Universidad Internacional de La Rioja

Facultad de Educación

Trabajo fin de máster

Motivation and CLIL: Content in

a CLIL unit as the main strategy
to motivate eighth graders

Presentado por: John Walter Ruiz Castro

Tipo de TFM: Propuesta de intervención
Director/a: Beñat Muguruza
Ciudad: Tuluá
Fecha: 2017
Abstract

The aim of this research is to put forward a didactic unit aimed at influencing student
motivation in the English as a foreign language classroom in a monolingual context.
Guaranteeing language learning, when students show little to no interest in the foreign
language, is a challenge many teachers in the world face nowadays. Thus, the question of
how to engage students and maintain their motivation in the language classroom has
gained obvious relevance.

To do so, a literature review has been done on motivation, particularly on motivational

strategies and techniques. Despite the fact that a huge number of motivational strategies
exists, these still lack more classroom application to be tested and verified. Besides, the
Content and Language Integrated Learning approach, which has gained worldwide
recognition in the educational field thanks to its dual focus, flexibility and other alleged
benefits, has been surveyed, and C for Content has been emphasized for the present
work, as it is closely related to motivation.

Since motivation touches the very reality of students, their characterization and that of
their families and communities have also been considered. After the selection of a few
motivational strategies and respecting the Colombian guidelines on the teaching of
English as a foreign language, a CLIL didactic unit on marijuana was designed, including
its corresponding learning assessment and proposal evaluation. The target audience are
42 eighth grade (secondary education) students in a public school.

Although the didactic unit has not been actually implemented, it is expected that
motivation can be influenced once the teacher puts it into practice, in a way to prove that
even with a few well-chosen strategies, teachers can greatly improve their students’ level
of motivation and the teaching quality. Lastly, the didactic unit has a free hand for
teachers who want to either adapt it, use its suggested template for designing similar
CLIL didactic units, or expand it and improve it according to their expertise and legal
regulations of their respective country.

Keywords
Motivation, motivational strategies, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL),
C for Content, Secondary Education, English as a foreign language.

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Content

1. Introduction ................................................................................. 5
1.1. Justification of the research question and problem....................... 6
1.2. Brief analysis of the state-of-the-art ..................................................... 8
1.3. Objectives of the study .............................................................................. 10
1.4. Methodology ................................................................................................. 11
2. Literature review ........................................................................ 12
2.1. Motivation ..................................................................................................... 12
2.1.1. Definition ................................................................................................ 12
2.1.2. Motivation and language learning ............................................... 14
2.1.3. Language, learner, and learning situation levels of
motivation.......................................................................................................... 15
2.1.4. Internal and external factors ......................................................... 17
2.1.5. Motivating language learners ........................................................ 18
2.2. CLIL ................................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1. Definition ............................................................................................... 19
2.2.2. 4Cs framework .................................................................................... 21
2.2.3. C for content ......................................................................................... 22
2.3. Motivational strategies ............................................................................ 22
2.3.1. Motivation in the foreign language classroom ....................... 23
2.3.2. Motivation in the language classroom....................................... 24
3. Intervention proposal .................................................................25
3.1. Educational context and target group ................................................ 25
3.2. Objectives ...................................................................................................... 27
3.3. Methodology ................................................................................................. 29
3.4. Timing ............................................................................................................. 32
3.5. Sessions and activities ............................................................................. 32
3.5.1. Session 1. Introduction: What is marijuana? .......................... 33
3.5.2. Session 2. What are the parts of the marijuana plant? ....... 38
3.5.3. Session 3. What is the chemical composition of marijuana?
................................................................................................................................ 41
3.5.4. Session 4. What are the effects of marijuana on a person?
................................................................................................................................ 45
3.5.5. Session 5. What is marijuana’s current state in Colombia
and the world? Is it considered a drug? A medicine? Is it
addictive? ........................................................................................................... 49
3.6. Assessment ................................................................................................... 54
3.6.1. Learning assessment ......................................................................... 55

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 3.6.2. Assessment of the proposal ........................................................... 59
4. Discussion ................................................................................. 62
5. Conclusions ............................................................................... 63
6. Limitations and further research ............................................... 64
7. References ................................................................................. 66
8. Annexes ...................................................................................... 71
8.1. Annex I. Types of marijuana.................................................................. 71
8.2. Annex II. Anatomy of the cannabis plant. ....................................... 71
8.3. Annex III. Sample of a scaffolded paragraph. ............................... 73
8.4. Annex IV. Effects of cannabis on the brain. .................................... 73
8.5. Annex V. Marijuana worldwide current status map. .................. 73
8.6. Annex VI. Prueba saber sample, Part 1. ........................................... 74
8.7. Annex VII. Marijuana glossary rubric. ............................................. 75

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List of figures

Figure 1. The Self-Determination Continuum……………………………………………….14

Figure 2. CLIL aspects of the intervention proposal on marijuana……………….….31

List of tables

Table 1. Components of Foreign Language Learning Motivation………………….….15

Table 2. Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of motivation in language
learning……………………………………………………………………………………………………17
Table 3. Selected motivational strategies……………………………………………………..24
Table 4. Possible cross-curricular contents related to the marijuana topic in
different levels and contexts……………………………………………………………………….28
Table 5. Rubric to assess the cognitive, personal and social aspects of students…55
Table 6. Student self-assessment rubric……………………………………………………….57
Table 7. Rubric for peer-assessment……………………………………………………………58
Table 8. Student survey on motivation………………………………………………………..60
Table 9. Evaluation criteria for the intervention proposal………………………………60

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1. Introduction

Teachers are always trying to come up with strategies and techniques to keep students
motivated to learn. This fact becomes more important when the learning is that of an L2.
What is more, when the language to be learned is a foreign one, influencing motivation
and raising and maintaining student interest come to be the teacher’s biggest challenge.
As for this, globalization seems to be the force behind the learning of an FL in many
countries around the world, fact responding more to an extrinsic and instrumental kind
of motivation. The matter, then, is how to gradually change this kind of motivation
towards an intrinsic one.

Fortunately, the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language has arrived at a
convergent point where it is relatively compulsory to see it in a “global”, integral way,
that is, it must cover not only cognitive and communicative functions, but also cultural
aspects and relevant, contextualized contents. This makes it crystal-clear that the CLIL
approach fits in perfectly the current state of L2 and FL learning. What is more, CLIL
also relates to motivation as it permits teachers to make use of and adapt its different
tenets of language learning (4Cs) to their realities. From these, C for content is expected
to influence student motivation, by taking learners into account, personalizing contents,
establishing cross-curricular links, and making students feel they belong somewhere,
and this place is the language classroom.

Thus, in an attempt to influence student motivation, this Master Dissertation (MD)

comprises several sections that try to explain the rationale behind it. First, the
justification and the most recent studies on the topic are presented, along with the
objectives of the study, and the narrowing of motivational research and converging
points between motivation and CLIL, directed mainly towards content as a main
motivational strategy. Then, based on a literature review, the concepts and definitions of
motivation and CLIL in general and examples of motivational strategies and the
importance of C for content in particular, will be explained. Next comes the core of this
MD: The designing of a CLIL didactic unit on marijuana, including a characterization of
the school environment, possible cross-curricular links, and the integration and
adaptation of the Colombian guidelines on the learning of English as a foreign language
with CLIL, all making part of an intervention proposal on how to influence students’
motivation from content. Besides its division in different moments and sub-topics, there
will be a thorough analysis and evaluation of the intervention proposal. All in all, this

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permits to draw some conclusions, see some limitations, and suggest further lines of
research related to motivation and CLIL.

1.1. Justification of the research question and problem

Motivation has been generally accepted to be a key factor that influences the rate and
success or failure in second language (L2) learning (Dörnyei, 1998). Research into
language learning motivation in L2 and foreign language (FL) learning contexts has
focused on determining whether motivation has been aroused and on specifying the
learning consequences of this arousal, rather than on elaborating on the range of possible
motivational antecedents (ibid). In other words, the source of motivation has been
considered to be relatively unimportant provided that motivation is aroused.

As a reaction to this conclusion, Oxford and Shearin (1994, p. 15) suggest that it is quite
possible that “the source of motivation is very important in a practical sense to teachers
who want to stimulate students' motivation”. Doiz, Lasagabaster, and Sierra (2014)
strongly believe that the benefits of one currently fashionable approach are assumed,
namely the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach, when it comes
to learning an L2 or FL. CLIL can lead to an increase in engagement and motivation in
learning (ibid).

CLIL is supposed to foster learners’ motivation as it increases the level of authenticity

and challenge, encourages the learner to view the FL with more importance and respect,
introduces the contents and tasks in a stimulating way (scaffolding), among other
strengths, which can be summarized in its 4Cs model including content, cognition,
communication, and culture. From these, content can be a great motivational strategy to
uncover or change, that is, improve students’ attitude towards learning English as a
foreign language (EFL), as content of interest to students may lower their affective filter
and increase their FL motivation (Du, 2009).

For this reason, EFL teachers need to bring their desire to increase students’ motivation
to realization from the very devising of didactic units. In this case a CLIL unit lends itself
to this goal by permitting the inclusion of different motivational strategies such as
interesting and relevant topics, as course-specific motivational components suggested by
Dörnyei and Scizér (1998).

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The mastery of fundamental subjects such as English or world languages is alleged to be
essential for students in the 21st century. In addition, schools must weave 21st century
interdisciplinary themes into the curriculum, such as global awareness, financial, civic
literacy, health literacy, and environmental literacy (The Partnership for 21st Century
Learning, 2015). This need of learning English as a foreign language is explicitly stated
in the document entitled “Estándares Básicos de Competencias en Lenguas Extranjeras:
Inglés” issued by the Colombian Ministry of Education (2006). This document
recommends that motivation should be worked on in the English classes in order for
students to attain communicative competence (ibid, p. 12-13).

Another pillar of the Colombian government concerning the learning of English is that
of the intercultural communication (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2006) through
declarative knowledge, that is knowledge coming not only from personal experience but
also from formal/school education and knowledge of the world (ibid, p. 12). This idea
agrees with the recommendation that the contents and materials proposed for teaching
must be significant for the students, which can be achieved through the transversality of
the topics presented (Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2016). The four general themes
recommended are Health, Democracy and Peace, Sustainability (environment), and
Globalization, which can “be treated in several ways and according to the characteristics
of each school, their population and the community to which they belong” (ibid. p. 46).
For the selection of content and materials, teachers must know the context and the needs
of their students, as this aspect can generate motivation in the students (ibid).

In the Colombian context where English is an FL, there is practically no contact with the
target language (TL) community. That is why language classroom motivation comes in
handy when trying to research and increase English learning motivation for Colombian
students. According to Gardner (2010), language classroom motivation “is affected by
the environment in the class, the nature of the course and the curriculum, characteristics
of the teacher and the very scholastic nature of the student”. Furthermore, Lamb (2004)
affirmed that English in L2 contexts where it is not spoken out of the classroom is more
associated with the process of globalization, than with the integrativeness towards
particular anglophone cultures. In order to help overcome these difficulties, the CLIL
approach comes into play as an effective way to increase learner motivation as it targets
confidence-building (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, CLIL: Content and Language Integrated
Learning, 2010).

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Specifically speaking, curriculum development in CLIL takes place at the classroom level
and it is the teachers who have to take the official school curriculum as a starting point
and integrate content and language (San Isidro, Curriculum Planning, 2017). However,
teachers often neglect the fact that all the learning activities are filtered through the
students’ motivation (Anjomshoa & Sadighi, 2015). Without student motivation, there is
no life in the class (ibid). Thus, sincere attempts must be done by teachers in order to
motivate the learners, so that they develop positive attitudes towards the TL (AlAzoumi,
2014). Thus, content in CLIL appears as a main motivational strategy to promote better,
optimal learning, and to change expectations on the part of learners, who are demanding
a more connected and relevant education regarding their everyday lives.

