Children easily remember long verses and sing them skillfully, imitating the intonation without even fully understanding the content and lyrics. How do they do it? It’s a mystery!
How to open the world of English without leaving your house?
What is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), why is it effective and how do Novakid online English language platform teachers use this method?
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is one of the approaches to learning a foreign language. All school subjects are taught in a foreign language, usually English. As you can tell from the name, this method has two directions: students form a knowledge base in a particular subject (for example, geography, history, biology) and at the same time develop their English skills.
This approach originated and began actively developing in Europe as a reaction to the ineffective English language learning methods that existed in the 1980s and 1990s, which were unable to teach English at a sufficient level to be able to communicate in everyday life.
Why CLIL is effective
Currently, CLIL is practiced in many general education schools in Europe and loved by children and parents alike. It has proven to be a reliable method of learning English and gained a lot of respect among teachers.
Researchers Wolff and Dalton-Puffer say this approach is so effective due to the following key factors:
- First, immersion into a real foreign language environment where English is not the goal but the means of education;
- Second, the use of authentic material helps learn linguistic information better;
- Third, a native speaker teacher allows significant improvement in English conversational skills and communicative competence.
Research shows that students who are learning English using the CLIL method are more motivated and better at coping with linguistic and academic difficulties: they do better in other school subjects.
How CLIL is used at Novakid
The Novakid English language online platform uses the CLIL method as the main learning tool in the Time2Talk and Virtual Explorer courses, as well as during some of the lessons of the General English course. Learn more about Novakid programs at our website.
Lessons developed using this approach allow for the students to become immersed into discussions of the most interesting and relevant topics: world history, ecology issues, mysteries of humankind, as well as to learn about geniuses from the past and the bright minds of the present.
How are the discussions carried out? In English, of course! Novakid teachers are native speakers, and the specially-developed online platform creates all the conditions necessary for full “immersion” into the topic and active interaction during the entire lesson.
“What’s special about using the Content and Language Integrated Learning method at Novakid is that it is interactive and illustrative. Each lesson has words and a set of lexical constructs that the students have to use during their 3D tours or the discussions with the teacher. Interactive platform and VR tech make this educational process interesting and engaging”, says Amy Krolevetskaya, head of educational programs at Novakid.
Do you want your child to not just learn English, but also discover the world through the language? Sign up for a free trial lesson at the Novakid official website.
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