Teaching Other Subjects Through English: by Sheelagh Deller and Christine Price, Published in the Resource Books for

Teachers series, O ford !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 Resources with 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 this rare 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(ectrelated /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 level differences 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 challenge is 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

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 rather than 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 "ie,ed hereThe .hat/s 0e, in )anguage Teaching course can be "ie,ed here-