1.2. Brief analysis of the state-of-the-art

It is believed that CLIL fosters learners’ motivation by increasing the level of authenticity
and challenge, and by encouraging learners to see the FL as important and meaningful
as any other subject in the curriculum (Hunt, 2011). It is also assumed that motivation is
one of the pillars of CLIL implementation and, as such, it serves to justify it (Doiz et al.,
2014). However, students’ actual levels of motivation under CLIL are usually taken for
granted in the literature about motivation. This section of the dissertation will present
the most recent research on the relationship between CLIL and motivation.

Talking about language motivation, it is almost clear for teachers that neither primary
nor secondary school students seem interested in language learning, yet they feel more
attracted towards a content subject (Fernández, 2014). Thus, the content subject in CLIL
is the reason to covertly lead students towards the FL. In this sense, Banegas (2013)
states that FL learning is a captivating activity “when knowledge of the world is
approached through it”. Thus, classroom research becomes quite helpful for obtaining
direct, experiential knowledge on the processes involved in the interaction of language
learning and motivation (ibid).

As regards research on the relationship between CLIL and motivation, some studies have
been carried out that shed light on the topic. For example, Lasagabaster (2011)
investigated the influence of CLIL on motivation for 191 secondary students, who were
enrolled in either CLIL or EFL classes. Results were obtained from 13 questions grouped
in three factors: interest and instrumental orientation, attitudes towards learning
English in class, and effort. CLIL students seemed to be more motivated and they
obtained higher results in the three factors. It was concluded that there exists a crucial

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relationship between motivation and the CLIL approach. Nonetheless, there is no
mention about specific topics taught.

Then, a study carried out in England by Hunt (2011) reported that learners responded
positively to CLIL lessons: the lessons, activities and resources were enjoyable, and there
was a feeling of progress. Lessons involved subjects such as Personal, social, health and
economic education (PSHE), Citizenship, and Science, among others. More specifically,
topics mentioned by students included countries, continents, natural disasters, the
Galapagos Islands, animals and environments, child labor, shocking statistics, the
Guernica picture, the French Revolution, among others. It is noteworthy that Hunt
includes some teachers’ reflection on their own practice, two of the answers being that
50% of teachers always plan their classes carefully and other 35% usually plan their
classes carefully.

In turn, Navarro (2012) intended to make the relation between motivation and CLIL
more visible and plausible. For her, CLIL consists of introducing cross-curricular
material and selecting topics according to students’ interests and experiences, what can
actually boost their motivation towards learning the L2/FL. Under this premise, she
offered some guidelines to work on motivation, such as adapting the course book, using
Prezi, cross-curricular content (although she refers to it more as C for culture), and
collaborative tasks, among others. Besides, she named several strategies to generate and
maintain motivation within the classroom, such as getting to know one’s students. In this
sense, her study tries to be a “down-to-earth educational proposal”, which functions as
an invitation to evaluate new perspectives and apply them until they become integral part
of the teaching practice (ibid, p. 13).

In Spain, Fernández (2014) aimed to determine if there was any connection between the
receptive vocabulary knowledge and motivation towards English as a foreign language of
primary and secondary school students, aged 10-11 and 13-14 respectively, attending
CLIL and no-CLIL classes. She identified that primary CLIL graders showed a positive
meaningful relationship between the two variables, whereas secondary students did not
reflect this tendency.

Another Spanish study is that of Fernández and Canga (2014), who tried to relate
motivation and gender in the EFL (non-CLIL) and CLIL classrooms. The participants,
chosen randomly, were sixty-two 4th primary education Spanish students, aged 8-9,
coming from two co-ed schools in La Rioja. After having received instructions in EFL and

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CLIL (natural sciences), the perceptions of boys and girls were measured through an
adapted version of Gardner’s (1985) Attitude/motivation test battery (AMTB). The
results showed that non-CLIL students were significantly more motivated than CLIL
students, result that goes against previous investigation on the topic. Noteworthy is
Fernández and Cangas’ statement holding that content in CLIL depends on the context
of the learning instruction, that is, it can be taken directly from a required national
curriculum, can be a topical issue, thematic, cross-curricular, interdisciplinary or be
focused on citizenship.

In a recent study on the possible connection between language learning motivation and
CLIL, Sylvén and Thompson (2015) used the Motivational Factors Questionnaire (MFQ)
as a tool to measure students’ language learning motivation. The participants were
Swedish CLIL and non-CLIL secondary students, whose motivational profiles were
examined bearing in mind their gender and L1. It has to be noted that Sweden is a
multilingual country, where English is spoken to a great extent (ibid, p. 29). The results
showed that CLIL students’ motivation is greater on a number of factors compared to
non-CLIL students. Nevertheless, they also warned that the results might not be the
direct influence of CLIL, but rather of students’ past experiences, personality features,
and interests.

All in all, it seems that there is a strong relationship between CLIL and motivation.
Besides, there has been a progression towards more specificity regarding language
motivation, directed to particular contents to be taught. However, most of these studies
rely heavily on motivation questionnaires through an “a posteriori” viewpoint, instead of
focusing on motivation as an “a priori” aspect of learning.

1.3. Objectives of the study

The general objective of this work is to design a CLIL didactic unit aiming at increasing
eighth grade students’ motivation in learning English as a foreign language. By taking
advantage of motivational research directed towards a more pragmatic, educational
perspective, and of the advantages offered by the CLIL approach and its curriculum
flexibility, this work will focus on content-related strategies to be put into practice in a
CLIL didactic unit.

Narrowing down, there are some specific objectives that will help accomplish the general
objective, as follows:

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-To survey the strategies and techniques related to specific aspects of FL learning
motivation and classroom motivation.
-To identify, i.e. select, the most relevant motivational strategies and techniques,
particularly those bearing a relation to the learning situation level.
-To analyze the importance of C for Content in CLIL, as it is emphasized in this
intervention proposal, in a way to find convergent points concerning motivation.
-To take into account the Colombian guidelines on the teaching of English as a foreign
language and students’ reality in order to select the actual contents that will make up the
CLIL unit’s guiding thread.

1.4. Methodology

To start with, predominant motivational theories in the SLA literature will be explored.
This literature review will let some key motivational factors for learning an FL be
identified. Then the CLIL approach and its alleged advantages will be studied, as well as
CLIL design in particular, as learned in this Master Degree. Next, after finding
converging points related to content and motivation, it will be exemplified how teachers
can increase levels of motivation in their students by implementing motivational
strategies, especially those regarding content.

This will be evidenced in a corresponding CLIL didactic unit, including its respective
lessons and showing the specific strategies and techniques used for boosting learners’
motivation, taking into account that lesson planning is crucial in the teaching practice. It
has to be reminded that, although content in CLIL is enhanced in this proposal, its
remaining pillars (culture, cognition, and communication) will also be expected to help
increase students’ motivation in learning English as a foreign language, otherwise CLIL
could not be brought to realization.

As far as contextual knowledge about the school, its community and students is
concerned, a characterization must be taken into account, particularly that of families.
This step is fundamental to gain insights about the reality of our students and, in this
way, be able to choose contents that come close to them and motivate them. Another
necessary step involves the teacher’s surveying of their own teaching practice and see if
they emphasize a lot on language, usually grammar, as opposed to implementing a more
integral approach to teaching an FL, and what motivational strategies and techniques
they are implementing, if any at all. What is more, the national guidelines regarding the

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teaching of English as a foreign language cannot be ignored when designing the CLIL
unit. For the resulting CLIL unit to be of a high quality, it must demonstrate “relational
links between intended learning, students’ lives, the community, and various school
subjects” (Mehisto, 2012, p. 16). All in all, it is each teacher who determines how and to
what extent any learning materials will be used (ibid).

It has to be noted that the extent to which this intervention proposal can be attained will
not be measured here. Any teacher wanting to do so, can implement the finished unit
and make use of an Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) or any other way to obtain
data on motivation satisfaction at the end of the CLIL unit application, such as analyzing
the academic results at the end of the module, questionnaires and surveys applied to
non-linguistic subject teachers (if they had participated in tandem with the language
teacher), school board members, and parents.

2. Literature review

This section deals with the most important theoretical background for this intervention
proposal about CLIL and motivation, reason why it has been divided in three chapters.
The first chapter on motivation presents a definition, features, dichotomies, and different
classifications within the motivation historical research, and ends by highlighting the
difference between language and classroom learning motivation. The second chapter on
CLIL intends to enhance this approach and its key features, namely the 4Cs (especially C
for content), in relation to motivation and motivational factors. The third chapter hones
in on motivational strategies that can be used in three possible levels, so it presents a
selected list of them.

2.1. Motivation

Motivation has been a highly debated issue in education, particularly in learning an L2

or FL. The following sub-sections aim at explaining the different kinds of motivation and
the different moments motivation can be exercised within the language classroom.

2.1.1. Definition

Motivation is not an easy word to define, but there are some features that can be listed
regarding a motivated individual. According to Gardner, “the motivated individual is
goal directed, expends effort, is persistent, is attentive, has desires (wants), exhibits

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positive affect, is aroused, has expectancies, demonstrates self-confidence (self-efficacy),
and has reasons (motives)” (2010, p. 10). Some of these characteristics can be said to be
cognitive in nature, some affective, and some behavioral. Specifically, in language
learning, motivation to learn an L2 is not a simple construct either.

One of the first distinctions regarding motivation was that of Gardner and Lambert
(1972), who established two broad kinds of motivation in connection with L2 learning.
The first is integrative motivation, which reflects the learners’ willingness to appear like
a typical member of the other language community, their great effort to learn the L2 to
communicate with the group, and their attitude towards the learning situation. The
second is instrumental motivation, which is characterized by a desire to gain social
recognition or economic advantages through knowledge of an L2 (ibid).

Another classification of motivation done by Deci and Ryan (1985) in terms of extrinsic
motivation (external factors that influence foreign language learning) and intrinsic
motivation (interest generated by the activity itself).

Gardner (1985) stated that motivation involves three components: motivational

intensity, desire to learn the language, and an attitude towards the act of learning the
language. He also created the AMTB (Attitude/Motivation Test Battery), which
operationalized the components of this model in measurable terms, through some
attributes grouped in five categories: motivation (desire to achieve a goal, effort extended
in this direction, satisfaction with the task), integrativeness (attitudes towards the target
language group, interest in FL, integrative orientation), attitudes towards the learning
situation (evaluation of the language teacher, evaluation of the language course),
language anxiety (language class anxiety, language use anxiety), and others (ibid).

Ryan and Deci (2000, p. 72), in an attempt to integrate the different forms of motivation,
illustrated the following taxonomy considering the extent to which the motivations
originate from the self:

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Figure 1. The Self-Determination Continuum showing types of motivation with their

regulatory styles, loci of causality, and corresponding processes (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

2.1.2. Motivation and language learning

L2 and FL learning motivation have seen the contributions of several theories, including
psychological, sociological, educational, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic, among
others. This body of research subsumes four distinguishable periods in regards to
motivation and learning an FL or L2, namely a social-psychological, a cognitive-situated,
a process-oriented and a socio-dynamic one (Doiz et al, 2014). This ongoing research
brought a new interest in L2 motivation with an educational focus, usually referred to as
the educational shift of the 1990s in this field. This reform, mainly spurred by Crookes
and Schmidt (1991), had the following three subordinate themes:

1. The intent to complement the social psychological approach with some concepts
central to mainstream psychology which had been unattended in L2 research.

