Е. С. Шварц, Е.Б. Борунова, Е.О. Забенькина, И.М. Пескова

Е. С. Шварц, Е.Б. Борунова, Е.О. Забенькина, И.М. Пескова

 

 

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ СПЕЦИАЛЬНЫХ ЦЕЛЕЙ В МАГИСТРАТУРЕ ЕСТЕСТВЕННЫХ ФАКУЛЬТЕТОВ

Учебноепособие

ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES FOR MASTER DEGREE PROGRAMMES OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS

StudentBook

МПГУ

Москва, 2019

 

Рецензенты:

П.А. Оржековский, доктор педагогических наук, профессор кафедры естественнонаучного образования и коммуникативных технологий МПГУ

Т.М. Желтикова, доктор биологических наук, зав. лабораторией ФГБНУ «НИИВС им. И.И. Мечникова»

 

МПГУ, Москва, 2019

 

Аннотация: Первая часть учебника английского языка для учащихся магистратуры в естественнонаучных институтах охватывает темы современного поствузовского образования за рубежом, истории и современности МПГУ, изменений в подходах к обучению в современных школах, карьеры в сфере образования и науки, а также современную естественнонаучную проблематику. Упор делается на овладение актуальной лексикой и лексико-грамматическими оборотами по соответствующим темам, тренировку устной речи, как разговорной, так и академической, а также на развитие навыков академического письма.

Текстовый материал актуален, современен и учитывает профессиональные интересы магистрантов. В учебнике содержатся многочисленные отсылки к дополнительным текстовым и видео-материалам в сети Интернет.

Впервые при преподавании иностранного языка в магистратуре используется задание-ориентированный подход (TBL) и большое количество оригинальных коммуникативных и творческих заданий. Учебник полностью англоязычный.

 

CONTENT

Unit 1. English-Speaking Countries: Approaches to Education and Science. Postgraduate Education in Britain

Lesson 1. Master-Degree and PhD Programmes

Lesson 2. Selecting a Post-graduate Course and Finding Key Information

       Grammar: Participles I and II

 

Lesson 3. Applying to a Programme

Writing skills: Personal statement. Introduction into academic writing

 

Lesson 4. Students' life in UK universities

 

Unit 2. Moscow Pedagogical State University: History, Modern State, Science and Education in the University

Lesson 1. The History and Modernity of MPSU. Great Scientists and Teachers

Grammar: Infinitives

 

Lesson 2. Professor Vladimir Vernadsky and his Legacy

Writing skills: Summary: shortening techniques. Informal letters

 

Lesson 3. The Outstanding Chairs at Science Departments

Writing skills: Writing an article for a university web-site

Unit 3. Education Today: the Changing Role of aTeacher; New Educational Technologies and Technology in Education

Lesson 1. New-style Pedagogy for New Society

Writing skills: Writing a summary of an educational project

 

Lesson 2. Modern Technologies in Class

Introduction into essays. Argumentative Essay

 

Lesson 3. Modern Technologies in Class. Continuation

 

Lesson 4. CLIL Approach

Grammar: Complex Subject with Infinitives

 

Lesson 5. CLIL Approach: a Closer Look

Unit 4. Job and Career in the21 century

Lesson 1. Discussing Professions to Come

Grammar: Gerunds

Writing skills: Argumentative essay: focus on style

 

Lesson 2. New Trends: Freelance and Co-Working

Grammar: Distinguishing between non-finite verbs

Writing skills: Argumentative essay: additional training

 

Lesson 3. Writing CV and Preparing for a Job Interview

Writing skills: CV

Unit 5. Environmental Sciences

The Main Challenges: Climate change, Loss of Biodiversity, Pollution

Lesson 1. Climate Change: the Causes and Outcomes

Writing skills: Compare and contrast essay

 

Lesson 2. Challenges for Species and Ecosystems, Caused by Climate Change

Writing skills: 1. Summarising: additional practice. 2. Writing a newspaper article: focus on style

Lesson 3. Analysing Graphs

Writing skills: Summarising graphical information

Appendix

References

Unit 1. English-Speaking Countries: Approaches to Education and Science. Postgraduate Education in Britain

In this unit you will learn:

· about postgraduate education in Europe and the UK

· about European Credit Transfer System

· how to use present and past participles

· how to give arguments pro and contra in a polite way

· how to apply to a Master’s Degree programme in a European university

· how to write a personal statement

 

Why study on a Master’s Degree or PhD Programme in Europe

Destination Europe

Many students decide to pursue a postgraduate course in Europe because of the whole experience it can provide for them. Advantages include being able to get cheap trains and flights to visit a variety of countries within the EU over a free weekend or during the Christmas or Easter holidays. If you are living and studying at a university in Europe, then the rest of the continent is on your doorstep waiting to be taken advantage of.

A quality education

Europe’s quality of universities is extremely good and includes some of the world’s top-ranked institutions, such as University College London, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford in the UK or the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Leiden University in the Netherlands and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich. These universities – as well as many other European universities – are all held in high regard worldwide and demonstrate Europe’s ability to provide an exceptional standard of teaching for postgraduate students.

