EDUCATION SUSTAINABILTY: AN OWE TO THE FUTURE

By : INGGY YULIANI PRIBADY, MPd.

The word ‘sustainability’ buzzed into my head and twisted inside when I heard it at the first time when I attended TUNZA (International youth conference on environment) in October 2011 as a chaperon.  At that time my knowledge of sustainability was pretty limited but I was eager to learn more. The thorny questions were arisen in my mind: what does sustainability mean exactly? What is sustainability about? What is the relation between sustainability with people, environment, community and the other aspects of life?

TUNZA gives me some answers and other references too. The terms Sustainable and Sustainability are used to describe many different approaches toward improving our way of life. Some focus on environmental impact alone, or emphasize the idea of the triple bottom line (measuring performance of organizations or communities on separate economic, environmental, and social dimensions). However, the original definition of sustainable development is usually considered to be: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987: 43, as cited in Jenkins, 2009:381).

 

 

From the definition above, it can be concluded that we have to change our life style to a sustainability life and take part in the system to change the state of our world and for the future. Then a big decision comes across to my mind what should I do as an individual and what should I do as a teacher to take part as the world warrior to find the perfect balance in life. The conference and the references had awakened me from my ignorance on nature. I didn’t realize that the climate change keeps getting worse and our planet is getting warmer and changing faster than had been assumed.

 

Reviewing this, the call to action bangs my head, education sustainability is the answer of it because education is humanity best hope and most effective means in the quest to achieve sustainable development (UNESCO: 2008). I should commit to myself that being green and sustain is my responsibility. I will share it to others and teach my students to be more sensitive to their environment. Teaching the good and important habit to the young age is a good sense as the step towards a better life in the future. It is in line with Orr (1992) who says  that education relevant to the transition to a sustainable society which  demands a commitment to life signifies a general direction for education, students and teachers must be able to read the compass—to understand the world of nature and to develop competence in thinking about natural systems.

 

Education sustainability is beneficial to be implemented at schools and it is the educationists’ (i.e. teachers) responsibility to start to introduce the issues of environment to the students and raise their awareness to their natural world. However, the effort certainly will be not successfully implemented without the government, society and educational stakeholders’ support.

Indonesian government has participated in signing the Millennium Declaration at UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. One of the international agreements is to protect our common environment. It is a long struggle and not easy to contribute to the fulfillment of that agreement in my country. The synergy among government, society, media and business is needed to a successful implementation and it is a complicated intertwined deal.

There is no good coordination among them which can be seen from the government budgeting allocation and the policy which is not in line with the purpose of the international agreement. The government also hasn’t fully accommodated the society’s aspiration and rewarded any participation in solving the environment issues. Thus, no wonder , Indonesia is still struggling with natural disasters, such as, flood, erosion, global warming which are caused by the conversion of forest into the plantation, factory, mining, illegal lodging, etc.

 

Actually, Indonesian government has put its concerns on environment by establishing the policy to include Environmental Education as one of the subjects at all level of schools from elementary to Higher Education. The Environmental Education should be developed based on the basic concept of environment which is applied in all kind of education system for all level from elementary to Higher Education. It is not applied only in formal education but also in informal education through the official government institution or non government organization.

 

The implementation of Environmental Education at schools is expected to change the behavior and the point of view of society on environment’s issues. The purpose of Environmental Education program is to introduce and develop the awareness on environment issues since early childhood. Moreover, the main mission of Environmental Education is the education of wisdom character morally and spiritually, in the reality of today and future’s behavior to the ecosystem safety and welfare.

 

Students are expected to maintain and conserve the sustain natural resources and raise their awareness that we cannot neglect the need of the future by exploiting and exploring the nature for our own needs and ego. It is in line with the essence of education which is to transform the values and norms which are applied in society and the purpose of Environmental education is to transform the understanding on Environment aspects to achieve the sustain environment. The result of environmental education which is integrated to all the subjects at school is to create the students’ culture to have orientation on sustainability of environmental ecosystem.

Achieving the golden purpose is not easy, although the Environmental Education, in Indonesia has been implemented since 25 years ago by integrating it to the other subjects, the result is not satisfied. There are a lot of problems in the process of implementation from the government and from the schools side. The government does not concern to the environmental education program. It is indicated by the lack of the allocation of the Environmental Education budget and there is no indication to increase the budget.