2. The conceptualization of motivation in order to grant it with an explanatory power

regarding specific language learning tasks and behaviors, in addition to community-level
social tendencies, which meant situation- or task-specific motivation. Gardner’s model,
according to Dörnyei (1998, p. 125), is only focused on “determining whether motivation
has been aroused and specifying the learning consequences of this arousal”. However,
the new attempts try to expand the range of potential motivational antecedents. The
reaction to Gardner's conclusion that the source of motivation is relatively unimportant
provided motivation is aroused, is summarized below:
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 While this conclusion might be true for researchers, quite possibly the source of

motivation is very important in a practical sense to teachers who want to stimulate

students' motivation.

Without knowing where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those

roots? (Oxford & Shearin, 1994, p. 15)

3. The explicit call for a more pragmatic, education-centered approach to motivation

research, more relevant for classroom application. There was a shift from social attitudes
to looking at classroom reality, and a need to identify and analyze classroom-specific
motives.

The objectives of this reform called for motivation research consistent with the
perceptions of practicing teachers, greater description of classroom dimension of L2
motivation, explanation of specific student behaviors, and practical guidelines for
motivating learners (Dörnyei, 1998). Therefore, it is note-worthy that situation-specific
motives closely related to classroom reality play a highly significant role in the L2
motivation complex.

2.1.3. Language, learner, and learning situation levels of motivation

In an attempt to understand motivation, Dörnyei (1994) created a 3-level construct for

his study as follows: Language Level, Learner Level and Learning Situation Level (Table
1). These levels coincided with three basic elements of the L2 learning process, namely
second language, second language learner and second language learning environment.
In turn, these levels highlighted three different views of language: the social dimension,
the personal dimension and the educational subject matter dimension.

Table 1
Components of Foreign Language Learning Motivation (Dörnyei, 1994, p. 280).
LANGUAGE LEVEL
Integrative Motivational Subsystem
Instrumental Motivational Subsystem
LEARNER LEVEL
Need for achievement
Self-confidence

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Language Use Anxiety Perceived L2 Competence Causal Attributions Self-Efficacy
LEARNING SITUATION LEVEL
Course-Specific Motivational Components
Interest Relevance Expectancy Satisfaction
Teacher-Specific Motivational Components
Affiliative Authority Direct Socialization (Modelling, Task Presentation,
Drive Type Feedback)
Group-specific Motivational Components
Goal-orientedness Norm & Reward Group Cohesion Classroom Goal
System Structure

Based on this construct, the learning situation level can be divided into course-specific
motivational components, teacher-specific motivational components and group-specific
motivational components, better explained next:

1) Course-specific motivational components have to do with the syllabus, study

materials, teaching method(s) and learning activities. These can be enhanced through:
interest (intrinsic motivation, innate curiosity and desire for personal and contextual
knowledge), relevance (feeling of connectedness of instruction and personal needs,
values or goals), expectancy, and satisfaction.

2) Teacher-specific motivational components deal with teacher’s behavior, character and

teaching style.

3) Group-specific motivational components are associated with the learners’ group

dynamics. They include goal-orientedness, the norm and reward system, group cohesion
and classroom goal structure.

Dörnyei’s process model, taken as a template, can be used by teachers in the classroom
regarding motivating strategies about how to: create the basic motivational conditions,
generate initial motivation, maintain and protect motivation, and encourage positive and
retrospective self-evaluation (Anjomshoa & Sadighi, 2015). In terms of implementing the
strategies, Dörnyei emphasizes quality rather than quantity, arguing that a positive
motivational climate in the classroom can be created by a few well-chosen strategies. The
importance of the teacher factor in having a high level of motivation in L2 or FL learning
should not be neglected.

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2.1.4. Internal and external factors

Another classroom-oriented model was developed by Williams and Burden (1997) from
a social-constructivist perspective. Motivational factors are divided into internal and
external ones (Table 2). One difference in comparison to Dörnyei’s model is the extent to
which an activity is perceived as being interesting. In Williams and Burden's model,
interest is treated as an internal factor, while Dörnyei sees it as a subcomponent of the
course, that is, as an external factor.

Table 2
Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of motivation in language learning (Dörnyei,
1998, p. 126).
Internal factors External factors

Intrinsic interest of activity Significant others

• arousal of curiosity
• optimal degree of challenge
Perceived value of activity
• personal relevance
• anticipated value of outcomes
• intrinsic value attributed to the activity
Sense of agency
• locus of causality
• locus of control RE process and
outcomes
• ability to set appropriate goals
Mastery
• feelings of competence
• awareness of developing skills and
mastery in a chosen area
• self-efficacy
• parents
• teachers
• peers
The nature of interaction with
significant others
• mediated learning experiences
• the nature and amount of feedback
• rewards
• the nature and amount of appropriate
praise
• punishments, sanctions
The learning environment
• comfort
• resources
• time of day, week, year
• size of class and school
• class and school ethos

Self-concept The broader context

• realistic awareness of personal • wider family networks
• strengths and weaknesses in skills • the local education system
required • conflicting interests
• personal definitions and judgements of • cultural norms
success and failure • societal expectations and attitudes
• self-worth concern learned helplessness

Attitudes language learning in

general
• to the target language
• to the target language community and
culture

Other affective states

17
 • confidence
• anxiety, fear

Developmental age and stage

Gender

2.1.5. Motivating language learners

Skills in motivating learners should be seen as central to teaching effectiveness. This is

why Dörnyei (1994) developed the most systematic collection of L2 motivational
strategies consisting of 30 macrostrategies, each of which contains several
microstrategies and techniques, resulting in a total of around 100 concrete suggestions.

Specifically talking about the relationship between motivation and L2 learning or

acquisition and its possible constructs, Gardner (2007) makes a distinction between
language learning motivation and classroom learning motivation, both of which operate
simultaneously on the individual learners. Regarding language learning motivation,
Gardner states that it is a broad type of motivation (that can be changed under certain
conditions) fundamental in any L2 learning context (ibid).

In regard to classroom learning motivation, Gardner (2007) refers specifically to the

language classroom. This type of motivation is characterized by Dörnyei’s tripartite pre-
actional, actional and post-actional motivation, which alludes to the motivation in the
classroom situation (this 3-part motivation construct will be dealt with in 2.3.1.). Thus,
the teacher, the class atmosphere, the course content, materials and facilities, and
students’ personal characteristics are bound to have an influence on classroom learning
motivation, which make part of the educational context and, more specifically, to the
immediate classroom situation.

Apart from the cultural context (labelled as Integrativeness by Gardner, 2007), the other
important feature comes from the educational context, labelled as Attitudes toward the
Learning Situation. Gardner’s (2007) assumption is that the influence of the educational
context on the learners’ attitudes will accordingly influence their level of motivation. In
his research, he found that motivation can be approached in terms of three measures
which influence the cognitive, affective and behavioral components of learning. This let
him state the following about his own teaching practice:

I am convinced that what I do and the materials I use are important… But, I also know

that the student evaluates what I do and what materials I recommend… In short, I am

18
 convinced that my activities can influence the student’s level of motivation, and it is

this level of motivation that will have an effect on how much is learned. (Gardner,

2007, p. 17)

The issue about how teachers can improve levels of motivation in the L2 or FL has
definitely more to do with intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors, although this does not
mean to discard the latter altogether. Since intrinsic motivation plays an important role
in relation to students’ L2 learning, it is believed that “focusing on intrinsic factors within
the classroom could be an effective way of improving levels of motivation of FL learners”
(Nicholson, 2013).

Kormos and Csizér (2008, p. 350) note that “it is evident that teachers’ materials and
activities are instrumental in shaping attitudes to learning”. Their recommendation is
that teachers devise learning activities that are intrinsically motivating for the students
and which subsequently meet students’ needs. There exists the assumption that teachers
can make a positive contribution to students’ motivation to learn if the content is
interesting and relevant to their age and level of ability. By selecting materials and
activities relevant to students’ interests and needs, teachers can directly influence
students’ attitude towards L2 learning (Lightbown & Spada, 2006).

2.2. CLIL

A pillar of this intervention proposal is the CLIL approach and its 4Cs template, both
explained below, as they keep a relation with motivation. Moreover, C for content is of
great relevance as it permits to work on motivational factors that can be evidenced in the
CLIL unit.

2.2.1. Definition

CLIL is an acronym coined in Europe in the early 1990s (Coyle et al, 2010) that describes
any dual-focused type of provision in which an L2, FL, or what has been called a vehicular
language (VL), is used for teaching and learning a non-linguistic subject matter, with
content and language having a joint and mutually beneficial role (Marsh, 2002). CLIL
has two distinctive features. One is the integration of language and content which,
altogether, receive equal importance. By teaching the content with and through the FL,
proficiency in both aspects can be attained. The other distinctive feature is its flexibility
to fit the wide range of socio-political and cultural realities of different contexts. CLIL
19
programs go from theme-based language modules to cross-curricular approaches where
a content subject is taught through the FL.

CLIL’s flexibility is based on a theoretical framework commonly referred to as the 4Cs.

The 4C model offers a holistic approach, where content, communication, cognition and
culture (also taken as community and citizenship) are integrated. For CLIL to be effective
5 dimensions must take place, namely: progression in knowledge, skills and
understanding of content, engagement in higher order thinking skills (HOTS),
interaction in the communicative context, development of appropriate communication
skills, and acquisition of a deepening intercultural awareness (Coyle et al., 2010).

CLIL integration of content and language offers an authenticity of purpose. Besides, by

realigning language and cognitive development, CLIL can counter the lack of relevance
of language teaching based on grammatical progression and boost learners’ motivation
(Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2009). In essence, CLIL is held as a dynamic unit, bigger than its
two parts, that provides an education that goes beyond subject and content learning
(Coyle et al. 2010).

CLIL programs have become fashionable across Europe since the 1990s, due to the need
to meet the expectations of the globalizing world and people’s need to communicate
effectively. Over the years, attention from all educational levels (primary, secondary and
higher levels) towards CLIL has increased. As a result, there has been an improvement
of qualitative and quantitative language learning analysis, and of its positive effects on
learning subject content in the CLIL context (Malvezzi-Campeggi, 2013).

In the current globalization process, CLIL is alleged to provide any country with the
chance to acquire an L2. In particular, it gives the opportunity to learners of English as a
foreign language to acquire English through a natural approach. The arrival of CLIL has
meant that English is changing from a goal-oriented school subject to a medium of
instruction for content subjects. This is why many countries in Europe have shown
increasing interest in CLIL very recently, claiming that it is an innovative and effective
teaching and learning approach (Malvezzi-Campeggi, 2013). Moreover, CLIL is a suitable
approach in that it “complements other subjects rather than competes with them,
diversifies methods and forms of classroom practice, increases learners’ motivation and
confidence in both the language and the subject being taught” (ibid. p 39).

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2.2.2. 4Cs framework

The 4Cs framework (Coyle, 2006) offers a solid theoretical and methodological
foundation for planning CLIL lessons and creating materials due to its integrative nature.
The CLIL approach requires the use of audio-visual aids and multimedia, learning from
practical, hands-on experiences, the use of the TL (English in most cases) for authentic
communication without paying too much attention to language mistakes, the use of
language scaffolding such as reformulation, simplification and exemplification, code
switching to the students’ L1 (Spanish in this case) for communication purposes when
appropriate, and taking into account the TL language level of the students. The main
tenets of CLIL are:

Content. Learners are expected not only to acquire knowledge and skills, but also to
create their own knowledge and to understand and develop skills; teachers design
lessons taking account of what students already know so that students build their content
knowledge as if they were building a wall, one course of bricks on top of the other.

Cognition. Learning and thinking are quite related to content. Content must be
analyzed for its linguistic demands so that learners can create their own interpretation
of it. Thinking processes also need to be analyzed in terms of their linguistic demands.

Communication. In order for interaction and learning to be accomplished, there must

be a direct relation between language and the learning context, the reconstruction of
content and the corresponding cognitive processes.

