Acceptance and adoption of the WebQuest in CLIL

Trabajo Final del Máster Universitario en Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos en Lenguas Extranjeras (Inglés) “Acceptance and adoption of the WebQuest in CLIL” Student: Cristian Antonio Pérez Lutzardo Tutor: Plácido Bazo Martínez C/ Padre Herrera s/n 38207 La Laguna Santa Cruz de Tenerife. España T: 922 31 90 00 www.ull.es Abstract The implementation of CLIL is something that has been spreading in recent years in various countries. In the case of Spain, and specifically the Canary Islands, it is no different. This work focuses on the creation, implementation and realization of activities in the form of a learning situation to investigate the acceptance that 3rd year Primary students from a school in Tenerife have when using a WebQuest as a CLIL work method in the classroom, instead of more traditional materials. Key words: CLIL, WebQuest, Primary, Bilingualism, ICT Resumen La implementación de CLIL es algo que se ha ido extendiendo durante los últimos años en diversos países. En el caso de España, y concretamente Canarias, no es diferente. Este trabajo se centra en la creación, implementación y realización de actividades en forma de situación de aprendizaje para investigar la aceptación que tienen los alumnos de 3º de Primaria de un centro de Tenerife a la hora de usar una WebQuest como método de trabajo CLIL en el aula, en lugar de materiales más tradicionales. Palabras clave: CLIL, WebQuest, Primaria, Bilingüismo, ICT Index Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 Justification ........................................................................................................................... 5 Research objectives .............................................................................................................. 6 Theoretical framework .............................................................................................................. 7 Intervention ............................................................................................................................ 14 Results .................................................................................................................................... 16 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 18 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 20 Annexes .................................................................................................................................. 23 Annex 1 ............................................................................................................................... 23 Annex 2 ............................................................................................................................... 24 Annex 3 ............................................................................................................................... 25 Introduction This Master's thesis is intended to be developed as a research work and that, through this WebQuest, an attempt has been made to investigate the preference and predisposition of 3rd year Primary students to use, experiment and learn through this tool rather than using books. It is also fair to point out the fact that, thanks to a survey, students' preference for teamwork is analysed, as well as their sincere opinion as to how much they would recommend its use and consider that they can learn any subject through this tool. It is worth mentioning that it consists of the creation, presentation and application of a WebQuest in a CLIL environment, with development at the Colegio Hispano Británico (La Laguna, Tenerife). For this, a complete learning situation has been created and carried out in the same way that it would be developed in a traditional way in the classroom, but instead of applying it in this way, the aforementioned programming has been adapted and transferred to a website, which has been created for that purpose. On this website, we find all the tools and explanations necessary to carry out what is proposed, either in the classroom or from home, an aspect to highlight if you want to use methodologies such as Flipped Classroom, online education, among others. The topic chosen for the learning situation has been "Machines". The choice of the topic is justified by the continuity in terms of the agenda established for the students. Prior to this topic they have learned about "Energies", so machines are perfectly associated as a natural continuity in the teaching-learning process of students. It is important to shed light on the fact that the students who are going to use the WebQuest are not used to the situation of learning topics related to science in English, although they are used to working with that language in other subjects that are historically taught in the learner's native language. In terms of activities, there are a myriad of options included due to the fact that diversity is appreciated as a necessary tool when looking for catching learners' attention. What can be found on the website are from average to innovative ones, including some, such as videos, online games, explanations, a book created for the occasion, creation of mind maps, a final task about a machine creation, to name but a few. Justification It has been decided to carry out this thesis in a CLIL environment because the English language learning is more and more prevalent and notorious, more and more governments and schools are advocating an immersive teaching of the language. On this occasion, the Science subject has been used to apply the CLIL methodology, and, specifically, the topic of machines. The ability to develop a second language opens a door of opportunities for the learner, it helps you to acquire not only that language, but also linguistic strategies that you can apply to subsequent learning, it gives students a globalizing character, culturally rich, an approach different. Therefore, throughout this work, an attempt is made to expose, defend and explain the characteristics and functionalities of CLIL learning through a WebQuest. Many of the activities presented and developed through