The teachers are not capable to teach Environmental Education which is integrated with their subjects and inappropriate methods of teaching which are used by the teachers emphasize on lecturing. The teaching material and the method are not applicative and not too support the effort to solve the environmental issue. The situation makes the students do not fully understand the concepts of Environmental Education.

Indonesia government and the Educational stakeholders should learn from the experience and the failure should not happen again. Therefore, the seriousness of the government to support the program is needed. The government should prepare the teachers’ competency in teaching Environmental Education by providing some training. The government also should provide the infrastructures and facilities to make the program runs successfully and allocate more financial fund on environmental management.

It should be realized that the successful of the awareness process and the change of view of the students to the environment issues is determined by the curriculum of the subject at school and the capability of the teachers to conduct the process of learning. Teachers’ capability is also determined by their own point of view on environment’s issues. The government also should fully concern to support the implementation of the program.

Based on the situation which has described above, there are several propositions that can be applied to make things better and support the success of the program.

Human resources quality at school, including, teachers, students and staff should be enhanced comprehensively through the proactive and reactive effort. The education institute should be the media to create the change of students’ behavior to apply the cultural environment. The teachers should design the environmental education teaching materials which are oriented to the sustainability development comprehensively and applicably. They also should develop various teaching methodologies which emphasize on practical activities and direct experience. The teachers should help students to discover the causes and the effects of the environmental problems to enhance their ability to think critically and increase their skill to solve the environmental problem

Meanwhile, the government should allocate and use the budget of Environmental Education effectively and efficiently. The environmental education infrastructure should be provided well based on the needs. The government also should encourage the public participation and increase the collaboration between government, schools and nongovernmental organizations to collect the fund for environmental education. Society participation should be accommodated to control the quality of the environmental education.

Finally, last but not least, it is not easy to achieve the main purpose of Environmental Education without the strength commitment and full support from the all level of society and the government. Therefore, let’s hand in hand to make the world better for our future generation by providing them good education and adequate understanding on the importance of sustainability life.

 

 

 

References:

Jenkins, Willis.2009. Sustainability Theory. Available at: http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/assets_news/sustainability/Spirit_SustainabilityTheory.pdf, accessed on November 11, 2011

Orr, David.1992.Education and Sustainability: an approach. Available at: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~cses/csessite/restricted/EreadDocs/Orr_chapter_9.pdf , accessed on November 11, 2011.

Unesco.2008. The Contribution of Early Childhood Education to a Sustainable Society. France: UNESCO.

EXPOSITION WRITING AND CRITICAL THINKING

The term ‘expository’ covers the genres of exploration, description, persuasion and argument. Young readers find the register of the language the most difficult of all the non-narrative category of books. Not only is the text arranged differently from narrative, which usually has a chronological order of events, but the content is concerned with abstract notions that deal with the building of an argument such as relating cause and effect, distinguishing problem and solution and comparing and contrasting concepts. (Riley and Reedy, 2000:28)

An exposition persuades a reader or listener by presenting one side of an argument by taking a point of view and justifying it, the aim is to convince others to see only that side of issue. Exposition analyzes, interpret and evaluate the environment surrounding us. (Barwick,1998:84)

Expository writing is characterized by the following:

• development of a main idea;
• support of the main idea using examples, details, and/or facts;
• presentation of logically organized information;
• commitment to the topic.

Forms:

Expository writing appears in letters, newsletters, definitions, guidebooks, catalogues, newspaper articles, magazine articles, how-to writing, pamphlets, comparison/contrast essays, cause-effect essays, problem-solution essays, reports, research papers, literary analyses, to name just a few. Whatever the form, its purpose is to inform, explain, clarify, define, or instruct.

Guidelines:

No matter how expository writing is used, the following guidelines for good expository writing will help. Students should

• state the main idea;
• support main idea using examples, details, and/or facts;
• present information logically organized;
• Show commitment to the topic.

(http://www.vannet.k12.wa.us , accessed 7^th June 2009)

Types of Exposition taken from http://en.wikibooks.org  and http://glory.sc.maricopa.edu  accessed 13^th June 2009

DESCRIPTION:

- The author explains a particular topic by showing characteristics, features, and examples.
The author describes a topic by listing characteristics, features, and examples.  It provides details about how something looks feels, tastes, smells, makes one feel, or sounds

Cue Words
for example,
the characteristics are…

COMPARISON:

- The author shows how two or more topics are alike.