Culture. The relationship between cultures and languages is complex (Meyer, 2013).
Intercultural awareness is fundamental to CLIL. Its rightful place is at the core of CLIL.
CLIL teachers help students see that what they learn is not just another school subject
but that it is related to the “real world” around them (ibid).

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) can be used to achieve what Coyle,
Hood and Marsh (2010, p. 5) refer to as “authenticity of purpose” and provide a better
vehicle for authentic language exposure and production in EFL contexts. This increased
authenticity is hypothesized to lead to an increase in engagement and motivation in the
learning. This means that CLIL learners are more successful and motivated in
comparison to students in traditional grammar-based classrooms (Attard, Walter,
Theodorou, & Chrysanthou, n.d.).

21
2.2.3. C for content

According to the CLIL Glossary (British Council, n.d.), content refers to curricular
subjects or subject areas, besides languages, that can be taught through the additional
language (AL), including Art, Citizenship, Classics, Design Technology, Economics,
Environmental Studies, Geography, History, Information Computer Technology (ICT),
Literacy, Maths, Music, Physical Education (PE) Philosophy, Politics, Religious
Education (RE) Science and Social Science.

Content also refers to any materials used, such as textbooks, articles, videos, listening
activities, research, and projects, to teach the key vocabulary, facts, and concepts
(Rodríguez, 2016). The content should be decided and carefully selected before planning
the unit. It is recommended that a multimodal approach be incorporated, which could
be accomplished by integrating multiple intelligences and an interdisciplinary approach,
that is, other content areas must be brought into the content (ibid). In general terms,
content is the most important aspect in CLIL, since it is learned in a complex system, in
new contexts and situations, because language, learning skills, different cultural
perspectives, technology, etc. are integrated into learning content (San Isidro, 2017).

It must be noted that, in the formal educational context, content is all the subject specific
knowledge that has to be taught following the respective legal guidelines of every country.
However, knowing that many national curricula act as suggestions, schools and teachers
are practically independent to adapt the national curriculum to their own needs and get
the most of their lessons (Díaz, 2017).

Regarding the degree to which emphasis is given to content, there is a distinction

between soft CLIL and hard CLIL. The first means applying components of CLIL to
English language teaching (ELT) units or lessons. The second means teaching English
“through” content lessons, where content is the driving force (Rodríguez, 2016).

2.3. Motivational strategies

The need to put theory into practice in the motivational field in relation to learning either
an L2 or FL, has come up with hundreds of ideas about how to influence motivation
before, during, and after any given language lesson. The following sub-chapters deal with
practical suggestions supported by many teachers around the world.

22
2.3.1. Motivation in the foreign language classroom

In 1994, Dörnyei (Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom, pp.
281-282) offered a descriptive list of relevant motivational components with their
respective practical guidelines, all of which he integrated in his 3-level motivation
construct. Next are some summarized and selected strategies meant to exploit students’
intrinsic motivation in the L2 or FL classroom instruction:

Language level
-Include sociocultural elements in the syllabus, such as movies and music.
-Make learners aware of cultural similarities and differences between the two languages.
-Talk with students about the L2 role in the world and its usefulness.

Learner level
-Make students feel they are competent, focusing on what they can do and telling them
mistakes are a part of learning.
-Assign students attainable subgoals such as learning a number of words per week.

Learning situation level

Course-specific
-Give relevance to the syllabus of the course, for instance by doing a needs analysis and
involving students in planning.
-Make the course content more attractive by using authentic materials, visual aids, etc.
-Generate and maintain curiosity and attention through routine changes, varied seating
formation, and learning breaks.
-Make the tasks more interesting, adapted to students’ interests, pair and group work.
-Create tasks that fit students’ skills level.
-Have students create products to perform or display so that they feel proud.

Teacher specific
-Facilitate learning and promote learner autonomy.
-Present tasks so as to move from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation, for instance by
connecting them with interesting or esteemed things.

Group specific
-Decrease the harmful effect of evaluation on intrinsic motivation, for example by not
comparing students and assessing them in private.

23
-Use cooperative learning techniques.

2.3.2. Motivation in the language classroom

In 1998, Dörnyei and Scizér embarked on the task of revising the original list of “ten
commandments”. This empirical research asked 200 Hungarian teachers of English
from a variety of institutional contexts, to evaluate and rank those motivational strategies
in terms of the importance and frequency they attached to them in their classes. Thus,
they obtained the modified set of the “ten commandments”, from which presenting the
tasks in a proper manner, making the language lessons interesting, and personalizing the
learning process appear to be relevant for this proposal.

After this study, Dörnyei (2001) came out with over 100 motivational strategies that he
presented in his text, Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom, a practical
teachers’ guide on how to motivate learners. Such strategies, organized into separate
themes, have to be consciously applied to achieve some systematic and enduring positive
effect (ibid). Thus he presented thirty-five motivational strategies, divided into pre-
actional, actional, and post-actional phases, that can be used to respectively generate,
sustain, and promote learners’ motivation (AlAzoumi, 2014). Table 3 presents the
selected relevant strategies belonging to different categories.

Table 3
Selected motivational strategies (AlAzoumi, 2014, pp. 126, 127).
Category Strategy
Creating the basic Take students’ learning seriously.
motivational conditions
Generating initial Increase learners’ intrinsic motivation in the L2.
motivation Make the curriculum and teaching materials relevant to
students.
Maintaining and Present and manage tasks in a motivating way.
protecting motivation Increase students’ motivation by fostering cooperation.
Increase students’ motivation by encouraging learner
autonomy.
Encouraging positive Increase learner satisfaction.
self-evaluation Use grades in a motivating way.

24
In a similar vein, The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation
(2015) offers a short list of potential strategies to combat students’ lack of interest or
motivation. They state that, despite the objective value of an activity or topic, if students
do not recognize its value, they may not be motivated to make any effort. On the contrary,
if students see a clear connection of the coursework to their goals, interests, and
concerns, “they will be more likely to value it, and thus more motivated to invest time
and effort” (ibid). From the suggested strategies, connection to students’ interests is
relevant for this work.

Regarding this singular strategy, it must be highlighted that, when teachers connect
course material to students’ personal interests, motivation often increases. That is why
“well-constructed courses that tap into issues […] important to students (e.g., The
History of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Philosophy and the Matrix [a popular film], The Statistics of
Sexual Orientation) can capitalize on students’ motivation without sacrificing intellectual
or disciplinary rigor” (Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation,
2015).

3. Intervention proposal

The design of a CLIL didactic unit, with five corresponding lesson plans, will be
presented in this section of the Master’s dissertation. This didactic unit is aimed at
influencing motivation on students who have little to no interest in the English lessons.
By following the Formal format suggested by Coyle (2006) and by applying motivational
strategies, particularly about content, students will be encouraged to show interest in the
English lessons since the very beginning, that is, they will be motivated by and towards
the contents learned.

Although the selected school is not running a CLIL-based curriculum, the use of CLIL is
proposed because it provides us with good teaching practice (Rodríguez, 2016). It is also
important for Colombian teachers to know how to link the national standards to CLIL
and how to develop unit materials that incorporate the 4Cs, basic competences, and
CEFR, among other competences.

3.1. Educational context and target group

The following CLIL unit is intended for 42 eighth grade (secondary education) students
of a public school, 22 girls and 20 boys, whose ages range between 13 and 17 years old

25
and whose English level, regarding the CEFR, corresponds to A1 or beginners in their
majority (95%).

The students attend school in the afternoon shift and get their lessons under rather
unfavorable conditions (numerous class, hot weather and classroom, small leisure
spaces, lack of technological resources, no internet connection, among others). None of
the students presents Special educational needs (SEN), according to the Colombian
guidelines. Most of the students are noisy and concentrate on cell phones, taking
pictures, talking about sports (soccer), social networks (Facebook), etc. Yet, through lots
of dialog in form of assertive communication based on their own reality, and that of the
school and the Colombian society, students are made aware of the importance of values
such as mutual respect, self-esteem, decision-making, among many others, and they
become really receptive.

The school is called Institución Educativa (IE) Corazón del Valle, and the particular
school is Tomás Uribe Uribe, which is located in a middle socioeconomic stratum
neighborhood in the city of Tuluá, Valle, Colombia, attended by students from 1, 2, and
3 strata. The school is supposed to implement a humanist-constructivist approach to
education, which means students are encouraged to develop knowledge, skills, and
values through group, team, and collaborative work in a way to guarantee an
integral/holistic education of the students. This might be far from realization, though.

Regarding the location of the school, it is a community where robbery, presence of

homeless people, micro-trafficking, drug consumption and abuse, and vandalism are
commonplace, which sometimes restrain students from attending school. In fact, this is
the reflection of Tuluá’s reality, whose history has been full of violence, especially since
the 1940s when Tuluá became an “epicenter of political, and later on, criminal, and drug
trafficking, violence” (HSB Noticias, 2013). That is why drug consumption, particularly
marijuana, is a daily scene seen both inside and outside of the school, and this situation
has become a challenge to all the school stakeholders.

As far as the students’ families are concerned, 90% of the students come from families
residing in 1, 2 strata, and the remaining 10% from 3 stratum neighborhoods, which
means that the economic means of the majority are not usually the best. Moreover, many
of these families are one-parent led, especially mother-led, and others are large,
dysfunctional ones, including extended family such as grandparents, aunts, uncles,
cousins, and so on.

26
It should be noted that the Colombian context is a monolingual one, with Spanish as the
mother tongue. The school, in particular, has never made use of any bilingual program,
let alone the CLIL approach, and its English curriculum has been based mainly on
grammar, going from simple to complex aspects of language. Therefore, the intended
CLIL unit, although corresponding to a soft CLIL implementation, represents a great
effort from the teacher.

Last but not least, it has to be acknowledged that, although the school and its board
demand for teachers to work cooperatively and collaboratively, there are no teacher
learning communities well established. At least, there exist some cross-curricular
connections visible in national and school projects, including environmental, sex and
citizenship construction, and exercise of human rights education for the former, and
spiritual, harmonious living, and school disaster management projects, among others,
for the latter.

3.2. Objectives

The main objective of this proposal is to design a CLIL didactic unit focusing on content
as a main motivational strategy, along with others that bear some relation with it. The
purpose is to influence eighth grade students’ motivation from the very beginning of the
CLIL unit and try to maintain it during the teaching-learning process. To do so,
marijuana has come to be chosen as the guiding topic under the Health theme proposed
by MEN (2016). Some reasons for this choosing include the fact that this topic is closely
related to their reality, that of school and that of Colombia. Besides, this topic lends itself
to debate, which is also a feature of an interesting topic.

Before continuing, it has to be reminded that the four general themes proposed by MEN
(2016) are suggested to be worked on transversally. Besides, these themes can be
“developed in all grades and each leads to a more specific topic that can be adapted or
changed by the teacher according to the context’s needs” (ibid, p.16), that is, based on
conditions or features relevant for the educational community. Other fundamental
documents to be considered include the “Estándares Básicos de Competencias en
Lenguas Extranjeras: Inglés” (2006) and the “Basic Learning Rights, 6th to 11th grades”
(2016), all of which are aligned.

