning conference took place this summer at the SIOE.\u00a0 For the first time academics and practitioners from Anglophone countries and similar contexts across all phases converged to explore how content and language integrated learning pedagogy could be applied to different contexts and subjects.\u00a0 The range of factions from which delegates came was also a first: EAL\/TESOL\/EAP\/curriculum subjects\/ and foreign languages. Perhaps we should not have been surprised at the number of delegates and eminent scholars from as far away as Australia and Japan who attended the conference\u2026 though we were, as were listeners of BBC Radio Sheffield.<\/p>\n

Difficult to capture the buzz from the outset of the conference but this account from one captures a taste:<\/p>\n

Delegate’s impressions<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have just spent 2 days at the 2017 Inaugural International Conference on \u2018cross curricular language learning\u2019. The SIOE in partnership with the Association for Language Learning (ALL FLAME) brought together an impressive array of internationally acclaimed researchers, writers and teachers in the field of language learning, many of whom are experts in CLIL : \u2018Content and Language Integrated learning\u2019, which aims to teach subject content via a foreign language (Hood & Tobbut, 2009). This temporary, international \u2018community of practice\u2019 was the catalyst for great opportunities to think about both our own classrooms and global classrooms. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Highlights from the keynotes included a fascinating presentation on \u2018pluriliteracies: creating motivating conditions for progression \u2013at any stage, in any language’ by Professor Do Coyle which situated CLIL pedagogy firmly in the EAL arena. \u00a0\u00a0On day 2 I loved Phillip\u2019s message that integration of foreign languages was valuable wherever and however it occurred: a daily \u201cBuenos d\u00edas \u201c ,” \u00bfQue tal ?” and \u201cadios\u201d to your Year 3 class might not seem like much but these greetings and farewells are \u00a0\u00a0all part of embedding the language; \u00a0a simple but powerful way of\u00a0 using L2 \u00a0for an authentic purpose . This purposeful and meaningful use of the foreign language contrasts with the decontextualised learning many of us have experienced. It is not uncommon for a pupil to encounter a foreign language through the narrow prism of their pencil case, pets or favourite colour <\/em>(Bower, 2017)<\/em>. \u00a0What Phillip articulated so powerfully was that through the fusion of content and language we can open the door to a myriad of engaging, inspiring, meaningful and creative contexts and, in the process, give learners a much richer and cognitively challenging experience. <\/em><\/p>\n

Key messages to share with trainee teachers and with colleagues in school:\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n