The author explains how two or more things are alike and/or how they are different. A comparison essay usually discusses the similarities between two things, while the contrast essay discusses the differences.

Cue Words
different; in contrast; alike; same as; on the other hand

CAUSE AND EFFECT:

- The author demonstrates the cause while showing the effects of the cause.

The author focuses on the relationship between two or more events or experiences. The essay could discuss both causes and effects, or it could simply address one or the other. A cause essay usually discusses the reasons why something happened. An effect essay discusses what happens after a specific event or circumstance.

Cue Words
reasons why; if…then; as a result; therefore; because

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION:

- The author explains a problem, and then explores possible solutions.

The author states a problem and lists one or more solutions for the problem. A variation of this pattern is the question- and-answer format in which the author poses a question and then answers it.

Cue Words
the problem is; the dilemma is; puzzle is solved; question… answer

 

ANALYTICAL

- The author evaluates a topic or argument, revealing its strengths and weaknesses.

CLASSIFICATION:

- The author sorts things into useful categories, makes sure all the categories follow a single organizing principle, and gives examples that fit into each category.

SEQUENCE:

- The author lists items or events in numerical or chronological order.

The author lists items or events in numerical or chronological order.

Cue Words
first, second, third; next; then; finally

Why teach exposition?

Expository is the type of writing that most of us encounter in our daily lives. When we pick up and read a non-fiction book, magazines, or newspaper article the author uses expository writing to inform us, the reader, about the topic. At school, students are required to submit school exams and research papers as a means for their teachers to grade their progress. Finally, at work, people are required to produce business reports and memorandums to inform their superiors and co-workers about the occurrences that take place at other levels of the company. In addition, oral exposition is primarily observed in oral academic presentations, business talks, and speeches that are delivered to a group of people. As each of these different cases illustrate, expository writing and speech surround us in our everyday lives. (http://www.stanford.edu , accessed 13^th June 2009)

Students in Expository Writing learn to summarize, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize the published views of others. It advances students’ learning, challenge them intellectually, engage them in the process of thinking critically about the issues raised, and motivate them to construct meaning of their own. (http://www.bentley.edu , accessed 13^th June 2009)

Experiencing persuasive writing helps develop a student’s critical thinking and clarity of expression while they respond to an issue. It encourages students to question, research and respond to an argument in a clear, logical way (Barwick,1998:84)

“Critical” in this sense does not mean negative but, rather, active and alert .Critical habits include being alert to similarities and differences; posing questions; setting issues in broader contexts; and forming and supporting opinions.(http://www.ablongman.com , accessed 13^th  June 2009) Critical means using skillful judgment in determining the truth or value of something. (http://www.you-can-teach-writing.com , accessed 13^th June 2009)

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the self-conscious attempt to improve the quality and intellectual rigor of one’s thoughts. The aim of critical thinking is to come up with conclusions that are reasonable and which accord with the best available data and evidence. (http://www.londonmet.ac.uk , accessed 13^th June 2009)

Chance (1986, p.6) as cited in Alagzlu (2007) sees critical thinking as the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems. Alagzlu (2207) also cited Beyer (1995, p. 8) defines critical thinking as “…making reasoned judgments”, basically, seeing critical thinking as using criteria to judge the quality of something, from cooking to a conclusion of a research paper. In essence, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of something (statements, news stories, arguments, research, etc.). Critical thinking involves identifying, evaluating, and constructing arguments and the ability to infer a conclusion from one or multiple premises. (http://www.asian-efl-journal.com , accessed 13^th June 2008)

 

 

Elements of Critical Thinking

	Observations. From a series of observations, we can come to establish:
	Facts. From a series of facts, or from an absence of fact, we make:
	Inferences. Testing the validity of our inferences, we can make:
	Assumptions. From our assumptions, we form our:
	Opinions. Taking our opinions, we use the principles of logic to develop:
	Arguments. And when we want to challenge the arguments of others, we employ:
	Critical Analysis (through which we challenge the observations, facts, inferences, and so on, in the arguments that we are analyzing). (Gocsik:2002)(http://academic.udayton.edu , accessed 13th June 2009)

Critical Thinking and Bloom’s Taxonomy

When people engage in critical thinking, they use of the full range of skills shown on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives.

