News

Developments 2011

We are very happy to announce the publication of our training kit. The kit shows in which way the languages and cultures present in the classroom can be developed as a cross-curricular resource at primary and secondary level. It offers twenty-six content-based didactic units in English, French and Spanish to be used in classrooms.

The training kit assists teachers in creating content-based and plurilingual materials in English, French, and Spanish that can be linked to several subjects of the curriculum and promotes strong links between language teachers and teachers of other disciplines.

Apart from the rational and a questionnaire, the booklet offers sample activities for the classroom. All the activities can be downloaded from the project website.

Expert meeting, 26-27 January 2011

So here we are, the last ConBaT+ meeting… The ConBaT+ team reviewed all the materials and made them ready for publication. We also discussed the content and the development of the website. We prepared the promotion text for the closing conference of the 3rd medium-term program in September. When all of that was done, we realized we would miss Graz a lot so we started generating ideas for a new project…

We’d like to thank the participants for their hard work, their creativity and their open minds. We hope ConBaT+ will build many bridges between people enhancing plurilingualism and pluriculturalism within CLIL and elsewhere.

Summary 2010

ConBaT+ champions the integration of plurilingualism/culturalism in Content-based teaching and learning. 2010 saw the development and production of 9 new sets of materials for learners and for teachers which gives the total of 27 units of work in English, French and Spanish which are genuine reflections of this aim. 2010 also saw the wider dissemination of the ConBaT+ rationale and products, in Europe and Canada, by participants and team members. This was made possible with the support of a number of institutions but most significantly by participants’ growth in confidence and belief in the aims of the project. As a result, team members gained new energy and new inspiration.

Conbat+ team in Ottawa, Canada, 27-30 September 2010

The ConBaT+ team were delighted to represent the ECML at the University of Ottawa in Canada where a symposium as well as a workshop were organized by OLBI (Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute) and CASLT (Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers) and the ECML on Thursday September 30th 2010. More than 40 participants from different educational sectors attended this fruitful and lively event. The aims as well as the ConBaT+ products were disseminated. The team members want to thank OLBI, CASLT and the ECML for the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences in the field of innovative language education.

Network meeting, June 24th-25th 2010

Amid strawberries (graciously supplied by the ECML), sunshine and good humour (graciously supplied by the ECML staff, the team and the participants), the final ConBaT+ network meeting took place on 24th and 25th June in Graz. Thanks to participants' commitment, the team witnessed the progress made by these practitioners over the life of the project. The ConBaT+ aims were met, namely the integration of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism in a content-based approach. For example, we discovered mathematics from an Inca perspective and the names of winds in different countries and languages in a Geography class.

Network meeting 10-11 September 2009

On September 10th and 11th a network meeting took place for the ConBaT+ project at Graz on the ECML premises.

Twelve participants were expected but unfortunately one participant was unable to attend.The meeting proved very fruitful as participants exchanged views and feedback on one another's materials.

As a result, great improvements were made and the motivation to produce additional materials is very encouraging for the team. The participants are so comfortable with the aims of the project that we can safely say that they took ownership of the project. The network documents will be available on the project website.

Expert meeting at the ECML, 23-24 April 2009

The ConBaT+ team and Peter McIntyre, our invited expert from Canada had a fruitful meeting where participants’ materials were reviewed and plans for the next network meeting were made. We also had very interesting exchanges with the CLIL-LOTE-GO group and new perspectives emerged.

In our opinion the results obtained so far are very encouraging.
The team members produced materials in English, French and Spanish for primary and secondary school learners. Those materials were presented and evaluated by the participants who attended the first workshop in September 2008. The materials are piloted in national professional networks or classrooms and feedback is given on the piloting. The project is presented in national and international conferences and/or seminars.

Workshop, 24-26 September 2008

On Tuesday 23rd September Dr Peter MacIntyre, Dr Fernando Trujillo, Dr Mercè Bernaus, Sofie Jonckheere and Dr Áine Furlong prepared the meeting. Martine Kervran could not attend this workshop due to imminent submission of her doctoral thesis.
The agenda was examined in great detail and revised very carefully, some changes were made, additional short presentations were prepared and materials were reviewed.
At 7.30 pm the team welcomed the participants informally at Liwino´s restaurant.

On Wednesday 24^th September the workshop started at 9am and participants were welcomed both by the team and by Michael Armstrong on behalf of ECML. After warming-up activities, participants´expectations and concerns were elicited by means of a simple questionnaire (“my suitcase”). The project overview and rationale were presented in the morning. After lunch awareness-raising activities were conducted. These activities were followed by two presentations on content-based teaching in Canada and Belgium. The proceedings were highly interactive.
In anticipation of the European day of languages, participants were asked to supply Fernando Trujillo with favourite words and corresponding translations. The day was evaluated by the participants very positively. The day concluded with a very successful multi-cultural party at 11.15 pm.

On Thursday 25^th September we started at 8.30am. The team provided the evaluation of the previous day. The kit materials designed by the team were distributed among the participants. Six groups were formed to enable the evaluation of the materials by the participants. Evaluation guidelines as well as indicators of quality were provided. A plenary followed with participants´ critical reviews and suggestions. The day proved to be very constructive, both for the participants and the team. This approach was highly valued by participants. Once more, the day was evaluated very positively.

On Friday 26^th September at 8.45am the participants were greeted with a specially created web site which projected the words collected on the first workshop day accompanied by a corresponding picture. The previous day´s evaluation was presented. Groups were formed once more after the explanation of the template for the design of materials. Participants developed content-based activities which incorporated a plurilingual approach. These activities were presented and discussed by the team and the group. Based on participants´ activities and responses, the team believes that the concept underpinning the aims of ConBaT+ was successfully grasped by the majority of participants.
The action plan along with tasks for the next stage were explained to the participants.
The project web site was presented. The final evaluation of the workshop for the team and for the ECML was conducted with very positive results.

Michael Armstrong and the team closed the proceedings. Conbat+ is very grateful for the reception hosted for the participants and the team at the Stadtmuseum. The team is also grateful for the support of the ECML staff throughout these days.

Expert meeting 24-25 January 2008

The ConBaT+ team, composed by Mercè Bernaus (Spain), Aine Furlong (Ireland), Martine Kervran (France), Sofie Jonckheere (Belgium) and Fernando Trujillo (Spain) as an invited expert, met at the ECML premises in Graz, on January 24-25 2008. Susanna Slivensky, Margit Huber, Elke Göttl-Resch and Erika Komon from the ECML welcomed us and explained the new procedures to be followed during the process of the project.