Financial benefits

Pursuing a master’s degree or PhD programme in Europe can also be beneficial in terms of finances as the tuitions fees can be much cheaper than those in certain other countries like America. For example, if you choose to study in the United States, tuition fees can vary between $13,000 (?10,000) and $35,000 (?27,000) depending on whether you study at a state or private university. Typically, in Europe, postgraduate course fees vary from £4,000 (?5,000) to £20,000 (?25,000) depending upon the status of the university and the course topic. Most postgraduate courses for international students are £12,000 (?15,000) which is considerably lower than those in the USA.

High standard of living

Aside from having numerous world-ranked universities that for the most part offer tuition at a reasonable cost, Europe also provides a good standard of living for postgraduate students, with most countries in Europe offering various student discounts on cinema tickets, travel, shopping and restaurants. These student benefits all help postgraduate students to experience a high quality of living and enable them to go out and experience life beyond studying, whilst paying a cheaper price.

Language skills

Studying abroad and in a country that speaks a language which is different to your mother tongue will definitely reflect well on you. It demonstrates that you are adventurous, adaptable and willing to learn about a different culture and way of living. It will also help you to learn a second language or even third language fluently – for example if you are from China and decide to study your masters degree or PhD programme in Italy – not only will your English improve tenfold as your course will be taught in it, but you will also learn to converse in Italian as you go about your everyday life. Learning new languages is always useful and demonstrates a willingness to learn and explore – and in today’s global times it is always well worth adding an extra language or two to your CV!

Job prospects

Studying in a European city is beneficial for your future career as they tend to be large and diverse in their student population. This enables the postgraduate student a wider life experience as well as offering an excellent networking potential. The high quality of higher education institutions in Europe is well known to potential employers and can certainly help you along your chosen career path.

Potential employers are likely to be impressed with your chosen European university and this can help you to enhance your career prospects. Additionally, studying in a European city as we have mentioned before will provide you with ample opportunities to network and meet a whole range of interesting business people or workers within your chosen industry, which is guaranteed to help you gain more knowledge in your (future) career.

Historical interest

Europe has a diverse cultural background steeped in history. It is full of museums and historical buildings which all represent different periods of time and are there to be explored, in many instances for free. Living and studying in Europe can provide a wonderful insight and knowledge for students, and this all helps go make a much more enriched postgraduate lifestyle and future.

Studying for a master’s degree or PhD programme in Europe is both an adventurous and educational experience. You will be given the chance to not only learn about your chosen course, but also about the history and life of Europe. You will be able to visit many places and cities you may not have visited previously, to see how Europe differs and also sets the mark for a Western way of living. It can be an eye-opening experience that will leave you with wanting more.

 

v Task 1.5 Vocabulary work. After you read, use the words from vocabulary box below to fill in the gaps:

cultural diversity, enriched with, hold in high regard, insight, must-see, accessible, pursue, vast amount of information, beneficial, in terms of, enhance, gain knowledge

1. The phenomenon of differences in race, ethnicity, age, ability, language, nationality, socioeconomic status, gender, religion or sexual orientation being represented within a community is ________________________.

2. Facebook is holding a _________________on you. But a little trick will let you see it all.

3. This drink is more wholesome as it is ______________ vitamin C.

4. So to help you get to know the Bull City, the following list includes _______________ features and sites - all those places that you should not miss.

5. The reason mathematics is ___________________ is because a lot of people find it difficult.

6. Just six core skills that we all can do will contribute to a more digitally _______________ campus.

7. To ___________ noble goals is to bring purpose into every day actions.

8. A. To help build trust, we propose an approach focused on providing ______________ into various dimensions of an organisation’s reporting. B. New research could provide____________ into future climate change.

9. Bacteria have been cultivated for many _________________ uses, from medicine to biotechnology.

10. Femininity is still defined ___________________ beauty.

11. I'm seeking to __________ more _____________ and experience to widen my skills and be more effective and productive.

12. The funds help communities create transformational projects that _____________ the vitality of a region.

 

Ø Task 1.6 At home, study the words and phrases below and write for them definitions or synonyms:

1. to be likely to - ____________________________

2. doorstep - __________________________

3. top-ranked- _________________________

4. to provide - ___________________________

5. in terms of -____________________________

6. tuition fees - ____________________________

7. to vary - ____________________________

8. aside from - ____________________________

9. go out (phrasal verb) - ____________________________

v Task 1.7 Listening.

A. Watch the video “Studying in the UK: the pros and cons” about education in the UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDB7pJLsw6M. While watching, pay attention to the following information:

1. Where is the lady from?

2. What are the three things she regards as benefits of studying in the UK?

3. What are the three things she thinks might look negative about studying in the UK?

B. Follow-up: Vocabulary work. At home, look at the words below. Make sure you understand these words (write their definitions if necessary)

1. Consider studying

2. Emphasis

3. Have access

4. Extracurricular activities

5. Knowledge-heavy

6. Worth smth. (doing smth.)

7. Recognize

v Task 1.8. Have a five-minute dialogue with your partner: one of you is going to advocate the idea of studying in Europe, the other, to give arguments against it. Your main task will be to provide persuasive arguments in favour of your opinion and remain tactful and respectful of your opponent’s point of view.