1. Knowledge     

Remembering previously learned material, recalling
facts, terms, basic concepts from stated text

 

2. Comprehension          

Demonstrating understanding of  the stated meaning
of facts and ideas

 

3. Inference

Demonstrating understanding of the unstated
meaning of facts and ideas

4. Application

Solving problems by applying acquired knowledge,
facts, and techniques in a different situation

 

4. Analysis

Examining and breaking down information into parts

 

5. Synthesis

Compiling information in a different way  by combining
elements in a new pattern

 

6. Evaluation

Presenting and defending opinions by making
judgments about information based on criteria

(http://www.kyrene.k12.a2.us , accessed 13^th June 2009)

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Alagozlu, Nuray.2007. Critical Thinking and Voice in EFL Writing. Available at  http://www.asian-efl.journal.com

Barwick, John.1998. Targeting Text Middle Primary Recount, Procedure, Exposition. Blake Education, NSW.

English Department.2007.Expository Writing Program . Available at http://www.bentley.edu

Gocsik, Karen.2202. Teaching CT Skills through Writing.  Available at http://academic.udayton.edu

Riley, Jeni & Reedy, David.2000. A Teaching about Genre in the Early Years. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, A SAGE Publications Company, London.

Sunda, Ruth & Brisas, de Ias K.2009. Bloom’s Critical Thinking Questioning Strategies. Available at http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us

The expository writing program.2009.Information about expository writing. Available at http://www.stanford.edu

Web Link.2009.Critical Thinking, Reading & Writing. Available at http://www.ablongman.com

Writing Mode. 1999.The expository Mode. Available at  http://www.vannet.k12.wa.us

Writing center.2007. Critical Thinking and Bloom’s taxonomy. Available at  http://www.ncu.edu

Writing centre. 2005. Critical Thinking and Writing: an Introduction. Available at http://www.londonmet.ac.uk

——–. 2009.What is expository writing ? Available at http://glory.sc.maricopa.edu

Youcanteachwriting.2009.Teach Critical Thinking Strategies from the Writing Prompt Forward. Available at http://www.you-can-teach-writing.com

 

GENRE BASED APPROACH 2

School Based Curriculum  or KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) is a curriculum which gives the schools independency in designing, developing, and implementing the curriculum based on their own situation, condition and potential. There are principles that should be considered in developing curriculum based on KTSP (1) oriented in potential , development, needs and importance of students (2) varied and integrated (3) responsive to science, technology and art (4) relevant to life needs (5) general and continued (6) long life learning (7) balanced with national and local needs.      (Muhaimin,Sutiah&Prabowo,2008:22-23)

In developing curriculum and syllabus, the school should refer to the guidance which is conducted by The Committee of Educational National Standard or BNSP ( Badan Nasional Standar Pendidikan) . BNSP develops Content Standard (Standar Isi) and Graduate Competence Standard (Standar Kompetensi Lulusan) which includes basis framework and curriculum structure as the principle in developing the curriculum.

The release of English curriculum is underpinned by systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and involves the genre-based approach (GBA) that is concerned with the relationship between language and its function in social settings. It indicates that Indonesian government’s is aware to the necessity for the teaching of English which is functional and which can lead to students’ ability in using the language in context.

According to the Content Standard, the ultimate goal of learning English is to make the students to be able to able to participate in discourse or to communicate idea, feelings, etc. in spoken and written English accurately, fluently, and in acceptable manners. In competence standard of English Subject for Junior High school, there are four competencies that students should achieve: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Teachers should develop syllabus in school’s MGMP by adapting the syllabus that they made from the syllabus guidelines from BNSP based on the subject’s characteristics, students’ potentiality, school’s need and condition. The development of English syllabus is aimed to the development of competency to communicate in both spoken and written which integrated four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Teachers’ creativity in developing learning material and method is demanded professionally. The learning activity is a student centered learning and the teacher as a facilitator. The time allocation in syllabus is based on the situation and condition of teaching – learning activity in the school. The development of Basic Competence into indicators depends on the learning materials, activity and teachers’ creativity.

The teaching of English is developed with the framework of Genre Based Approach   and It seems to pose some challenges for the teachers. They should not only pay attention to linguistic aspects but also to strategic competence, socio cultural and discourse aspects. Given this challenge, the teachers who have been accustomed to conventional teaching which emphasizes on linguistics aspects need to switch to a new teaching paradigm.