the WebQuest seek the intensive use of the speaking skill. Bearing in mind that speaking is one of the most important skills, one of the less worked and causes more problems and frustration, was decided to put an extra effort on that. The use of the speaking skill will, in the end, depend on the school and the teacher who teaches the lesson. In my opinion, the most suitable for a school, and from an early age, are the most additive models, because it is vitally important that children grow and advance with both languages, and that little by little, they use more the L2. It is merely impossible for a student to only use L2 from the first moment due to the fact that more teachers and preparation is required in order to develop such an educational system. I do not conceive of an education system in which the first years only L1 is worked, and then all of sudden learners just work with L2. Middle point is where we can find the victory, and that goes by showing them the two languages, with L1 dominance, and as they progress, L2 will be used more and more, because in the end, CLIL is that, not pure bilingual education. Finally, feedback is sought from the students, in addition to the one who writes these words, in order to check if the theory put into practice has fruitful and motivating results for the people involved in the educational environment. Research objectives The specific objectives that I intend to investigate are the following: • Define the WebQuest tool, as well as the CLIL approach • Relate the use of WebQuest with learning a foreign language, in this case English. • Propose a learning model based on the use of this tool, bringing the ICT world closer to students • Make a real intervention to see the results with 3rd grade students Theoretical framework Times go by, there are changes and adaptations. On this basis, there are some changes that are directly applicable and others that are part of the way to develop certain ideas. This time we are dealing with the CLIL concept, which has been swarming among us for some time. Once legislation enters every idea, it goes from project to reality, and this is what we have been seeing in recent years, as reflected in ORDEN de 11 de junio de 2010, por la que se establecen los requisitos para la solicitud y autorización de la modalidad de aprendizaje integrado de lengua inglesa y contenidos de otras áreas o materias (Content and Language Integrated Learning), en centros públicos que imparten enseñanza básica en la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias. As George Couros said, “technology will not replace great teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational”. If we find such statements, it is nothing more than the fact that it is merely inevitable to associate innovative or modern education with English / CLIL today. It is also purely true that, although few, there are still detractors of this type of education, since they consider that knowing the language of the country where you live is enough, without taking into account the globalization process that the planet has been living through. over the past 30 years More and more government institutions have implemented language immersion alongside the mother tongue. Manuel Megías Rosa (2012) affirms that it is a global trend, what happens is that in certain areas it is working or is being implemented with more force. I think it depends on the characteristics of the contexts. I mean not only linguistic but educational policies in general. The purpose of introducing CLIL in the centres is none other than making the schoolage population bilingual. It is interesting to note the fact that seeking that linguistic ability is not something totally new or innovative as such. The need to know two or more languages is not new. Historical documents indicate that individuals and whole communities around the world have been compelled to learn other languages for centuries and they have done so for a variety of reasons -- language contact, colonization, trade, education through a colonial language (e.g., Latin, Greek), and intermarriage (Lewis, 1977). Taking that into account we can add that, the Linguistic Society of America affirms that a bilingual person is someone who speaks two languages and that many people may become bilingual by acquiring those two languages at the same time in childhood or by learning a second language sometime after acquiring their first language. This fact can bring arguments for and against in a debate about when and how a person can be considered bilingual. If someone manages to certify a C1-C2 level according to the CEFR, is that considered as bilingual? Can only someone born in an environment with both languages be bilingual? Detractors will affirm this, while some supporters will say that, as long as you can be proficient in that language, it will be enough to be considered bilingual, whether or not you were born in an environment with both languages. Siguán and Mackey (1987) define the bilingual as "the person who, in addition to their first language, has a similar competence in another language and who is capable of using both in any circumstance with similar efficiency". I believe that such a definition of bilingualism would bring us closer to the fact that, through the CLIL methodology, a person who has not had, so to speak, the luck of being born in an environment with two languages can reach this certain level that brings you closer to the aforementioned concept. The acronym CLIL was coined in the 1990s, so it already has its way in society. Although it is a concept with time, it has not always enjoyed the same popularity as today, which is when it seems to have the most recognition. The reason for its increasing use was that “it placed both language and non-language content in a form of continuum, without implying preference for one or the other” (Marsh, 2002: 58). It is worth mentioning that some educational methodologies that are tried to be presented as innovative, futuristic or novel are nothing more than a resurgence or adaptations of past methodologies. It is well known that some methodologies advocate the use of