Experts from the world of languages are coming together at Sheffield Hallam University to discuss how learning maths in Spanish or geography in French could help improve school pupils’ grades across the board.
The University is hosting an international conference on Cross-Curricular Language Learning (CLIL) which takes place at the Sheffield Institute of Education this Friday 21 and Saturday 22 June.
Among those attending are top language teaching specialists and researchers from 15 countries around the world, who will meet to discuss the benefits of this method of teaching and how to implement it.
Dr Kim Bower worked as a French and German teacher in UK state schools for 16 years before moving into academia, teacher training and research. She is recognised as a curriculum innovator in modern languages teacher education.
Dr Bower said: “We are trying to put language learning on the map in Sheffield. Learning languages in the UK is difficult and we want to make language teaching more relevant and interesting, if students are motivated to learn their results will be better.
“This method is proven to work in England- having to concentrate enhances listening skills and the ability to solve problems through increased cognitive challenge enables students to achieve higher grades across the curriculum. This pedagogy has been show to increase intercultural awareness, motivation and attainment.”
Dr Bower said pupils taught using CLIL pedagogical approaches had achieved GCSE grades a full grade higher than expected – and not just in languages but in all of their subjects.
According to the Languages Trends survey only 47 per cent of boys or students from disadvantaged backgrounds studied languages at school; 34.5 per cent of pupils aged 13 to 14 are not learning a foreign language and seven per cent of schools no longer offer languages to Year 7 or Year 8 pupils.
Dr Bower said: “We want to help tackle the recruitment crisis in language learning and we think that this approach is a good way to do that, by encouraging more learners to study languages to A level and beyond.”
The CLIL method of language learning is used at schools in the UK and there will be a presentation by Jane Driver and Virginia Alfaro of Queen Katharine Academy in Peterborough where maths is taught in Spanish.
Speakers at the conference include experts from Australia, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Taiwan, China, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Finland.
At Sheffield Hallam University, our approach to research and teaching emerges from our values as an institution. We believe in applied learning and multi-disciplinary collaboration. We believe universities should make material contributions to the cultural, economic, social and health challenges facing society today.
Most importantly, we believe that the pursuit of knowledge has the power to transform lives.