Use clichés from the text and video. Don’t forget about linking adjuncts to list your arguments, compare, and draw conclusion.

1. On the one hand,…

2. On the other hand,…

3. First, second…

4. At the same time,…

5. Also…

6. Similarly…

7. However…

8. Toconclude…

A. The lady from the previous video says higher education in Britain is aimed at bringing up an independent thinker, but at the same time is not so knowledge-heavy. How does the university where you currently study compare to British type of universities? Write several sentences to answer the question.

B. The next video is going to be about student’s life in Oxford https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbr1DcGhLqQ. A young man in his final year at Oxford will be speaking about his experience. Predict what he will be describing. List the words you may expect to hear.

Text 2. Aberdeen University

Key expressions to help you render the text:

1. founded in… 2. throughout the 20th century 3. to consistently increase 4. picturesque and historic 5. to invest heavily in 6. time and again 7. state-of-the-art facilities 8. to match the splendour 9. to encourage participation 10. world-class 11. Olympic-standard 12. international-standard 13. to be located adjacent to 14. to owe much to the determination and vision 15. handful of visionaries and pioneers 16. a distinguished list of scholars 17. to shape the University into the world-class institution

Founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, the University of Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest and the UK's fifth oldest university.

Throughout the 20th century Aberdeen has consistently increased student recruitment, which now stands at 14,000. In recent years, picturesque and historic Old Aberdeen, home of Bishop Elphinstone's original foundation, has again become the main campus site.

The University has also invested heavily in medical research, where time and again University staff have demonstrated their skills as world leaders in their field. The Institute of Medical Sciences, completed in 2002, was designed to provide state-of-the-art facilities for medical researchers and their students. This was followed in 2007 by the Health Sciences Building. The Foresterhill campus is now one of Europe's major biomedical research centres. The Suttie Centre for Teaching and Learning in Healthcare, a £20m healthcare training facility, opened in 2009.

2012 saw the opening of the £57 million Sir Duncan Rice Library in Old Aberdeen, a great modern building to match the splendour of the University’s 500 year old campus.

The new Aquatics Centre opened in May 2014. The centre provides a first class training and competition venue for elite athletes and offers a community facility that encourages participation in water based activities at all ages and abilities. The world-class facility, located adjacent to Aberdeen Sports Village, includes a 50-metre, 10 lane Olympic-standard swimming pool, an international-standard diving pool with moveable floor and a health suite.

The fact that the University has become what it is owes much to the determination and vision of a handful of visionaries and pioneers, including a distinguished list of scholars who in their own unique ways, helped to shape the University into the world-class institution we have today.

Student B, retell this text to your partner from your own person, following the plan of the original text and using all expressions from the box above. Be emotional and convincing. Then answer your partners’ questions and listen to his/her story about the MSc Ecology and Conservation.

Ask your partner after he/she finishes:

1. Have I got you correctly? You say the programme starts…

2. Could you clarify, please, what …?

3. Do you happen to know where …?

4. Is it true that students can…?

5. Could you, please, say once again, when…?

 

Grammar focus

Participles

v Task 2.4.

Qualifications

The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.

A minimum of a UK 2.2 honours degree (or non-UK equivalent) in a biological, environmental or physical science, geography, or other relevant subject. We also consider applicants with degrees in other disciplines who are clearly motivated by the programme and have some relevant work experience.

IELTS Academic:

OVERALL - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0

TOEFL iBT:

OVERALL - 90 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21

PTE Academic:

OVERALL - 62 with: Listening - 51; Reading - 51; Speaking - 51; Writing - 54

Cambridge English Advanced & Proficiency:

OVERALL - 176 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169

Document Requirements

You will be required to supply the following documentation with your application as proof you meet the entry requirements of this degree programme.

v CV

an up-to-date CV/Resumé

v Degree Certificate

a degree certificate showing your qualifications

v Degree Transcript

a full transcript showing all the subjects you studied and the marks you have achieved in your degree(s) (original & official English translation)

v Personal Statement

a detailed personal statement explaining your motivation for this particular programme

Funding Opportunities

The following options are available to support your studies:

· SFC Tuition Fee Scholarships - open to Scottish/Non UK/EU applicants

· Tuition Fee and Living Cost Loans – SAAS loans to cover up to £5,500 towards tuition fees and £4,500 for living-costs for eligible students.

· Aberdeen International Masters Scholarship - a £2,000 tuition fee discount and is open to self-funding students nationals of Vietnam, China, Malaysia, and African countries.

· Alumni Discount Scheme - a 20% discount for postgraduate tuition fees to all University of Aberdeen alumni.

· SFC tuition fee scholarship may be available for those classified as Home/EU fee status students.

Writing skills

Personal statement

v Task 3.3. Apart from taking an international English Language exam, what will require the greatest effort to complete, from your point of view?