However, this new paradigm sometimes leads to the confusion and problems, for example:    In Indonesia, there are 30-48 students in a classroom. As a result the situation may not be effective. The students can be bored, stuck and noisy if the teacher doesn’t creatively design the learning method, so the atmosphere cannot support the effectiveness of the learning process.

Actually, GBA has variant texts of genres that can be taught in interesting way. Students are expected to involve to create making- meaning situation in the kind of genres. But the thorny questions are arisen   :

How to make all of the students get involve in meaning- making situation?  How to find the suitable teaching materials that familiar with students’ daily life?  Because language is fundamentally contextual and second language pedagogy should focus on teaching language as it really used by speakers and writers in meaning making situations and how to scaffold students in an interactive cycle of teaching and learning?

The questions are answered by the meaningful activities which are created by the teachers, such as : Role Playing, Discussion, Debating, Writing Process, Singing and Poetry Reading. Those activities are beneficial to enhance students’ ability in English.

STAGES IN TEACHING ON GBA :

(Emilia, 2011)

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIELD

-Asking the students about their background knowledge on the issue discussed.

-Reading various texts (related to the issue discussed, from various perspectives), how different audiences might respond to the text.

-Listening to various texts.

-Discussing the topic based on the texts read or listened to.

-Encouraging students to find reading materials for additional information.

-Encouraging students to take notes on what they read.

-Providing students with expressions that they will use in the text in both English and bahasa Indonesia.

MODELLING

-Asking the students about their background knowledge on the issue discussed.

-Reading various texts (related to the issue discussed, from various perspectives), how different audiences might respond to the text.

-Listening to various texts.

–Discussing the topic based on the texts read or listened to.

-Encouraging students to find reading materials for additional information.

-Encouraging students to take notes on what they read.

-Providing students with expressions that they will use in the text in both English and bahasa Indonesia.

JOINT CONSTRUCTIONB : Writing as a process

•Grouping the students into threes and familiarizing them with the task they will do in the stage;

•Approaching each group at the start of the Joint Construction;

 •Observing students’ development in CT and control of the Discussion genre;

•Observing students’ perceptions of the Joint Construction;

•Consultation with each group on their draft.

INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTION: Writing individually

§   Writing as a process:

§    Writing the first draft

§    Consultation with the teacher

§    Revising the draft

§    Editing

§    Proofreading

§    Publishing

Content and Language Integrated Learning 1

What is CLIL?

 The term Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) refers to educational setting where a language other than the students’ mother tongue is used as medium of instruction (Dalton-Puffer, 2007:1).CLIL creates fusion between content and language across subjects and encourages independent and co- operative learning, while building common purpose and forums for lifelong development. This provides significant added value for language learning. CLIL is a dual focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language. (Mehisto,Marsh&Frigols, 2008:7)

 

CLIL aims to introduce students to new ideas and concepts in traditional curriculum subjects (often the humanities), using the foreign language as the medium of communication – in other words, to enhance the pupils’ learning experience by exploiting the synergies between the two subjects. This is often particularly rewarding where there is a direct overlap between the foreign language and the content subject.(http://www.cilt.org.uk , accessed 14th February 2009)

 

Language class and content class

The language teachers in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) class play a unique role. In addition to teaching the standard curriculum, they work to support content teachers by helping students to gain the language needed to manipulate content from other subjects. In so doing they also help to reinforce the acquisition of content. (Mehisto,Marsh&Frigols, 2008:11)

CLIL is a tool for the teaching and learning of content and language. The essence of CLIL is integration.

 

This integration has a dual focus:

1)      Language learning is included in content classes (e.g., Math, History, Geography, Computer Programming, Science, Civics, etc). This means repackaging information in a manner that facilities understanding. Charts, diagrams, drawing, hand-on experiments and the drawing out of key concepts and terminology are all common CLIL strategies.

2)      Content from subjects is used in language – learning classes. The language teacher, working together with teachers of other subjects, incorporates the vocabulary, terminology and text from those other subjects into his or her classes. Students learn the language and discourse patterns they need to understand and use the content.

 

Content teachers are partners with language teachers. They provide students with additional opportunities for language learning and they expect some support from language teachers in helping students to learn the content curriculum.

 

The language teacher uses the language textbook more as a reference tool, and works regularly with material from content classes to teach language. These content materials would be content-compatible as opposed to content-obligatory. The materials are often provided by the content teacher, or they are proposed by the language teacher. (Mehisto, Marsh, Frigols, 2008:112)

 

The materials from the content teachers will be adjusted to the language class competency.  The selection of themes and vocabulary will be based on the content class and incorporated it to the language learning.

