Improvement for Discussing Activities at Second Language in CLIL

Abstract

This paper discusses how to improve a course by implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for learners to be able to have a discussion in the target language. During the winter teaching practicum, the author conducted a CLIL course on the problems facing Japanese culture; however, there were times when learners did not use the target language in discussion activities. The analysis of how the course implemented CLIL revealed that the teaching of language and input of scaffolding necessary for discussion was lacking. Based on this, the author examined whether they provided the discussion activities with appropriate help, both in terms of the class structure and their intervention in the discussion. As a result, it was reconfirmed that there was a lack of scaffolding of the vocabulary and grammar necessary for discussion in the target language, and that the learners themselves did not have time to reflect on their individual language use. It also became clear that there was a lack of teacher intervention to help learners’ understanding and to facilitate the discussion with critical opinions. Through analysis of gathered research, the author was able to find ways to improve the process of encouraging learners to discuss more often in the target language.