Usually, universities have their own CV forms with instructions, therefore normally it does not pose a serious problem to fill them in. However, writing a personal statement requires a good level of academic language and ability to formulate fully and concisely your purpose and motives, along with ability to motivate your readers to get interested in you. Propose a structure, in bullet-points, for such a statement (4-5 min to complete).

v Task 3.4. Reading. After you have made a plan for a personal statement, read a sample one below. Comment on its structure. How many words and signs might it contain? How is it generally organized? What is its style?

Academic Texts

Normally, academic writing implies that your language is:

· Formal (impersonal, does not contain any slang and colloquial phrases, has a lot of academic words, has formal structure of sentences);

· Reasoned (what involves critical thinking: interpreting and evaluating arguments and evidence, no taken for granted assumptions, assessment of relationship between claims and the evidence given to support them);

· Logical (that is, every next idea, judgement, argument etc. is connected with the previous idea);

· Structured (divided into sections, which in their turn consist of a logical sequence of paragraphs);

· Supported (by evidence, examples, referencing).

However, different types of academic texts (essays, reviews, articles, personal statements etc.) have their own specificity. For example, not all academic texts are to beimpersonal, personal statement being one of such.

While many academic texts have to be unemotional, it is not advisable to deprive your personal statements of emotionality altogether. On the contrary, certain emotional emphasis is expected to be added at some points.

Also, the number of academic words may differ greatly – for instance, it would not be relevant to include too many learnt words and terminology into your personal statement.

Next, it is absolutely unnecessary to divide your personal statement into sections literally, supplying them with headings – your sections in this type of texts are only implied.

Finally, referencing is appropriate in articles, some essays and reviews, but normally not in personal statements.

At the same time, what is always important to do in any academic text is to provide logical and smooth flow of your thought. For that, dividing the text into well-organized paragraphs is used.

A. Watch again. List all the mentioned activities students may get engaged in. Do you think it is a good idea to participate in different students societies? In a group discussion, give your arguments (time limit 20 min.).

To start off

Phrasal verb. 1. to begin by doing something; 2. to begin a journey or begin moving in a certain direction

It is/was about time

To find smth. rewarding

To hang out (with people)

Phrasal verb. Here means “to socialize/to spend time with people, usually in an informal way”

As most British universities, University of Aberdeen has a lot of (over 150) societies in a huge variety of spheres. Your friend even got giddy when he had a look at this wide range of all sorts of interests.

Student A

MPSU is:

A. 25 269 students from __ regions of Russia

B. ___ foreign students from 87 countries

C. 141 post-graduate students

D. ____ teachers

E. ___ Candidates of Science

F. 350 Professors

G. ___ Doctors of Science

H. 17 Institutes and Departments

I. ___ training and research centres

J. 59 research schools

K. ___ research centres

L. 7 dormitories

M. ___ University buildings

N. 38 Bachelor Degree subject areas

O. ___ Master Degree subject areas

P. 69 PhD subject areas

 

Student B.

MPSU is:

A. 25 269 students from 75 regions of Russia

B. 2320 foreign students from __ countries

C. ____ postgraduate students

D. 1746 teachers

E. 888 Candidates of Science

F. ___ Professors

G. 365 Doctors of Science

H. ___ Institutes and Departments

I. 12 training and research centres

J. ___ research schools

K. 10 research centres

L. ____ dormitories

M. 18 University buildings

N. ___ Bachelor Degree subject areas

O. 25 Master degree subject areas

P. ___ PhD subject areas

v Task 2.2. Reading.

< -- Image 13 -- >

B. Read the following text about one of the greatest Russian scientists and thinkers, who once used to be a lecturer at Higher Women’s Courses. The text has jumbled paragraphs. Your task is to order them correctly.

1. Having returned to Russia, Vernadsky accepted a professor position (1898) and later worked as vice rector of Moscow University. At the same time, he taught at Moscow Higher Courses for Women. He resigned in 1911 in protest over the government's reactionary policies, having built up one of the best-equipped laboratories in the world. After the February revolution of 1917, he served on several commissions of agriculture and education of the provisional government, including as assistant minister of education.

2. Vernadsky died on January 6, 1945, aged 81, in Moscow. Among his disciples were dozens of famous scientists. Numerous scientific institutions, geographical objects and streets, as well as a mineral, a species of algae and a moon crater, were named in his honour.

3. Vernadsky first popularized the concept of the noosphere (“the sphere of human thought”) and deepened the idea of the biosphere to the meaning largely recognized by today's scientific community. The word 'biosphere' was invented by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, whom Vernadsky met in 1911.

4. In 1887Vernadsky married Natalia Starytska; their son George Vernadsky (1887–1973) emigrated to the United States where he published numerous books on medieval and modern Russian history, and their daughter Nina Toll became an American doctor-psychiatrist.

5. Vernadsky expressed the interest to natural sciences since childhood. Vernadsky graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 1885. As the position of mineralogist in Saint Petersburg State University was vacant, and VasilyDokuchaev (the founder of soil science), and Alexey Pavlov, a geologist, had been teaching Mineralogy for a while, Vernadsky chose to enter Mineralogy.

