CLIL and DaF

Deutschsprachiger Fachunterricht (DFU) means the teaching of specialist subjects in the German language– also known as CLILiG (Content and Language Integrated Learning in German) – and involves a bilingual approach to teaching specialist subjects with German as the target language.

It not only imparts specialist knowledge in subjects like geography, history, mathematics and science, but also an understanding of the language of the subject and a whole series of skills essential for the students' later professional life. For example, language-related thinking and linguistic interaction are developed when a student has to describe and explain a process; team competence is improved when working in a group and presentation and argumentation skills when working on a joint presentation. Today these abilities are already considered to be key qualifications in a working world that is growing all the time, way beyond the borders of one's own country. The Ministry of Schools, Science and Research in Germany's largest federal state (18 million people), North Rhine-Westphalia, puts it like this, "In a Europe that is forever growing closer, people are going to become more and more dependent on a second language both on a private as well as professional level. Their oral and written command of it will be equally as sophisticated, confident and fluent as that of their native tongue." (Recommendations for bilingual lessons at secondary school level from the Ministry of Schools, Science and Research, North Rhine-Westphalia.)

Bilingual instruction of specialised subjects really does pay off for the learner – as was shown by the DESI survey (German-English Student Achievement International, conducted by the University of Dortmund) that was carried out on 11,000 schoolchildren in Germany. It described the method as a "formula for success in the promotion of linguistic competence", particularly after it had been proved that students who had been taught in bilingual lessons were linguistically one to two years ahead of those taught monolingually. Furthermore the teaching of specialist subjects in German is also of particular benefit to students who are not German native-speakers.

More career opportunities

It goes without saying, of course, that English is the global "lingua franca", nevertheless bilingual learning with German also brings about an added bonus, opening up more career opportunities. It might be a university course in Germany a student is applying for or a job with a company that does a lot of business in German-speaking countries – maybe in Budapest, Prague, Sao Paulo, Ingolstadt or Wolfsburg.

For many countries Germany is one of the most important, if not the most important, export or import partner. For Italy, for example, this means – 14 per cent of all export earnings stem from German-speaking partners, 18 per cent of all imported products come from Germany. These are excellent figures for both these areas. Competent linguistic skills in German are of great benefit here – for going to a trade fair, for speaking on the phone, for ordering spare parts and for organising supply agreements.

A Family Business in Hungary as an example

Mr and Mrs Nemes run a small company that specialises in repairing and maintaining electronic cars and labelling machines. Many of these machines come from Germany. In order to repair them they have to be able to understand the specialist terms in the instruction manuals, wiring diagrams and construction plans and to be able to order spare parts from the makers in Germany. More often than not the special terms speak for themselves, explaining their function. A "jumper" for example is the name of an element that serves as a conductor connecting two contacts. There is no word for it in Hungarian. Mrs Nemes takes care of all the business correspondence with German companies – the documents show that even her somewhat basic knowledge of German specialist terms is of real help for this work. Later, when their two children are grown up, they will also work for the company. This is the reason why the parents sent them to a school that teaches specialist subjects in German. Equipped with these linguistic skills, they are later to help extend the company's after-sales service to include Croatia and Serbia on the other side of the border.

The learning environment is important

This bilingual approach to learning specialist subjects in German does in fact require the right environment. Students and parents are needed who are aware of these opportunities; teachers are needed who have undergone the right linguistic and didactic training and decision makers who are able to provide the right framework conditions concerning the curriculum, materials and teacher training. If all these are available, then the bilingual approach to learning specialist subjects can even be applied to teaching beginners. For this it is of great benefit when lessons are held in the target language – German – and that the specialist subject is taught in German by one teacher. He or she can adopt a linguistic approach, selecting suitable texts and material, combining the learning of the language with the application of it. If more than one teacher is involved, this combining has to be achieved by close cooperation, possibly backed up by in-service training schemes for the teachers concerned.

This is particularly important in the field of beginners' instruction for a lot of work has to be done here on building the "linguistic bridge", even though the information is already being transported across it. The specialist teachers have to pay more attention in these lessons to the introduction of the specialist terms, vocabulary training and linguistic aids than they do when the subject is being taught in the students' native tongue. Teachers of German have to be open to partnership, cooperation and support, because in the end it is the student who has to be capable of understanding difficult specialist texts, holding discussions on specialist subjects and, later, working as a member of an international, German-speaking project team.

The main thing everybody has to be aware of is the fact that general language and specialised language differ on many points.

The linguistic approach to teaching takes this into account .

The teaching of specialised subjects in German should ....

• be oriented to the (specialised) language and specialised linguistic elements should be integrated in the lessons.
• motivate the learner to actively apply both the specialised knowledge and the language.
• inform parents, head teachers and other influential people on these aspects, the value of this type of instruction and how it should be taught

The question is however just how can knowledge, language and skills all be imparted at the same time when teaching a specialised subject in German. A collection of 47 teaching methods that are to enable teachers and students to work on their subject in a more language-oriented way have been compiled in the "DFU Method Manual". After having been tried and tested in many schools by both German teachers and local teachers in the countries where the subject is being taught, this manual has become the standard reference work for bilingual teaching. It is even gaining more and more significance at schools in Germany. The PISA Study showed that many German schoolchildren also do not understand certain texts, especially if the language differs greatly from everyday usage like a specialised text. The methods in the manual are also of help here, enabling the schoolchildren in Germany to improve their knowledge, language and skills. Campaigns like "German in all subjects" are focussing more and more on this and are doing all they can to help schoolchildren from immigrant families to set out on the road to a brighter professional future. This future however is largely dependent on the development of one's linguistic skills – both general and specialised.

A further added bonus in the field of bilingual instruction is the opening up of additional perspectives. For example, if historical information is dealt with in another language, it is often imparted from a different cultural point of view. Whether it is called "mass migration" or "Barbarian invasion" – both observations are justified, depending on whether it is viewed from the German or the Italian perspective. The main thing is to learn about both points of view in order to be able to understand and tolerate others in this Europe of good neighbourliness. It is this in particular that is such a plus point when teaching history bilingually.

The following examples show how the method manual can be used in the classroom.

What do students say after having taken courses in specialised subjects in German? We asked a few of them to talk about their experiences and have summarised the results in a presentation.

It is statements like these that confirm that bilingual instruction of specialised subjects really is able to fulfil the initially described task of promoting the knowledge of the subject, the language and the related skills. The teaching of specialised subjects in German is to be further developed. As this field is now being sponsored by the EU and more and more emphasis is being placed on worker mobility between the member countries, more and more students are expected to profit from this development. A further acceleration of this development is to be expected, if, over the next few years, the idea of people being able to choose freely where they want to work becomes reality.

Three rules for good DFU Allow your students to work on something they find meaningful (their favourite topic, an experiment, a special area) . Create situations in which the students have to explain this topic to others, either orally (other students, other classes, exchange students, parents, an audience, internet .....) or in written form (letter, wall newspaper, educational poster, Internet page, PowerPoint presentation .... ) Give them a few guidelines (text analysis methods, presentation, discussion .....)