27
As mentioned above, Health appears to be the most appropriate framework in which to
situate the marijuana topic. However, this does not mean that this topic cannot be
worked transversally under the other themes and the different school subjects. Table 4
shows the possible contents to be taught and learned throughout all the school subjects,
in relation to the marijuana topic. Moreover, this table offers progressive contents, going
from the local, to the regional and/or national, to the international and/or global
contexts (and in a similar way, personal, friends, family; neighborhood, community, city;
and national, international levels):

Table 4
Possible cross-curricular contents related to the marijuana topic in different levels and
contexts (Author’s creation).
Level Regional and/or
Local (personal, national International
School friends, family) (neighborhood, and/or global
subject community, city) (broader scope)
Spanish Definition, History Story
synonyms
Mathematics Cost Number of Finances
consumers
Social sciences “Marihuanódromo” Trafficking Drug organizations,
proposal mafia
“Cátedra de paz” Suburbs Legalization Bob Marley
(personal dose,
medicinal)
Natural sciences Plant Chemical Medicinal
composition
Arts Leaf drawings or Joint art Stoner art, graffiti,
paper leaf trippy/psychedelic
art
Physical Effect on body and Recreational vs Doping
education mind medical use
Ethics and values Life project Tolerance Professional ethics
Religion Body and mind Ancestors Rastafarians
Entrepreneurship Small business, Growing Medicinal
micro-trafficking

28
 Technology Growing Varieties Agriculture

3.3. Methodology

The first step for the teacher is to know the kind of student population they have,
including as many contextual clues as possible, that is, personal interests, family
background, neighborhood/community reality, and national and international data if
necessary. Then the collected information is contrasted with the national guidelines on
the teaching and learning of an L2 or FL to find convergent points regarding standards,
competences, and contents. After this the actual topic(s) is/are chosen, in this case
marijuana.

Some teachers may think that teaching topics such as drugs, eating disorders, terrorism,
bullying, and other rather problematic ones, is a way of apologia to these issues.
However, the aim of this intervention proposal is to cover the marijuana topic from an
academic standpoint, offer both positive and negative aspects of it, so as to motivate
students to participate in the teaching-learning experience. This is likely to happen
because students can activate their academic knowledge and previous knowledge of the
world by making use of their personal experiences, by contextualizing it and approaching
contents from different subject areas and different points of view.

Specifically speaking, the selected Health theme can be better approached through the
Natural sciences and Physical education subjects, but this does not mean other subjects
can take part as well, for instance “Cátedra de paz”, Social sciences, Arts, etc. One way or
the other, the contents seem to fit the students’ interests, so it is expected that students’
motivation is greatly influenced. The marijuana topic, then, is supposed to act as a hook
so that students feel engaged to participate from the beginning of the unit and in every
lesson.

As far as CLIL is concerned, the 4Cs template will be taken into account and, due to its
flexibility, will be merged with the Colombian legislation on the teaching of English as a
foreign language. Cognition can refer to the Colombian standards for the learning of
English as a foreign language and related legal documents, but also to Bloom’s revised
(Owen, 2016) and digital taxonomies (Educational Origami (Edorigami), n.d.). Culture
will be reflected in the local level, for instance the “Marihuanódromo” (weed-o-drome)
news from Tuluá this current year (Equipo Rendición de Cuentas, 2017), and other
relevant subtopics from a broader scope. Communication will be developed through the

29
CEFR level A1 of our students and the Colombian requirements for English as a foreign
language. Content will deal with sub-topics derived from and related to different school
subjects and projects (Figure 2).

In order to generate and maintain language learners’ motivation, some motivational

strategies will be put into practice even since the very devising of the CLIL unit. For
example, the topic itself will be unusual. Second, different sources of information will be
used, such as videos, music (Bob Marley), graphics, drawings and paintings, etc. This
multimodal approach means that an interdisciplinary perspective, and very probably
multiple intelligences, must be implemented.

Other strategies involve having students create, for instance, a brief dictionary or
glossary of vocabulary learned throughout the unit, including both formal and informal
(slang) phrases and sentences, or joint art (pipes), and drawing and painting related to
psychedelic states of mind (which can be enhanced by the use of internet), artwork which
can be displayed any time in the unit. Some of these works can be done in couples or
small groups so that student empathize and cooperate, especially when they have
interests in common. As for some other didactic strategies, the teacher will have to
translate information from Spanish to English, taking account of the students’ English
level (A1). As for the students, translations and explanations in the L1 (Spanish) will be
accepted only after other scaffolding resources have been used, such as gestures, images,
true cognates, or simplified explanations in the FL.

Regarding assessment, summative, formative, and alternative assessment will be taken

into account. For the first, a test resembling the Prueba Saber grado 11, including both
language and content items, will be assigned at the end of the unit. For the second, self
and peer assessment are going to be carried out. For the last, short compositions
mediated by translations using Google Translator, the hands-on tasks and their
display/presentation are examples of ongoing learning. Besides, some game-like, for-fun
competitions can be performed so as to take participation as another evaluation
criterion.

30
Figure 2. CLIL aspects of the intervention proposal on marijuana.

31
3.4. Timing

This intervention proposal is intended for two months corresponding to one school
module/period. The module lasts around 8 weeks, so there are going to be approximately
24 hours (hours of 55 minutes) of study and assessment, as each week covers 3 hours.
The number of sessions is five, taking into account that some sessions will cover up to six
hours. The rationale for this is that the students’ English level is beginner and they go
forward very slowly, which means that quality matters more here than quantity. It is
worth knowing that the assessment activities (Prueba Saber grado 11, self- and peer
assessment, the collecting of a story on marijuana and a glossary/dictionary, the English
Festival, and a marijuana awareness campaign) will be hold by the end of the didactic
unit and are not included in the total number of hours above mentioned.

The sessions will present a structure suggested by the school, including four steps
corresponding to Kolb's cycle of experiential learning (Science Education Research
Center (SERC), 2016), namely experience, reflection, conceptualization, and application.
These steps, which agree with some general teaching methodological components -some
examples shown below-, are expected to take an average of minutes as shown in
parenthesis:

-Experience: Activating previous knowledge, brainstorming, sharing anecdotes and life

experiences, making interviews and surveys, watching and reading news, and so on. (5’-
10’)
-Reflection: Bridging students’ knowledge with the new knowledge, completing mind
maps, asking and answering questions, etc. (5’-10’)
-Conceptualization: Collecting the relevant data, improving concepts and definitions,
reading different kinds of text, watching videos, listening to music, creating mind maps,
etc. (20’-25’)
-Application: Answering questions, solving problems, assessing and evaluating, drawing
conclusions, making an artifact, hands-on activities, writing an essay, etc. (10’-15’)

However, these timings can be longer depending on the length of the topic and activities.

3.5. Sessions and activities

In this section the different sessions, with their corresponding activities, tasks, links, and
so on, will be displayed. Each session will include, on the one hand, the 4Cs lesson
framework and, on the other, the corresponding basic competences, the citizenship and
32
the general labor ones, the basic learning rights (BLR), and the standards for learning
English as a foreign language, in a way to fulfill the current Colombian legislation.
Besides, some explanations and details will be given as it is necessary to clarify the
methodological and didactic processes during the lessons.

3.5.1. Session 1. Introduction: What is marijuana?

The first session, lasting around four hours, is devoted to activate students’ previous
knowledge about marijuana. This means this session acts as a warm-up in order for
students to feel motivated and engaged to participate since the very beginning of the
didactic unit. This session is expected to be fun for several reasons. For instance, different
slang and street names for marijuana are going to be prompted by students. Besides they
will have the chance to draw and listen to music, which are activities they like doing.

The first hour of this session will start by showing students an images search on Google
about medicinal plants. Students will be asked if they know the name (it could be in
Spanish) of the plants they see, until we reach the image of marijuana. After this, students
will work in groups of 4 (motivational strategy) and there will be a series of simple
questions about marijuana, aimed at having students brainstorm. To do this, they have
to write their responses in their notebooks and afterwards one member of the group will
go to the board to share their answers. The questions are:

1. What is marijuana?
2. What other names exist for marihuana?
3. What types of marijuana exist?
4. What are the colors of the marijuana plant?
5. What are the parts of the marijuana plant?
6. What are the chemical components of marijuana?
7. What are the effects of marijuana on a person?
8. Is marijuana a drug or a medicine?
9. Is marijuana addictive?
10. Is marijuana legal or illegal in Colombia? In other countries (U.S.A., Australia)?

So far the experience and reflection steps have been done. Before going on to the
conceptualization step, students will be told the goal and the final tasks of the didactic
unit, and the cognitive (learning) objectives of this particular lesson, action that fulfills

33
another motivational strategy. What is more, there is some personalization in the tasks,
which is just another motivational strategy.

In the second hour, factual information will be passed on to students with the purpose of
answering the first four questions posed before. Different formats will be used, such as
text (synonyms, definitions, etc.), drawings, video, and maps, so as to fulfill another
motivational strategy. The focus of this lesson is the types of marijuana and their
features. Students will listen and follow two paragraphs about what marijuana is. The
task will be to draw the three types of marijuana and to complete a simple format with
the missing words (plant features). The students who finish quickly can have the
opportunity to receive a marijuandala (marijuana mandala) or can draw on their own.

During the third and fourth hours of this session, application will take place. Students
will have the opportunity to get in contact with the Jamaican culture, specifically by
getting to know the Rastafarian culture (their flag, for instance), so text, pictures and a
video will be shown. Students will be asked to draw or create a flag in pairs, to give a
meaning to it and explain its features (colors, ornaments) to their classmates. Besides
there will be time to read Bob Marley’s biography, complete a profile card, listen to one
of his songs, called “Is this love?”, and complete the missing words in the lyrics. This
multimodal input aids in influencing student motivation.

Lesson 1: What is marijuana? Timing: 4 hours

Goal: Get acquainted with some basic information on marijuana.
Unit final tasks
1. Individually, create a glossary or a dictionary with terms and phrases related to
marijuana, with their corresponding meanings and definitions. It can include slang.
You can use dictionaries or search on internet. You can also present it in technological
and virtual ways as well. Don’t forget to add audio and visual support if possible. There
is a rubric for this task.
2. Individually, write a story in English based on a marijuana experience. It could be
personal, another person’s, or just invented. The teacher will provide you with five text
samples both in Spanish and English. You can use Google Translator. You will have
two dates to hand in your advances for corrections. The last date you have to hand in
the final version, be it written, in a virtual way or both. There is a rubric for this task.
3. In groups of four, you will take part in a marijuana awareness campaign in sixth and
seventh grades by the end of this module. You will be ready after having studied about

34
 the effects of marijuana on people and created a Prezi presentation. There is a rubric
for this task.
4. You will participate in this year’s version of the school English Festival. There are
multiple options to do so. Make a stand with some classmates and present your
glossaries/dictionaries in a variety of formats; present your marijuana story; make an
exhibition of drawings, mandalas or other objects (crafts) related to marijuana; sing
or mimic a reggae song; play a scientist role and explain simple facts about marijuana.
Anyway, you can exploit your creativity and come up with other options! Self- and peer
assessment will be taken into account. There are corresponding rubrics for these.
BLR
1. Describes the basic characteristics of people, things, and places found in his/her
school, city or community using short phrases and sentences.
2. Answers questions related to “what, who, and when” after reading or listening to a
short simple text whose topic is connected to familiar events.
3. Understands the subject and general information of a short simple text using aids
such as images, titles, and key words.
Basic Citizenship competences1 General labor
competences competences
Communicativ -I understand that there are Personal type:
e (language): different ways of expressing -I identify appropriate
-I identify the identities (for example, physical behaviors for each situation
main formal appearance, artistic and verbal (family, school, with peers).
characteristics expression, and many others...) and
of the text: respect them. (Communication Interpersonal type:
presentation skills). -I express my ideas clearly.
format, titles, -I recognize that living beings and -I understand the
graphics, the environment are a unique and instructions correctly.
chapters, unrepeatable resource that -I respect the ideas expressed
organization, deserves my respect and by others, even though they
etc. consideration. (Integrative are different from mine.
competences).
Contents2
Lexical: Definition of marijuana, types, nouns (names as synonyms, colors), personal
information.
Grammar: Simple present, simple past, simple Wh- questions (What).

1
Correspond to the Culture/Community/Citizenship suggested for CLIL as learned in this Master.
2
The sub-divisions correspond to the contents suggested by MEN (2016).