6. Vladimir IvanovichVernadsky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, on 12 March 1863 in the family of the Russian-Ukrainian economist and professorIvan Vernadsky and music instructor Hanna Konstantynovych. His second cousin was Vladimir Korolenko, a renowned Russian writer. Vernadsky spent his childhood and went to school in Ukraine, but returned to Saint-Petersburg with his family to continue his education.

7. In the late 1930s and early 1940sVernadsky played an early advisory role in the Soviet atomic bomb project, as one of the most forceful voices arguing for the exploitation of nuclear power, the surveying of Soviet uranium sources, and having nuclear fission research conducted at his Radium Institute. He died, however, before a full project was pursued.

8. Vernadsky’s theory was not widely accepted in the West. However, he was one of the first scientists to recognize that the oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere result from biological processes. During the 1920s, he published works arguing that living organisms could reshape the planets as surely as any physical force. Vernadsky was an important pioneer of the scientific bases for the environmental sciences. His most famous book, “Biosfera”, was written during the flee to Paris after the Revolution and published in 1926. He also worked with the Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, and they published two works together, “The living Matter in Biosphere” and “Human Autotrophy”.

9. In Vernadsky’s theory of the Earth's development, the noosphere is the third stage in the earth's development, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life). Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition will fundamentally transform the biosphere. In this theory, the principles of both life and cognition are essential features of the Earth's evolution, and must have been implicit in the earth all along.

10. In addition, Vernadsky was a renowned Russian crystallographer, mineralogist, geochemist and geologist and laid out the foundation for the study of geochemistry and biogeochemistry, and took part in various expeditions.

11. Vernadsky was a member of the Russian and Soviet Academies of Sciencessince 1912 and a founder and first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciencesin Kiev, Ukraine (1918). He was a founder of the National Library of Ukrainian State and worked closely with the Tavrida University in Crimea.

12. While trying to find a topic for his doctorate, he first went to Naples to study under crystallographerArcangeloScacchi, and then to Germany to study under Paul Groth, who had developed a machine to study the optical,thermal,elastic,magneticand electricalproperties of crystals.

 

v Task 2.3. Vocabulary work. Focus on terms. Search the net and find out more about the terms below. Sum up the key things about each and enter them into the blanks. Exchange your results with the groupmates and discuss the results:

1. Chrystallography ________________________

2. Minerology ____________________________

3. Geochemistry __________________________

4. Biogeochemistry _______________________

5. Biosphere _____________________________

6. Geosphere _____________________________

7. Cognition _____________________________

8. Noosphere _______________________________

9. Nuclear fission _____________________________

Writing skills

Summary

 

v Task 2.4. Write a one-paragraph summary of the text.

Source of picture: tes.com

v Task 2.1. Speaking. Share your ideas and arguments in favour of your educational projects. Ask each other questions.

v Task 2.2. Speaking. In group, discuss what technical devices are the most efficient, from your point of view, in school. How often do you use them? What do they help to develop?

v Task 2.3. Vocabulary work. Match the words in two columns to make sensible word-combinations.

1. to be charged with	A. digital pages
2. to flick	B. device
3. portable	C. responsibility
4. wireless	D. respect
5. excessive amount of	E. relationships
6. easily	F. information
7. seamless	G. network
8. positive	H. roaming
9. mutual	I. accessible

v Task 2.4. Listening. Watch the video “Essa Academy Case Study” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIcZi6haez4. While watching, check whether you matched the words correctly. Number the word-combinations in order of their appearance in the video.

v Task 2.5. Speaking. After you watch, formulate the main message of the video. Then answer the questions below:

1. What is the motto of the Academy?

2. What properties does the network have to possess?

3. What advantages do learners get?

4. How do teachers communicate with parents?

If necessary, watch again.

v Task 2.6. Speaking. Have a group discussion. Express in turn your opinion on the following questions:

1. Why is modern society developing student-centred approaches to education?

2. What is modern education aimed at?

3. What is more important today: to teach facts or skills? Why?

4. What type of society is going to be a result of student-centred education?

5. What are possible risks of this education?

Use hedging expressions and coordinating adjuncts in your talk (pages: …)

Ø Task 2.7. Follow-up. Writing. Write a one-page report to sum up the key opinions on each problem you heard during the debates. Use academic style.

Lesson 4. CLIL Approach

v Task 4.1. Speaking. Share with your group the story of an innovative school you have selected.

v Task 4.2. Speaking. ESSA school is very multicultural. In multicultural environment, it might happen, many students do not speak the state language of the country they have moved to. Therefore, to teach them different subjects, teachers may have to use elements of CLIL-methodology. What do you know about CLIL? Share your ideas with the class.

v 4.3. Reading. Read the text below. Take notes to answer the following questions:

1. Why and when was CLIL launched for the first time?

2. In what cases can CLIL be used?

3. How different does CLIL make the teaching and learning process?

4. What additional skills have students to master in CLIL?

5. What is the ultimate purpose of CLIL?

(Source: CLIL Guide Book:

https://www.languages.dk/archive/clil4u/book/CLIL%20Book%20En.pdf)

The progress of CLIL

The term Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) was launched during 1994 in conjunction with the European Commission. This followed a Europe-wide discussion on how to bring language learning excellence, found in certain types of school, into mainstream government-funded schools and colleges.