 

Classroom principles

Some of the basic principles of CLIL that are 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 CLIL lesson is therefore not a language lesson but a subject lesson transmitted in a foreign language. According to the 4Cs curriculum (Coyle 1999), a successful CLIL lesson should combine the following elements:

·         Content - Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific                                            elements of a 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:

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

·         Reading, using meaningful material, it 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. (http://mabelgaya.googlepages.com , accessed 27th December 2008)

 

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 visualize 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’core knowledge’ has been identified, the organization of the text can be analyzed.

 

Identification and organization of knowledge Texts are often represented diagrammatically. These structures are known as ‘ideational frameworks’ or ‘diagrams of thinking’, and are used to help learners categorize the ideas and information in a text. Diagram types include tree diagrams for classification, groups, hierarchies, flow diagrams and timelines for sequenced thinking such as instructions and historical information, tabular diagrams describing people and places, and combinations of these. The structure of the text is used to facilitate learning and the creation of activities which focus on both language development and core content knowledge.

 

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 categorize 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 There is little difference in task-type between a CLIL lesson and a skills-based ELT lesson. 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. (http://teachingenglish.org.uk , accessed 27th December 2008)

 

Classroom activities

Listening

• 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

Speaking

• 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.

(http://teachingenglish.org.uk , accessed 27th December 2008)

 

Team Teaching

One of the important aspects in CLIL practice refers to interdisciplinary work and Team Teaching, which is also referred to as co-teaching and collaborative teaching. Johnson and Lobb (1961:59) defined Team Teaching as “a group of two or more persons assigned to the same students at the same time for instructional purposes in a particular subject or combination of subjects”.(http://teachingenglish.org.uk , accessed 27th December 2008)

 

The teachers are teaming at syllabus planning and objectives. At the beginning of the semester there is a meeting at which the syllabus is carefully planned and each lesson in the course is discussed. The content teacher provides some technical information on the course and the content. During the course both the content teacher and the language teachers are in touch in case language teachers needed some technical help.

 

The content teacher provides content material. Language teachers have some time to analyze it and decide what language elements should be taught in class. Language teachers test students’ abilities and linguistic skills so that they can decide on the level of language input. The results are presented to the content teacher and content material is carefully selected. The content teacher is aware of the language input students are able to understand and language teachers can prepare appropriate tasks for a supporting language class.

 

Students are assessed separately. They get separate marks for the content and language. As far as content is concerned students are tested in English, therefore the ability to produce appropriate and understandable output is crucial for getting a good mark in content exam. However, there are no established rules for assessing language in the content exam. (http://www.clil-axis.net , accessed 7th March 2009)

 

How does the CLIL approach benefit pupils?

 

Although it may take a while for pupils to acclimatize to the challenges of CLIL, once they are familiar with the new way of working, demonstrably increased motivation and focus make it possible (and likely) that they will progress at faster-than-usual rates in the content subject, providing that the principles of CLIL teaching are borne in mind during planning and delivery. CLIL aims to improve performance in both the content subject and the foreign language. Research indicates there should be no detrimental effects for the CLIL pupils (and often progress is demonstrably better).

 

Other advantages include:

 

• stronger links with the citizenship curriculum (particularly through the use of authentic materials, which offer an alternative perspective on a variety of issues);
• increased student awareness of the value of transferable skills and knowledge;
• greater pupil confidence. (http://www.cilt.org.uk , accessed 14th February 2009)

CLIL helps to:

•      Introduce the wider cultural context.
•     Prepare for internationalization.
•    Access International Certification and enhance the school profile.
•    Improve overall and specific language competence.
•     Prepare for future studies and / or working life.
•      Develop multilingual interests and attitudes.
•     Diversify methods & forms of classroom teaching and learning.
•     Increase learner motivation.

(http://mabelgaya.googlepages.com , accessed 27th December 2008)

 

 REFERENCES

 

British Council.2006.CLIL: A Lesson Framework. Available at http://teachingenglish.org.uk

CLIL- Axis.2004. The Potential of Team Teaching. Available at http://www.clil-axis.net

CLIL Room.2008. CLIL. Available at http://mabelgaya.googlepages.com

CILT, the National Centre for Languages.2007.Some Common Questions about CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). Available at http://www.alt.org.uk  

Mehisto, Peeter; Marsh, David & Frigols, J. Maria.2008.Uncovering CLIL Content and Language Learning in Bilingual and Multilingual Education. Maxmillan Publishers Limited.