35
 Sociolinguistic/Intercultural: Group and pair work, acceptance of and respect for
differences, valuation of cultural diversity (Rastafarians, Bob Marley, reggae music),
ability to listen and observe, skills to relate information, knowledge of the impact of
culture and situational, social and historical contexts.
Communication objectives3 Cognitive objectives4
-Language of: Leaf/ves, flower, LOTS
stem, seed, grow, colors, chemicals, -Give a definition and different names of
THC, compound, drug, young, marijuana.
mind, body. -Recognize the types of marijuana (names and
-Language for: Simple questions shapes).
and answers, repetition, definition. -Represent a marijuana plant with some basic
-Language through: Group work, features.
peer interaction, audiovisual HOTS
support, dictionary skills. -Create a personalized flag and present it to
classmates.
Corresponding basic standards of competences in English as a FL
(1- Linguistic, 2- Pragmatic, 3- Sociolinguistic)5
-Listening:
1. I understand basic information about topics related to my daily activities and my
environment. 2. 3
2. I understand oral questions and expressions that relate to me, my family, my
friends and my environment. 1, 2, 3
-Reading:
1. I identify related words about topics that are familiar to me. 1,2
2. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity that helps me discover the world.
3. I associate a drawing with its written description. 2
4. I use the dictionary to support text comprehension and to identify the proper
meaning of words in the dictionary according to the context. 1, 2
5. I understand literary, academic and general interest texts written in simple
language. 1, 2, 3
6. I can extract general and specific information from short written texts. 1, 2
-Writing:
1. I describe, in short sentences, people, places, objects or facts related to topics and
situations that are familiar to me. 1.2

3
Correspond to the language functions/objectives suggested by MEN (ibid).
4
Correspond to the learning objectives suggested by MEN (ibid).
5
Correspond to assessable criteria as learned in this Master.

36
 2. I complete basic personal information in simple formats and documents. 1, 2
-Monolog:
1. I look for opportunities to use what I know in English. 3
-Conversation:
1. I answer with short sentences to simple questions about topics that are familiar to
me and about my likes and preferences. 1, 2, 3
Suggested performance indicators6
Knowing Doing Being
1. Identifies words and 1. Answers with short 1. Respects physical,
expressions related to phrases some questions on cultural, ideological
marijuana (definition, marijuana. differences, among
synonyms, parts, colors). 2. Takes notes about others, of his/her
2. Identifies essential missing words in a picture classmates.
information in a short on marijuana. 2. Participates in the
biography. 3. Formulates simple activities.
3. Identifies the structure of questions to obtain specific 3. Values and
simple Yes/No questions and information about respects the
Wh- questions. marijuana. contributions and
4. Identifies basic structures of 4. Completes a form with opinions of
simple present and past tenses. information related to classmates.
5. Understands the general another person’s profile. 4. Values the
idea of a short oral or written 5. Exchanges information importance of
text about an academic subject. related to academic interculturality.
subjects.
Activities Materials and resources
-Warm-up -Medicinal plants Google search:
and https://www.google.com.co/search?q=medicinal+plants&source=ln
brainstorm. ms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjrmcr2w_3UAhUCQSYKHVxR
-Watch, Cu0Q_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=638
listen to and -Kidshealth “What Is Marijuana? (only two first paragraphs)” on
follow http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/marijuana.html#
information. - Weed: 12 Interesting Facts You Should Know (only first 17’’ with
-Paint and less speed) on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrWVVCuMbdg
draw. -Heartofthevalley blog:
-Make a flag. https://corazondelvalleblog.blogspot.com.co/ (all data is retrieved

6
Correspond to assessable standards as learned in this Master.

37
 -Read text, from internet, summarized, and levelled for students, including Bob
listen to a Marley’s biography and song “Is this love?”).
song and -Printed material (marijuandala).
complete (See Annex I)
forms.

3.5.2. Session 2. What are the parts of the marijuana plant?

The second session will try to cover the fifth question on the anatomy of the marijuana
plant, and is expected to last around two hours. To start with, in the first hour, a very
quick hanged man game will be done per rows with the word “plant”. Then students will
be asked to mention the parts of the plant they know. The dictionary must be used; even
internet on their cell phones is allowed. As they answer they have to come to the board,
draw that part and write its name. After this experience moment, reflection will draw on
the presentation of an image showing different parts of a plant. Students will be asked to
draw a plant in their notebook and complete it accordingly.

For conceptualizing, there will be a question about the parts of the marijuana plant. One
or more students can draw the plant on the board if they ask for it, so this would be a
great opportunity for them to take more responsibility, be autonomous learners, and
teach their classmates (this fulfills another motivational strategy). After that, an image
of a marijuana plant will be shown and explained by the teacher in simple English.
Students will be asked to repeat the main words. In order to end this first hour, students
will be asked to draw the marijuana plant and take notes on its parts and definitions. One
strategy to understand the text is for students to highlight in green color or marker the
words that are similar both in Spanish and English (cognates). For the second hour,
students have to bring a plant or part of it, the flowering mango being the suggested one.
The actual marijuana plant will be accepted.

In the second hour, a YouTube video (with subtitles in English and played at 0.75 speed)
explaining the parts of the marijuana plant will be shown, so as to bridge and recall the
information learned in the first hour. Next the plants brought will be observed and
compared with the marijuana one or images of it, so that students find any similarities
or differences, which they will have to write in a T chart. As for application of knowledge,
students, in groups of 4, will have to invent a new, hybrid plant and outline it on a
cardboard. They will be encouraged to be as creative as possible and come up with diverse
plant combinations and features, for instance a “mariapple”, a “weedberry”, and so on

38
(this personalization is expected to increase motivation). Some groups will be allowed to
present their creation to their classmates and they can even choose a winner. The rest of
the works can be improved and have more details, can be done on an internet application,
and eventually displayed during the oncoming English Festival.

Session 2: What is the anatomy of marijuana? Timing: 2 hours

BLR
1. Describes the basic characteristics of people, things, and places found in his/her
school, city or community using short phrases and sentences.
2. Understands the subject and general information of a short simple text using aids
such as images, titles, and key words.
3. Recognizes specific information in written and oral texts related to objects, people
and actions when they are familiar to the student and the related information is
presented slowly.
Basic competences Citizenship General labor
competences competences
Communicative (language): -I recognize that living Interpersonal
-I identify the main formal beings and the type:
characteristics of the text: environment are a -I express my
presentation format, titles, graphics, unique and unrepeatable ideas clearly.
chapters, organization, etc. resource that deserves -I understand the
-I analyze the textual, conceptual and my respect and instructions
formal aspects of each of the texts I consideration. correctly.
read. (Integrative -I respect the
competences). ideas expressed
Mathematics: -I critically analyze the by others, even
-I compare and interpret data from information of the though they are
various sources (press, magazines, media. (Cognitive different from
television, experiments, competences). mine.
consultations, interviews).
Contents
Lexical: Parts of marijuana, definitions, adjectives, verbs in past participle.
Grammar: Simple present, relative clauses, passive voice.
Sociolinguistic/Intercultural: Group and pair work, acceptance of and respect for
differences, ability to listen and observe, skills to relate information.
Communication objectives Cognitive objectives

39
-Language of: Node, trichome, pistil, LOTS
cola, calix, male, female, bud, stalk. -Identify the different parts of marijuana.
-Language for: Simple questions and -Contrast a marijuana plant with a
answers, This is a/an/the… flowering mango plant.
-Language through: Peer interaction, HOTS
pair and group work, audiovisual -Invent a marijuana-mixed plant with
support, dictionary skills, teacher male and female versions, corresponding
support. parts, and explain it.
Corresponding basic standards of competences in English as a FL
(1- Linguistic, 2- Pragmatic, 3- Sociolinguistic)
-Listening:
1. I understand basic information about topics related to my daily activities and my
environment. 2, 3
2. I understand an oral description of a situation, person, place or object. 1, 2
-Reading:
1. I identify related words about topics that are familiar to me. 1, 2
2. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity that helps me discover the world.
3. I associate a drawing with its written description. 2
4. I use the dictionary to support text comprehension and to identify the proper
meaning of words in the dictionary according to the context. 1, 2
5. I understand literary, academic and general interest texts written in simple
language. 1, 2, 3
-Writing:
1. I describe, in short sentences, people, places, objects or facts related to topics and
situations that are familiar to me. 1, 2
-Monolog:
1. I look for opportunities to use what I know in English. 3
-Conversation:
1. I answer with short sentences to simple questions about topics that are familiar to
me and about my likes and preferences. 1, 2, 3
2. I formulate simple questions on topics that are familiar to me, based on gestures
and repetition. 1, 3
Suggested performance indicators
Knowing Doing Being
1. Recognizes the vocabulary 1. Writes down in a pre- 1. Values his/her
related to the parts of the established form short personal
marijuana plant. expressions and words

40
 2. Identifies essential related to the marijuana characteristics and
information related to parts. those of their peers.
marijuana parts in short 2. Provides, orally and in 2. Respects physical,
written texts. writing, information about a cultural, ideological
3. Identifies basic structures of new plant. differences, among
simple present and passive 3. Formulates questions to others, of his/her
voice. obtain specific information classmates.
4. Identifies the sections of a about the new plant. 3. Participates in the
descriptive text. 4. Exchanges information activities.
5. Identifies relevant facts, related to academic 4. Values the
specific details and references. subjects. contributions of
classmates in class.
Activities Materials and resources
-Warm-up about -Plant parts image from Google (Annex II).
plant parts. -Board, dictionary and cardboard.
-Watch, listen to and -Cannabis 101: Plant Anatomy on
follow information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtyItLlOczo&feature=yo
-Compare plants and utu.be
complete a T chart. -Heartofthevalley blog:
-Invent a new plant. https://corazondelvalleblog.blogspot.com.co/
-Actual flowering mango plant and possibly marijuana plant.

3.5.3. Session 3. What is the chemical composition of marijuana?

The third session will be about the sixth question, and will last approximately 2 hours.
The subject to be studied is chemistry, which is part of the natural sciences. The first hour
of this lesson will start by writing some abbreviations on the board, such as TNT, S.O.S.,
UNO, FAQ, R.I.P., PC, BFF, and so on. Students can write their meanings on the board,
and corrections will be done if necessary. Then, a drawing of a water drop will be done
on the board. The point is to have students recall the chemical composition of it (H 2O,
two particles or molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen). After this, students will be
asked about the chemical compounds found in marijuana. A clue will be that its
chemicals can also be written with its initials or abbreviations. THC is the most expected
answer from students, and it is possible that some students also know what it means. So
far experience and reflection have been reached.

41
Concerning conceptualization, from news and medical internet pages, several pieces of
information were taken and a new text emerged after being summarized and levelled to
students, that is, scaffolded. The new text has words in bold and underlined synonyms
or Spanish translations in parentheses, in a way to make it understandable for students
(thus, another motivational strategy is carried out). Information will be presented in
video beam and students have to take notes in their notebooks, including drawings.

During the second hour of this lesson students have to summarize the information about
the marijuana chemicals and get ready to use a software application (bubbl.us is
suggested) so that they can create a mind map about this topic, in pairs or groups of 3.
This means we have to go to the computers room and it is likely that the teacher has to
give a previous explanation about how to use bubbl.us. The rest of the time students must
devote themselves to doing the mind map. In order to complete the lesson’s task,
students have to upload their mind map to the English area wikispace. In case there is
no internet connection, as it is commonplace, the teacher has to have available material
such as cardboard and extra markers so that students can do the mind map, which could
be displayed by the end of the hour and then outside of the classroom, in a corridor for
instance.