At the time, the launch of CLIL was both political and educational. ‘The political driver was based on a vision that mobility across the European Union required higher levels of language competence in designated languages than was found to be the case at that point in time. The educational driver, influenced by major bilingual initiatives such as in Canada, was to design … language teaching approaches to provide a wide range of students with higher levels of competence’ (Marsh 2012).

Now, some twenty years later, the concept of CLIL has emerged as not only a way of improving access to additional languages, but also bringing innovative practices into the curriculum as a whole.

CLIL as an approach has slowly been gaining acceptance in European countries. In fact, in some countries, teachers are now required to use CLIL in their classrooms. The trend seems to be that CLIL will be used more and more in the future in most of the countries of Europe.

CLIL integrates both Content Learning and Language Learning. Using CLIL, students learn one or more of their school subjects in a targeted language. Students aren’t expected to be proficient in the new language before they begin studying. They learn the language they need for studying at the same time as they learn the subject.

With CLIL, learning the content and learning the language are equally important. CLIL involves a change of focus in the classroom. When teachers use the school lingua franca (SLF) for teaching, they can tell the students everything they want them to know, and the students can understand them. However, when they teach their subject using a new language, this isn’t possible. Because of this, they have to show students how to find out information for themselves, and how to work and talk together to discover new ideas, so that using the language becomes part of the process of learning. In other words, the teachers have to change their methodology, and find different ways to help students learn.

By doing this, the teacher prepares young students for the modern world, where people work in project teams; use other languages to talk to various colleagues and to communicate with people in different countries. They are expected to solve problems, plan their own work and find out things for themselves using a range of sources, especially the Internet. CLIL, then, is designed to prepare young people for the future. It provides the first step to learning and understanding independently.

 

v Task 4.4. Speaking. Using your notes, retell parts of the text in turn with your partner.

v Task 4.5. Speaking. Do you have any experience of your own with CLIL? If yes, share it. If not, would you like to try it? Why?/Why not?

v Task 4.6. Vocabulary focus. Find in the text italicized words which mean the same as:

1. start smth.

2. agreement to take smth.

3. ability to move easily from one job, area, or social class

4. a language spoken by people with different native languages

5. two-language

6. chosen for a particular purpose

7. high quality of smth.

 

Grammar focus.

Understanding infinitives

v Task 4.7. Pay attention to grammar structures in bold type. Find them all and translate.

This type of structures is usually called “Complex Subject”. They often follow the pattern: Subject + [the verb in passive* form] + infinitive. The meaning of these phrases is equivalent to the phrases “it is [thought/believed/expected/…] that he/she/it/they…”.

Rephrase the sentences with Complex Subject from the texts with the phrases beginning with “it is/was”. Ex.: Students aren’t expected to be proficient. à It is not expected that students are proficient.

* Note: unless the verbs are never used in passive.

v Task 4.6.

4.6.1. Change the following structures into the ones with Complex Subject and complete the sentences using simple active or passive infinitives. Important: remember that the verbs “to seem” and “to appear” cannot be passivized, they are only used in active voice.

1. It was know that …____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. It has been found that … _______________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

3. It is generally thought that… ____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

4. It is believed that ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

5. It seemed that…_______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

6. It appears that… ______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Ø 4.6.2. Add at least two more examples for each case of your own.

Classroom principles

Some of the basic principles of CLIL are that in the CLIL classroom:

· Language is used to learn as well as to communicate.

· It is the subject matter which determines the language needed to learn.

A successful CLIL lesson should combine elements of the following:

· Content – Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to defined curriculum

· Communication – Using language to learn whilst learning to use language

· Cognition – Developing thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete), understanding and language

· Culture - Exposure to alternative perspectives and shared understandings, which deepen awareness of otherness and self.

In a CLIL lesson, all four language skills should be combined. The skills are seen thus:

· Listening is a normal input activity, vital for language learning

· Reading, using meaningful material, is the major source of input

· Speaking focuses on fluency. Accuracy is seen as subordinate

· Writing is a series of lexical activities through which grammar is recycled.

For teachers from “traditional” English Language Teaching background, CLIL lessons exhibit the following characteristics:

· Integrate language and skills, and receptive and productive skills

· Lessons are often based on reading or listening texts / passages

· The language focus in a lesson does not consider structural grading

· Language is functional and dictated by the context of the subject

· Language is approached lexically rather than grammatically

· Learner styles are taken into account in task types.

Lesson framework

A CLIL lesson looks at content and language in equal measure, and often follows a four-stage framework.

Processing the text

The best texts are those accompanied by illustrations so that learners can visualise what they are reading. When working in a foreign language, learners need structural markers in texts to help them find their way through the content. These markers may be linguistic (headings, sub-headings) and/or diagrammatic. Once a ' core knowledge' has been identified, the organisation of the text can be analysed.