Puffer,-Dalton, Cristiane.2007.Discourse in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Classroom. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia.

 

 

Genre Based Approach 1

Genre Based Approach to teaching writing has been developed mainly in Australia, based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) developed by Halliday. It is defined a genre as systemic functional linguistics that is concerned with the relationship between language and its function in social settings.

 

Halliday divided the context of situation of a language event on how we use language into “field, tenor, and mode.” Field refers to the topics and actions which language is used to express. Tenor denotes the language users, their relationships to each other, and their purposes. Mode refers to the channel through which communication is carried out. By understanding the semiotic properties of a situation (i.e., the values for field, tenor, and mode), language users can predict the meanings that are likely to be exchanged and the language likely to be used. Halliday notes that while people are communicating they make predictions by using the values of field, tenor and mode to understand register and that their assessment facilitates their own participation.

(http://www.public.iastate.edu/~carolc/LING511/sfl.html , accessed 19th October 2008)

 

Textual meanings vary with different combinations of these contextual variables. In applying this framework, SFL genre researchers represented by Jim Martin move beyond Halliday’s description of the relationship between text and immediate situations and seek to capture the contextual interaction between social purposes and text meanings. Genre is viewed as staged, goal oriented process (Martin: 1984). Under this conceptualization, a text unfolds through a predictable sequence of stages that are deployed to achieve certain communicative purposes.

(http://ro.vow.edu.au , accessed 19th October 2008)

 

All genres control a set of communicative purposes within certain social situations and that each genre has its own structural quality according to those communicative purposes. Therefore, the communicative purposes and the structural features should be identified when genre are used in the writing classes.

 

In the genre approach, samples of a specific genre are introduced, and some distinctive characteristics of the given genre are pointed out so that students notice specific configurations of that genre. Next, students attempt to produce the first draft through imitating the given genre; it helps students to create an appropriate text.

 

There are two cycles and four stages in genre based approach. (Agustien: 2006).In the first cycle, teachers start from the first stage called Building Knowledge of the Field (BKOF) where teachers and students build cultural context, share experiences, discuss vocabulary, grammatical patterns and so on. All of these are geared around the types of spoken texts and topics they are going to deal with at the second stage.

 

The second stage is called Modelling of Text (MOT) where students listen to statements of short functional texts, conversations, and monologues that are geared around a certain communicative purpose. For example, if students are expected to produce procedural texts, then, the short functional texts, conversations, and the monologues are developed with one main communicative purpose, that is, giving instruction or direction. In short, at the second stage, students listen and respond to various texts with similar communicative purposes.

After listening, students enter the third stage called Joint Construction of Text (JCT). At this stage they try to develop spoken texts with their peers and with the help from the teachers. They can create different announcements, conversations on showing how to do things, monologues on how to make something and so on. They need to demonstrate their speaking ability and to show confidence to speak.

 

After having the experience of collaborating with friends, they enter stage four called Independent Construction of Text (ICT). At this stage, students are expected to be able to speak spontaneously or to carry our monologues that are aimed at giving directions or showing ways to do things such as how to make a kite, how to make a paper cap, and so on. Thus, the first cycle integrates the development of speaking and listening skills.

 

The second cycle is aimed at developing the ability to use written language. The teachers and students go through all the four stages, but in MOT students are exposed to written texts. Here students develop reading skills, followed by joint construction in writing texts, and finally they write texts independently. Like the strategies employed in the first cycle, activities in this cycle are also geared around the same communicative purpose. Students read short functional texts and procedural texts, and then they write texts similar to what they have read. In this way, the integration of the four skills is created by the communicative purpose(s) of texts. Students speak what they have heard, read what they have talked about, and write what they have read.

 

BETTER COMMUNITY BETTER LIFE COMPETITION

This is my first post on my new blog. I would like to share my happiness after I won Better Life Better Community Competition ( Connecting Classroom Online British Council ) for three categories : Teacher’s catagory, individual student’s catagory and whole class category. All the hard working is paid by these. Thanks to my students who have helped me on this project and support from all of my colleagues at SMPN 2 Bandung.

http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/bcbl-winners

 

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