8/13/2019 pubs01

1/2

Teaching Other Subjects Through English:

by Sheelagh Deller and Christine Price, Published in the Resource Books

for Teachers series, Oford !ni"ersity Press, #$$%

&udit 'eh(r

Judit Fehr is a teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer based in Hungary. Her main

professional interests are creativity in language teaching and task-based, content-based

learning. She is co-author of Creative Resourceswith onnie !sai. She is a "ilgrims trainer,

who also runs #$%$ courses. &-mail' (feher)enternet.hu

% don*t know how it is with you, but when % take a new teacher*s resource book in my hands, %

have two conflicting e+pectations' %*d like the book to make my life easier, and %*d like the

book to professionally challenge me. are are the books that can do both at the same time.

!he new book of two long-time "ilgrims trainers, Sheelagh eller and #hris "rice is of thisrare kind. $et me tell you why % think so.

!eaching a sub(ect through a foreign language , which is often referred to as #ontent-

$anguage %ntegrated $earning, or #$%$ for short - combines the challenges of teaching a

content sub(ect with the challenges of teaching a foreign language. !he /uestions we need to

answer when preparing for a #$%$ lesson will include both language-related and sub(ect-

related /uestions' How can % present the new sub(ect content in a meaningful way through the

foreign language0 How can % teach my students words that stand for concepts that are new to

them and they would not know in their mother tongue either0 How much can % use the mother

tongue so that it helps my students to learn both the sub(ect content and the language and it

does not become an obstacle to learning0 1hat can % do if my class has language leveldifferences as well as differences in sub(ect-related skills and knowledge0 How can % help my

students to tackle comple+ te+ts0 How can % help them to remember the content, and make the

information their own so that they can use it to solve problems0 How can % help my students

to e+press their content-related knowledge and ideas both in speaking and in writing during

the lessons and in testing situations, too0 ecause of the added difficulty of using a foreign

language in a content sub(ect, learners will need more repetitions and revisions. 1hat can % do

not to bore them so that they remain interested and motivated0 2nd finally but most

importantly, what can % do to make sure that their self-esteem is boosted and that they en(oy

the doubled difficulty of learning a sub(ect through a foreign language0

!he above list of /uestions is far from being complete, which shows how great the challengeis that #$%$ teachers and trainers need to face. #hris and Sheelagh*s book makes our life

easier as it gives us very practical, classroom-tested and adaptable activities we can take

directly into the #$%$ classroom no matter if we have come to #$%$ from language teaching

or sub(ect teaching. !hese activities usually help us answer more than (ust one of the basic

/uestions above as we are preparing our lessons. !he activities are organised into chapters

that refer to stages in the lesson and language skills the activities are designed to improve, so

it is easy to find an activity type you need as you are planning your lesson. !he chapters

include' 3iving new information, !eaching and activating key vocabulary, Speaking, 1riting,

#onsolidation and revision, 4sing supplementary resources and "ro(ect work. 2ll the

activities are clearly e+plained in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner, all of them complete

with a demo sub(ect e+ample, a list of possible content areas the activity structure can be used

with different sub(ects, advice on how to use the activity with mi+ed-ability groups or when

8/13/2019 pubs01

2/2

and how to use the mother tongue. !he authors show us how to make things simple and

manageable, how to break things down, simplify them, make the abstract visual, find chunks

and key words, take notes, organise things around concepts or even turn learning into a

whole-body e+perience and get the learners to be the words, to be the concepts themselves.

2ll of the activities get the learners to actively participate in the learning process often in a

playful manner. 2s the authors say, the learners 5have to 6work for* the information ratherthan trying to take it in passively.7 !his will keep them motivated and interested, give them

time to study for real understanding and learn co-operatively with their peers. 2t the same

time, organising the learning process in this leaner-centred way decreases stress levels for

both the learner and the teacher as they are not 6put on spot*, they are not forced to perform in

front of the whole class if they are not ready either linguistically or content-wise. !hey can

move on from one success of completing a manageable task to another learning from and

helping each other.

!his is our #$%$ life made a lot easier, isn*t it0 So where is the challenge % have promised0 %

have found it in two things' Firstly, the adaptability and fle+ibility of these activities mean

that we have an endless task of finding out where they are best used in our own conte+ts,which sub(ect, what level and content. !he other challenge is the inspiration we get from them

to venture out and look into the methodologies of language teaching and teaching different

sub(ects and see how we could also combine strategies used in them and come up with

similarly fle+ible, adaptable and en(oyable activities ourselves.

2s % said at the beginning, this resource book is of a rare kind. 2s % see it, this is largely the

result of a clear understanding on the authors* part of the difficulties #$%$ students and

teachers need to face on a daily basis and of what works in the classroom. So more than

anything else !eaching 8ther Sub(ects !hrough &nglish is &2$' real contents from real

teachers to real students in real classrooms through real language. 2 real help and a real

challenge.

The C)*) + Teaching Other Subject Through English can be "ieed here-

The .hat/s 0e in )anguage Teaching course can be "ieed here-