Session 3: What are the chemicals in marijuana? Timing: 2 hours

BLR
1. Understands the subject and general information of a short simple text using aids
such as images, titles, and key words.
2. Understands the main idea and details related to activities, places, and people in a
short descriptive text through familiar words and phrases.
3. Recognizes specific information in written and oral texts related to objects, people
and actions when they are familiar to the student and the related information is
presented slowly.
Basic competences Citizenship General labor
competences competences
Communicative (language): -I recognize that Personal type:
-I identify the main formal characteristics living beings -I use spaces and
of the text: presentation format, titles, and the resources at my
graphics, chapters, organization, etc. environment are disposal
-I analyze the textual, conceptual and a unique and appropriately.
formal aspects of each of the texts I read. unrepeatable
resource that Interpersonal type:

42
Mathematics: deserves my -I express my ideas
-I compare and interpret data from respect and clearly.
various sources (press, magazines, consideration. -I understand the
television, experiments, consultations, (Integrative instructions correctly.
interviews). competences).
-I critically Technological type:
Scientific (social and natural): analyze the -I identify the
-I make search plans that include possible information of available
primary and secondary sources (oral, the media. technological
written, iconographic, virtual ...) and (Cognitive resources for the
different terms to find information that competences). development of a task.
answers my questions.
Contents
Lexical: Chemical names, illnesses, verbs in present and past participle, adjectives.
Grammar: Simple present, passive voice.
Sociolinguistic/Intercultural: Peer interaction, ability to listen and observe, skills to
relate information.
Communication objectives Cognitive objectives
-Language of: Chemical, compound, LOTS
ingredient, anandamide, THC, -Name the main chemical
neurotransmitter, receptor, research, components of marijuana and
symptom, CBD, CBN, CBC, terpenoid, define them.
flavonoid. -Summarize information on
-Language for: Simple sentences in present, marijuana chemicals.
This is a/an/the… HOTS
-Language through: Peer interaction, -Make a mind map on the chemical
audiovisual support, dictionary skills, teacher composition of marijuana and
support. upload it to a wikispace.
Corresponding basic standards of competences in English as a FL
(1- Linguistic, 2- Pragmatic, 3- Sociolinguistic)
-Listening:
1. I understand basic information about topics related to my daily activities and my
environment. 2, 3
-Reading:
1. I identify related words about topics that are familiar to me. 1,2
2. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity that helps me discover the world.
3. I associate a drawing with its written description. 2

43
4. I use graphs to represent the most relevant information in a text. 2
5. I use the dictionary to support text comprehension and to identify the proper
meaning of words in the dictionary according to the context. 1, 2
6. I understand literary, academic and general interest texts written in simple
language. 1, 2, 3
7. I can extract general and specific information from short written text in simple
language. 1, 2
-Writing:
1. I describe, in short sentences, people, places, objects or facts related to topics and
situations that are familiar to me. 1, 2
-Monolog:
1. I look for opportunities to use what I know in English. 3
-Conversation:
1. I answer with short sentences to simple questions about topics that are familiar to
me and about my likes and preferences. 1, 2, 3
Suggested performance indicators
Knowing Doing Being
1. Recognizes the vocabulary regarding 1. Takes notes about words 1.
the chemicals in marijuana. and expressions related to Participates
2. Identifies essential information marijuana chemicals. in the
related to marijuana in short written 2. Provides, in oral and in activities.
texts with simple language. writing, information about 2. Values
3. Distinguishes sequences in an oral or the chemical composition of and
written text. marijuana. respects the
4. Identifies basic structures of simple 3. Exchanges information opinions of
present and passive voice. related to academic classmates.
5. Understands the general idea of a subjects.
short oral or written text about an 4. Makes use of appropriate
academic subject. technological tools to
6. Identifies relevant facts, specific produce a mind map on the
details and references. chemicals in marijuana.
Activities Materials and resources
-Warm-up. -Board, markers.
-Read and summarize -Written text scaffolded for students’ level (See
information. Annex III for a sample).
-Computers with internet and mind map
software application, e.g., bubbl.us.

44
 -Make a mind map on bubbl.us or -Heartofthevalley wikispace on
any other and upload it to https://heartofthevalleyenglish.wikispaces.com/
wikispace.

3.5.4. Session 4. What are the effects of marijuana on a person?

The fourth session, lasting around six hours (two weeks), will deal with the seventh
question on the effects of marijuana on body and mind, as well as other effects. The first
hour of this session corresponds to the experience and reflection stages and is about
eliciting students’ knowledge on the human body, making some emphasis on the brain
and its parts. First, students will be asked to draw a body in their notebooks and label its
parts, minimum 30 parts. They can use a dictionary or internet on their cell phones for
finding the vocabulary. Students will be shown an image of both a male and a female
body so that they can improve their body drawings. After that, the teacher will show the
image of a brain and will ask students whether they know the parts of the brain. Then,
visual support will be provided so that students get to know more about it and how its
parts function. Students draw and take notes.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth hours will involve the conceptualization, in which
students have to take a lot of notes. Lots of visual input (images and text) will be
presented to students in the following order: second hour, how THC affects the brain
(process) and effects on body; third hour, effects on brain and mind; fourth hour, other
effects, a listening, fill-in-the-blanks activity; fifth hour, a bingo game and a categorizing
task. Going on with the final, application stage, in the sixth hour students have to create
a Prezi presentation in groups of 4 (motivational strategies in action), and decide which
grade (6th or 7th) they will visit for a marijuana awareness campaign. As it is usual the
case, if there is no internet connection, PowerPoint is the most available option (the
technology teacher could assist students in this task). The date for this campaign will be
one of the last hours of the module. Teachers of other subjects will be asked to help in
receiving and letting the campaign take place in different classrooms.

For students who want to get reliable information, the page

http://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana.htm will be recommended as it contains
lots of information covering most if not all the points seen during this fourth session.
Translating the page to Spanish will be suggested. Yet, students will be warned that there
is too much data on internet and that they had better look for renowned medical
associations pages, for instance, instead of blogs.

45
 Session 4: What are the effects of marijuana Timing: 6 hours
on a person?
BLR
1. Answers questions related to “what, who, and when” after reading or listening to a
short simple text whose topic is connected to familiar events.
2. Understands the subject and general information of a short simple text using aids
such as images, titles, and key words.
3. Recognizes specific information in written and oral texts related to objects, people
and actions when they are familiar to the student and the related information is
presented slowly.
4. Briefly narrates current facts, daily situations or personal experiences orally and in
written form.
Basic competences Citizenship General labor
competences competences
Communicative (language): -I critically Personal type:
-I identify and analyze the textual, conceptual analyze the -I use spaces and
and formal aspects of each of the texts I read. information of resources at my
-I make a textual plan, organizing the the media. disposal
information in logical sequences, so that it (Cognitive appropriately.
meets the structural, conceptual and linguistic competences).
requirements. Interpersonal type:
-I express my ideas
Mathematics: clearly.
-I compare and interpret data from various -I understand the
sources (press, magazines, television, instructions
experiments, consultations, interviews). correctly.
-I respect the ideas
Scientific (social and natural): expressed by
-I make search plans that include possible others, even
primary and secondary sources (oral, written, though they are
iconographic, virtual ...) and different terms to different from
find information that answers my questions. mine.
Contents
Lexical: Parts of the body, parts of the brain, modal verbs.
Grammar: Simple present, modals.
Discourse: Sequence connectors.

46
Sociolinguistic/Intercultural: Learning through interaction, ability to listen and
observe, skills to relate information.
Communication Cognitive objectives
objectives
-Language of: Brain, LOTS
lung, heart, rate, -Identify the effects marijuana has on their body, brain, and
crave/ing, short-term, other effects.
long-term, withdrawal, -Understand the risks associated with marijuana use.
relapse. -Understand how marijuana works in the brain by means of
-Language for: Simple the neurotransmitters and receivers.
present sentences. HOTS
-Language through: -Classify several effects in the corresponding category:
Peer interaction, body, mind, others.
games, audiovisual -Create a Prezi presentation on the different effects of
support, teacher marijuana on people.
support, dictionary -Develop a campaign on marijuana’s effects awareness for
skills, internet search. sixth and seventh graders, using the Prezis created.
Corresponding basic standards of competences in English as a FL
(1- Linguistic, 2- Pragmatic, 3- Sociolinguistic)
-Listening:
1. I understand basic information about topics related to my daily activities and my
environment. 2. 3
2. I understand an oral description of a situation, person, place or object. 1, 2
3. I identify the general topic and relevant details in conversations, radio information
or oral presentations. 1, 2, 3
-Reading:
1. I identify related words about topics that are familiar to me. 1,2
2. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity that helps me discover the world.
3. I associate a drawing with its written description. 2
4. I use graphs to represent the most relevant information in a text. 2
5. I use the dictionary to support text comprehension and to identify the proper
meaning of words in the dictionary according to the context. 1, 2
6. I understand literary, academic and general interest texts written in simple
language. 1, 2, 3
7. I can extract general and specific information from short written texts in simple
language. 1, 2
-Writing:

47
1. I write about topics of my interest. 2
2. I describe, in short sentences, people, places, objects or facts related to topics and
situations that are familiar to me. 1.2
3. I use appropriate vocabulary to give consistency to my writing. 1, 2
-Monolog:
1. I look for opportunities to use what I know in English. 3
-Conversation:
1. I formulate simple questions on topics that are familiar to me, based on gestures
and repetition. 1, 3
Suggested performance indicators
Knowing Doing Being
1. Recognizes the vocabulary related to 1. Completes a pre- 1. Values
the effects of marijuana in body, mind, established form with his/her
and other effects. short expressions and personal
2. Identifies essential information related words related to characteristic
to marijuana effects in short written texts marijuana effects. s and those of
such as news and medical reports. 2. Makes a list of the their peers.
3. Distinguishes sequences in an oral or different effects of 2.
written text. marijuana on people. Participates
4. Identifies basic structures of simple 3. Provides information in the
present and sentences with modals. about marijuana effects activities.
5. Understands the general idea of a in a Prezi. 3. Values the
short oral or written text about an 4. Makes good use of contributions
academic subject. internet and software of classmates
6. Identifies relevant facts, specific applications. in class.
details and references.
Activities Materials and resources
-Warm-up -Male and female human body images from
and https://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/11/30/the-body-and-its-parts/
brainstorm -Brain images from https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-main-
about the parts-of-the-human-brain-What-function-do-they-serve and
human body https://askabiologist.asu.edu/brain-regions.
and the -Information and images on marijuana effects on body, brain (Annex
brain. IV), mind, other effects, and bingo game, from:
-Watch, -Short-, long-term, and other effects on
listen to and http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/marijuana.html#
-http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/endocannabinoid

48
 follow -http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/the-science-of-marijuana
information. -https://visual.ly/community/infographic/health/10-most-
-Play bingo common-health-side-effects-using-marijuana
on -
definitions. http://www.bestdrugrehabilitation.com/blog/infographics/marijuan
-Create a a-and-its-effects-on-the-body/
Prezi or -http://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana3.htm
PowerPoint -https://addictionresource.com/drugs/marijuana/how-marijuana-
presentation. affects-the-body/
-https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-symptoms-of-getting-high-
from-weed
-https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/mjrrs_2.pdf (page
3, brain; page 5, marijuana abuse consequences; page 10, glossary)
-https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/worksheets.pdf
(pages 16 and 17, definitions and bingo sheet; pages 20 and 21,
marijuana fact sheet and answers)
-Prezi.com or PowerPoint.

3.5.5. Session 5. What is marijuana’s current state in Colombia and

the world? Is it considered a drug? A medicine? Is it addictive?

The fifth session will be about the legal state of marijuana in Colombia and the world, if
it is considered a drug or a medicine, and if it could be addictive, so as to answer
questions eighth, ninth and tenth. Also, this last session will include the sub-topic of the
“marihuanódromo” proposal in Tuluá by the current mayor, Gustavo Vélez. Besides, the
summative, formative and alternative assessments will take place, correspondingly in the
form of a Prueba Saber grado 11, the self- and peer assessment, the student participation
in the marijuana awareness campaign and in the English Festival, and the collecting of
the unit glossary/dictionary and the story on marijuana.