Language identification

Learners are expected to be able to reproduce the core of the text in their own words. Since learners will need to use both simple and more complex language, there is no grading of language involved, but it is a good idea for the teacher to highlight useful language in the text and to categorise it according to function. Learners may need the language of comparison and contrast, location or describing a process, but may also need certain discourse markers, adverb phrases or prepositional phrases. Collocations, semi-fixed expressions and set phrases may also be given attention as well as subject-specific and academic vocabulary.

Tasks for students

A variety of tasks should be provided, taking into account the learning purpose and learner styles and preferences. Receptive skill activities are of the 'read/listen and do' genre. A menu of listening activities might be:

· Listen and label a diagram/picture/map/graph/chart

· Listen and fill in a table

· Listen and make notes on specific information (dates, figures, times)

· Listen and reorder information

· Listen and identify location/speakers/places

· Listen and label the stages of a process/instructions/sequences of a text

· Listen and fill in the gaps in a text

Tasks designed for production need to be subject-orientated, so that both content and language are recycled.

Typical speaking activities include:

· Question loops - questions and answers, terms and definitions, halves of sentences

· Information gap activities with a question sheet to support

· Trivia search - 'things you know' and 'things you want to know'

· Word guessing games

· Class surveys using questionnaires

· 20 Questions - provide language support frame for questions

· Students present information from a visual using a language support handout.

Conclusion

From a language point of view, the CLIL 'approach' contains nothing new to the EL teacher. What is different is that the language teacher is also the subject teacher, or that the subject teacher is also able to exploit opportunities for developing language skills. This is the essence of the CLIL teacher training issue.

(Source: British Council, Teaching English. CLIL: a Framework:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/clil-a-lesson-framework)

v Task 5.3. Say if the following information is true (T), false (F) or not given in the text (0).

1. Learning about other points of view and experiences is important in CLIL.

2. Abilities to speak fluently and to be grammatically correct are equally important in CLIL.

3. In CLIL, productive skills are seen as more important than receptive ones.

4. Type of tasks given to students depends on the style of learning they prefer.

5. Visualization of the text plays an important role in preparing material for a CLIL lesson.

6. Timelines are used less frequently than flow diagrams or tables.

7. Learners are usually asked to keep to the original language of the text as close as possible when retelling it.

8. Students are given vocabulary and structures best suited to reproduce and discuss the content, usually regardless of their “difficulty”.

9.  Tasks for production are designed to recycle new vocabulary and grammar and don’t always focus on the current topic.

10. Receptive skills activity include reading or listening for specific information activities.

11. CLIL approach doesn’t suit physical training lessons.

v Task 5.4. Speaking. Discuss with your partner(s).

1. What features make CLIL an increasingly popular approach in the world?

2. Why is ability to use a new language is just as important as excellence in a subject?

3. Why is it generally believed that cognitive skills are more efficiently trained in CLIL than in traditional approaches to teaching subjects?

4. Why is visualisation of information preferred in CLIL to plain texts?

5. What activities, from your point of view, focus on culture more than others?

 

v Task 5. 5. Vocabulary work.

5. 5.1. Provide suitable word-combinations:

writing reading listening speaking  text vocabulary communication

1. Facilitate _______________________

2. Receptive skills include:_____________________________________

3. Productive skills include:_______________________________

4. to highlight ___________________________

5. subject-specific ____________________

 

5.5.2 Match the words and their definitions:

A.

1. questionnaire	a. the main
2. set phrase	b. to categorise smth according to its quality etc.
3. exposure to	c. in a less important position
4. otherness	d. a line curving back towards itself
5. fluency	e. correctness; ability to use language without errors
6. subordinate	f. experiencing smth. directly
7. to grade	g. a written set of questions given to people to collect information
8. take into account	h. ability to speak very well
9. core	i. fixed, unchangeable expression
10. loop	j. a sense of being different
11. accuracy	k. to consider smth.

B.

1. information gap activities	a. an activity to understand what the words using pictures, verbal descriptions etc.
2. handout	b. a chart to show dynamic relationships in a system
3. flow diagrams	c. a way some words are often used together
4. timeline	d. to write a name of smth. to indicate what it is
5. word guessing game	e. arrangement of data in rows and columns or more complex graphic structures
6. to label	f. а system of division of smth. into levels of importance
7. Trivia	g. detailed facts about smth. (history, famous people etc.)
8. tabular diagram	h. a list of events in chronological order
9. collocation	i. something given to others freely
10. hierarchy	j. a technique in language teaching where students are missing information necessary to complete a task or solve a problem, and must communicate with their classmates to fill in the gaps

v Task 5.6. Learning about CLIL practically. Practice a CLIL lesson in biology for senior school students with B1-B2 level of English.

Below, you will find a suggested scenario of a CLIL lesson so that you could practice it from a student’s position. As a result, you will be able to understand better how CLIL works; also, you will revise a number of concepts from molecular biology and genetics.

 

The Twisting Tale of DNA

Geckos and grasshoppers, worms and watermelons, elephants and Escherichia Coli, man and mushroom. All so different in form and function, but amazingly the same in how their form and function are determined.

First, all these organisms are made of 1. ____________, and every cell of every living thing on earth contains all the information it takes to create and 2. _____________ and make 3. ________________ of itself.