nature as a means of teaching, teaching in open, natural environments, but there is evidence that it was used that way many years ago. To give strength to this argument we have when 100 years ago, in the middle of the tuberculosis outbreak, in 1904, they opened the “Waldschule für kränkliche Kinder” or “forest school for sick children” around Berlin. With this I want to reaffirm the idea that, where we think that it is innovating, perhaps it is using a rehash of something previously used, without this meaning anything negative. Therefore, a question needs posing: what do we intend to achieve with CLIL? Well, to obtain an exact answer we would have to ask all the teachers in charge of said methodology, but broadly speaking, we could allow ourselves to affirm that what CLIL tries to do is that the competence of being able to teach and learn subjects that are normally taught in the mother tongue and now it is done in English it becomes something common, every day, easily accessible for any learner. This, as it has been tried to affirm throughout the document, is tried through the introduction of the foreign Results In order to obtain the results, a survey has been carried out to 18 students from 3rdA and 19 students from 3rdB. To do so in the most objective way possible, the survey was not delivered to them until all the tasks proposed in the WebQuest has been completely completed. First, we will go on to analyse the data separately for each class, and then together. 3rdA: the data obtained indicates that 92.6% of the students prefer to work in groups. 70.3% prefer to work with a WebQuest rather than with the book, 70.3% like to have a final project, in this case, the creation of a machine. Moreover, we have that 77.78% consider that they have learned thanks to the WebQuest and also consider that they can learn from other subjects using this aforementioned tool. Finally, 79.6% recommend the use of a WebQuest to people who do not use it. 3rdB: the data collected is that 68.4% of the students prefer to work in groups. 81% would prefer to work with a WebQuest instead of the book, following the traditional model. 79% like to have a final task on the WebQuest, in this case, creating a machine. 72% consider that they have learned thanks to the use of WebQuest. 73.4% consider that they can learn in other subjects using the WebQuest and 73.7% recommend the use of the WebQuest to people who do not use it. Now that we have presented the results separated by class, we are going to put them together as if they were a single sample, to see how we have worked with the 3rd grade students. Combined results: combining and sharing data, we see that around 80% of the students prefer to work in groups, an aspect that should be taken into account, although not in this school, there are cases in which it is considered pertinent to work individually. Around 75% of the surveyed students prefer to use the WebQuest instead of a book, as well as 74% who consider that they have learned thanks to it. Close to 75% stipulate that they can learn from a WebQuest in other subjects, not just science, and they like to have a final project. Finally, almost 76% of the surveyed students, corresponding to 2 classes of Primary 3 with different ages, recommend the use of WebQuest in an educational environment. Conclusions As we could see, 24.2% more students in 3rd A prefer to work in a group. This data does not surprise me at all, since, during group activities, the differences between the 3ºB students were clearly seen. The fact that they are divided between 3ºA and 3ºB by date of birth, being those of 3ºB younger than the ones in 3ºA, added to the past quarantine and the fact that this year they are not used to working in a group may be the determining factor so that certain behavioural problems have arisen during certain activities, almost always related to the acceptance of ideas from colleagues or the nonacceptance that your opinion is not taken into account. Given this information, I think it is vitally important that, as a general rule, students prefer to work with peers and that, if organized well, with roles, it brings nothing but good learning results. Leaving aside the teamwork issue and analysing the rest of data, we can affirm that the students of 3rd grade of the Hispano Británico school mostly prefer to work in groups. Moreover, they consider that they have learned thanks to the WebQuest that has been proposed. Furthermore, they believe that they can learn from other subjects, they like to have a final task and, finally, they recommend it to the rest. Taking that information into account and bearing in mind our initial research question on acceptance and adoption of the WebQuest in CLIL, we can affirm that it is totally positive in the studied sample. It is important to highlight these very favourable data, since it is the first time that they use a WebQuest to learn, it is the first time in more than a year that they have worked in a group and, above all, it is the first time that they have learned some science content in English, as her main CLIL subject is Arts & Craft. For all this, we can affirm that the research that has been carried out has produced especially positive numbers. It is also worth highlighting the importance of having been able to carry out this work with almost 40 students, not just with one class. 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Techopedia.Com. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/5411/website Whittier, D. (2007). The effect on cooperating teachers of the Teacher as WebSite Developer Program. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 7(3) (refereed). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol7/iss3/currentpractice/article1.cfm Whittier, D. (2009). Measuring history: The teacher as Website developer. In I. Gibson, R. Weber, K. McFerrin, R. Carlsen & D. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2009-- Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2183-2188). Charleston, SC, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/30947/. Annexes Annex 1 https://cristianpl35.wixsite.com/machines Annex 2 Annex 3