Teaching Other Subjects Through English

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Sheelagh Deller & Christine Price

Oxford University Press 2007

ISBN 978-0-19-442578-0
Are you teaching 11 - 18-year-olds and do you need to teach other subjects through English? Are you interested in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)? Are you a teacher trainer or a trainee teacher and want to know more about how to teach subject matter through a foreign language? Are you interested in extending your repertoire of classroom activities?

The book ‘Teaching Other Subjects Through English' caters for all these interest groups and many others. In the introduction, there is some background information on CLIL, including a section on advantages and challenges of CLIL. There is even a reference to Howard Gardner's theory on multiple intelligences (one of my hobby horses) and ETAS is mentioned too. In 2001 ETAS Journal Volume19 had a supplement on CLIL. It is really worth keeping all the ETAS Journal - otherwise contact Corinne, ETAS Administrator, who will happily send you the library copy.
Teaching Other Subjects Through English provides the process (classroom activities which can be used to teach any subject) and the subject book provides the content. The book is divided into 7 chapters:

1) Giving new information;

2) teaching and activating key vocabulary;

3) Speaking;

4) Writing;

5) Consolidation and revision;

6) Using supplementary resources; and

7) Project work.
I have found it really hard to decide which chapter I like best - and only wish my science teacher had had a book like this one, e.g. 1.10 Correct me; topic: an experiment demonstrating a chemical reaction. I am not sure that I would have liked chemistry more but it would have helped me to understand the process a bit better. By the way the materials needed for the activity are: a thermometer, a lidded jar big enough to hold the thermometer, a small piece of steel wool, and vinegar. However, I would choose chapter 5 with consolidation and revision as my favourite, e.g. Call our bluff, writing T/F statements with the subjects: food technology, biology, sports science, history or simply any topic you want to revise. Not necessarily a new classroom activity for EFL teachers but probably for most subject teachers. There is also a definition bingo, a mastermind activity, a Give me four, etc. etc.
It is a pity that there is no section on assessment. It would have been interesting to know more about how language and content could be assessed in classroom situations. I guess this could be another book to be written.
I first heard about this book when I was looking for something on classroom language. There is a special appendix dealing with ‘Language to help you in the classroom' and another one with ‘Useful language for your students'. Another appendix deals with useful websites and includes my favourite CLIL website www.factworld.info amongst many others, of course (whether you are interested in arts, business studies, design and technology, food technology, geography, history, literature, mathematics, music, personal, health and social education, physical education and sports science, religious studies, sciences). It's a book to add to your library.
Susanna Schwab