That information is stored in a very long but quite simple double molecule called DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid.

And the DNA of every living organism is made of 4. _________________ of four smaller molecules called 5. ______________. What dictates the difference between a man and a mushroom is the 6. _______________ of these nucleotides in the long DNA chain.

The four differing nucleotide parts, called bases, are made of a few carbon, oxygen, 7. _______________, nitrogen and phosphorus atoms, and the molecules look like this.

And each of these four bases is attached to an identical 8. ______________ molecule, a sugar called 9. _________________ - the "D" in DNA - and a phosphate group.

Let's simplify these nucleotides and show them like this.

So, a single sequence of nucleotides joined by their common sugars would look like this.

And the DNA molecule where such sequences are stored looks like this.

But how does a simple molecule dictate the form and function of millions of different living things?

You can think of DNA as a great library of information, information that is used to do one thing and one thing only: direct the building of different protein molecules.

And it's the proteins that build the cells and keep them functioning and changing and reproducing. Here's where the familiar word 10. '___________' comes in.

If your DNA is a library of information, a gene is a book in that library.

A gene is a segment of the DNA molecule. Let's say your body needs a particular protein, like insulin.

To get it, some of your cells send a 11. __________________ through the bloodstream to the cells in your pancreas, where insulin is made.

That signal protein tells other proteins in the cell's 12. __________________ to open up a part of the DNA 13. ___________________, the insulin gene, and start making insulin proteins.

As soon as enough insulin has been produced, another signal protein comes to the pancreas' cells that tells them to stop making insulin.

It's like looking up a book in the DNA library about insulin, and then putting it back when you're done.

There are genes in DNA for visible and invisible things that make up your body, like genes for eye colour, protein pigments, for skin colour, for hair colour, for stopping and starting bone growth, for your blood type, for how many fingers or arms and legs you have, for proteins that influence how long you live.

Your DNA probably contains between 25 thousand and 40 thousand genes, while the DNA of a worm or a plant or a fruit fly contains about 12 thousand to 20 thousand genes.

Some of those genes have quite different sequences of nucleotides than yours, and some are similar to yours.

Though it happens infrequently, our own nucleotide sequences can change as the result of spontaneous or environmental damage, which might remove or shift a nucleotide position.

This changes the gene involved, and can then change the protein.

Most of these changes, called 14. ______________________, have very little effect on the organism or its 15. ____________________, some are mildly 16. ________________, and a few can make the organism better-suited to its environment.

It is these tiny changes in DNA gene sequences, happening over millions of years, that create the differences among living organisms, from geckos to grasshoppers, worms to watermelons, elephants to Escherichia Coli, and man to mushroom.

· Check if necessary the meaning of the target words using the dictionary and enter them in your vocabulary.

· Correct your answers to the questions above.

Learn more about DNA.

What is DNA?

Text 1.a.

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the ______________________ in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the ____________________________ (where it is called _____________________ DNA or mtDNA).

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: ____________________, _________________, __________________, and ________________. Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA bases pair up with each other, ____________ and _________, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a __________. ________ are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can _________, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a ___________ for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

Text 1.b.

DNA, or _______________, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the ___________ (where it is called _________ DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four __________: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about ____________ bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA ______________ pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called ________ pairs. Each ___________ is also attached to a ______________________. Together, _________________. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. ______________ in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

(Source: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/basics/dna)

Test

1. DNA is made of chains of four types of smaller molecules called _______________. Each of them consists of 3 components: __________________. Specific sequences of these units coding for proteins are called________________.

2. Changes in these sequences are called _________________. They can be results of either spontaneous or _____________.

3. DNA’s full name is _________________

4. DNA is a double ____________________ whose important property is that it can make its own copies, or ____________________.

5. The two chains of DNA are held together due to hydrogen bonds between four different bases. They are A______, C_________, G_______ and T__________.

6. In DNA, A always pairs with ___________, while ________ always pairs with _______.

Part for Student A

Decoding dialogue

David Peeters loved learning foreign languages when he was growing up. His first language was Dutch. He studied three others at school — German, French and English.

In college and graduate school he focused on linguistics. It’s the science of human language. And the more he learned, the more Peeters began to wonder what happens inside our brains as people converse. He began to look at language through the lens of neuroscience — the study of the brain.

“There’s a lot aboutthe waythe brain processesspeech that we don’t understand,” he says. Peeters is a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen (Nih-MAY-jin), a city in the Netherlands. Peeters studies the way people communicate. To answer some of his questions, he built a virtual restaurant.

Real people stroll into it. To do this, they wear 3-D glasses. The small room they walk in has screens on every wall. It’s called a cave automatic virtual environment — CAVE for short. It’s basically a theatre with a 3-D movie projected on every wall. To someone wearing 3-D glasses, it feels almost like a real world. (For people familiar with Star Trek: Next Generation, CAVEs are essentially a real-life version of the holodeck.)

The screens show scenes inside the virtual restaurant. Each person who takes part in the study “becomes” a waiter or waitress through an avatar. That avatar is a ma