This last session is supposed to last six hours (two weeks), not including the final tasks
in the timing. The first hour there will be a warm-up and brainstorming about different
legal and illegal drugs. Students will be shown images from Google and will be asked
which ones are legal, illegal, medicinal, and so on. They will be also asked simple
questions about their families, neighborhoods, and themselves about use and abuse of
substances, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. When marijuana is touched upon, students, in groups
of 4, will be asked to write in their notebooks both advantages and disadvantages of it
regarding health, under a T chart. To do this, they have to use dictionaries or internet on

49
their phones. To wrap up this hour, students’ contributions will be shared (some Spanish
is accepted after teacher’s help). Up to this point, experience and reflection have been
fulfilled.

The second hour will be devoted to study the health benefits of marijuana. There will be
lots of visual support, and also some listening. Students will take notes, paying close
attention to the vocabulary related to diseases. The third hour will include some social
sciences content, particularly information about countries where marijuana is accepted
for medicinal use or penalized. A table and different maps from internet will be used.
One activity will be to use a world map in order to locate some countries. This will be
followed by some analysis about in what parts of the world (continents) marijuana is
legal, and if this fact responds to any criterion such as weather, religion, etc. As a follow-
up, in the fourth hour Colombia’s standpoint on marijuana will be discussed. National
information (facts and opinions) from internet will be presented. The focus will be a local
news about the possible creation of a “marihuanódromo” in Tuluá. Students will be
shown several possible places and they will have to choose one and justify. Dictionaries
can be used, even internet on their phones. The fifth hour will have a song. Students will
be given some drawings and they have to find the words in the dictionaries or internet.
With these words, they have to fill in the blanks. Then, they will be given the Spanish
version of the song so that they can relate information and learn some expressions. In
the sixth hour, students, in groups of four, will be given five sample texts of marijuana
related stories, both in English and Spanish (translations by the teacher). By reading both
versions, they have to select words and phrases useful for their writing task. Then,
individually, students have to write a Spanish version at least, so the homework would
be to translate it into English, and for this they can use Google Translator.

So far the fifth session is ended. The remaining four hours will be carried out like this:
One hour for the Prueba Saber grado 11; another for collecting the glossary and the story
(they have this hour to make final improvements); another for self- and peer
assessments; and the last, for implementing the campaign. The English Festival is linked
to this module, but the performance date is on October 31st.

Session 5: What is marijuana’s legal status? Timing: 6 hours

BLR
1. Understands the subject and general information of a short simple text using aids
such as images, titles, and key words.

50
2. Understands the main idea and details related to activities, places, and people in a
short descriptive text through familiar words and phrases.
3. Recognizes specific information in written and oral texts related to objects, people
and actions when they are familiar to the student and the related information is
presented slowly.
4. Makes brief presentations on academic topics related to his/her school
environment or community.
5. Briefly narrates current facts, daily situations or personal experiences orally and in
written form.
Basic competences Citizenship General labor
competences competences
Communicative (language) -I critically Personal type:
-I make a textual plan, analyze the -I identify appropriate
organizing the information in information of behaviors for each situation
logical sequences, so that it the media. (family, school, with peers).
meets the structural, conceptual (Cognitive -I use spaces and resources at
and linguistic requirements. competences). my disposal appropriately.
-I analyze the textual, conceptual -I participate
and formal aspects of each of the with my Interpersonal type:
texts I read. teachers and -I express my ideas clearly.
classmates in -I understand the instructions
Mathematics: collective correctly.
-I compare and interpret data projects -I respect the ideas expressed
from various sources (press, oriented to by others, even though they
magazines, television, common well- are different from mine.
experiments, consultations, being and -I identify the actors that have
interviews). solidarity. an impact on the important
(Integrative). issues related to my close
Scientific (social and natural): environment (my house,
-I support my friends in making neighborhood, school).
responsible decisions about
taking care of their body. Organizational type:
-I make search plans that -I collect data of situations
include possible primary and close to my environment (my
secondary sources (oral, written, house, neighborhood, school).
iconographic, virtual ...) and
different terms to find Technological type:

51
information that answers my -I identify the available
questions. technological resources for the
development of a task.
Contents
Lexical: Marijuana history, countries, places of the city, diseases, adverbs of contrast,
cardinal and ordinal numbers, comparative and superlative adjectives.
Grammar: Simple present, passive voice, the first/biggest of…
Discourse: Compare and contrast, contrast connectors.
Sociolinguistic/Intercultural: Group and pair work, acceptance of and respect for
differences, valuation of cultural diversity, ability to listen and observe, skills to
relate information, knowledge of the impact of culture and situational, social and
historical contexts, self-awareness.
Communication Cognitive objectives
objectives
-Language of: Health, treat, LOTS
prevent, help, consumption, -Find countries in a world map.
hallucinogens, percent/age, -Understand the difference between recreational and
regulate/ion, approve/al. medical marijuana use.
-Language for: Simple HOTS
questions and answers, -Classify reasons for and against medicinal marijuana.
repetition, presentation -Find out in what parts of the world marijuana is legal
skills. or restricted, and justify.
-Language through: Peer -Propose a location for the “marihuanódromo” in
interaction, pair and group Tuluá.
work, audiovisual support, -Create a personalized marijuana glossary/dictionary.
dictionary skills, internet -Write a story having to do with marijuana (personal,
search, use of apps. a friend’s or invented) after reading some samples.
-Plan a marijuana awareness campaign for sixth and
seventh graders.
Corresponding basic standards of competences in English as a FL
(1- Linguistic, 2- Pragmatic, 3- Sociolinguistic)
-Listening:
1. I understand an oral description of a situation, person, place or object. 1, 2
2. I identify the general topic and relevant details in conversations, radio information
or oral presentations. 1, 2, 3
-Reading:
1. I identify related words about topics that are familiar to me. 1,2

52
2. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity that helps me discover the world.
3. I associate a drawing with its written description. 2
4. I use the dictionary to support text comprehension and to identify the proper
meaning of words in the dictionary according to the context. 1, 2
5. I can extract general and specific information from short written text in simple
language. 1, 2
-Writing:
1. I write about topics of my interest. 2
2. I describe, in short sentences, people, places, objects or facts related to topics and
situations that are familiar to me. 1.2
3. I use appropriate vocabulary to give consistency to my writing. 1, 2
-Monolog:
1. I look for opportunities to use what I know in English. 3
2. I make very brief presentations, of predictable and learned content. 2
-Conversation:
1. I answer with short sentences to simple questions about topics that are familiar to
me and about my likes and preferences. 1, 2, 3
Suggested performance indicators
Knowing Doing Being
1. Identifies essential 1. Makes a list of the reasons and 1. Values
information related to the opinions for and against medicinal his/her personal
legal status of marijuana marijuana in a T chart. characteristics
in short written texts. 2. Provides, orally and in writing, and those of
2. Distinguishes sequences information about the legal and their peers.
in an oral or written text. medicinal status of marijuana. 2. Participates
3. Identifies basic 3. Produces short descriptive texts in the activities.
structures of simple related to marijuana based on 3. Values the
present and passive voice. written samples and the use of contributions of
4. Identifies the sections of Google Translator. classmates in
a descriptive text. 4. Exchanges information related to class.
5. Identifies relevant facts, academic subjects, e.g., through a 4. Respects
specific details and campaign. customs and
references. 5. Identifies basic arguments in brief traditions of
written texts. others.
Activities Materials and resources

53
 -Warm-up -Legal and illegal drugs Google images search, on
and https://www.google.com.co/search?q=legal+and+illegal+drugs&sou
brainstorm. rce=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGv5SY0IbVAhXGLSYK
-Watch, HYmsBaQQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=638#imgrc=beDuer2rA2g8
listen to and WM:.
follow -Kidshealth “Medical use of marijuana? on
information. http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/marijuana.html#
-Read texts -Heartofthevalley blog. All data is retrieved from internet,
and write a summarized, and levelled for students:
story. - Top 10 Health Benefits of Marijuana on
-Listen to a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87lTwnxexQA
song and fill -https://visual.ly/community/infographic/health/10-major-health-
in the blanks. benefits-marijuana
-Prueba -https://visual.ly/community/infographic/health/cannabis-and-
Saber grado your-health
11. -THE WORLD OF MEDICINAL CANNABIS on
-Self- and http://superequity.com.au/the-world-of-medicinal-cannabis/
peer -UNODC, World Drug Report 2015 on
assessment. http://www.unodc.org/wdr2015/interactive-map.html
-The countries that smoke the most cannabis on
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-
the-countries-that-smoke-the-most-cannabis/
-http://www.eltiempo.com/multimedia/especiales/marihuana-en-
colombia-y-su-legalizacion/15190978/1/
-http://www.elpais.com.co/especiales/marihuana-medicinal/
-http://www.tulua.gov.co/noticias/marihuanodromo-una-idea-
recogimos-la-ciudadania/
-5 stories by teenagers on https://www.marijuana-
anonymous.org/literature/pamphlets/stories-by-teens
-Light it up, song by Greta Gaines, on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lJAHA4kv-U

3.6. Assessment

In order for this intervention proposal to be tested, both the students’ learning and the
intervention itself must be evaluated. There will be different kinds of assessment, such
as a mockup of the Colombian Prueba Saber grado 11, student self- and peer assessment,

54
a survey on motivation, and a teacher’s reflection on the didactic unit, among others. All
of these follow Colombian guidelines and the school’s requirements on assessment and
evaluation.

3.6.1. Learning assessment

Learning assessment is integrated in the teaching-learning process. This means students

will receive both formative as summative assessment and their respective grades,
following the school guidelines on this matter. As for formative assessment, the teacher
will observe students based on school criteria, namely cognitive, personal and social
performances, plus self-assessment. This reason makes it necessary for the teacher to
make a developmental rubric (DePaul, n.d.), which is presented in Table 5. The self-
assessment will be done apart, along with peer assessment. For these, two rubrics will be
applied (Tables 6 and 7). In the peer assessment rubric, students write their classmates’
names in the corresponding cell.

Concerning summative assessment, it is worth remembering that C for content is a pillar

of this didactic unit. Thus students will sit a mockup of Colombia’s Prueba Saber grado
117, test expected to be highly valid, as it incorporates both language and content items,
and also reliable, hoping that students get similar, high grades, above an average of 60%.
Of the five parts of this test, only one part will be shown here as a sample (Annex VI).

Alternative assessments will also take place, correspondingly in the student participation
in the marijuana awareness campaign and in the English Festival, and the collecting of
the unit glossary/dictionary and the story on marijuana. Although there are rubrics for
all of these tasks, only the one regarding the glossary/dictionary will be presented here
(Annex VII).

Table 5
Rubric to assess the cognitive, personal and social aspects of students.

7
This test contains 35 items. A sample can be seen in and downloaded from
https://www.google.com.co/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ah
UKEwiH3YfB04bVAhWJ4CYKHbpqBTkQFggmMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icfes.gov.co%2Fd
ocman%2Festudiantes-y-padres-de-familia%2Fsaber-pro-estudiantes-y-padres%2Festructura-general-del-
examen%2Fmodulos-saber-pro-2016-2%2Fmodulos-primera-sesion-competencias-genericas-
12%2F2367-guia-de-orientacion-modulo-de-ingles-saber-pro-2016-2%2Ffile%3Fforce-
download%3D1&usg=AFQjCNE849JM9a98pVWUIQvNCsgd-kcOMQ

55
 Aspect Excellent Outstanding Good Basic Unacceptable
4.6-5.0 4.0-4.5 3.6-3.9 3.0-3.5 1.0-2.9
Cognitive The student relates The student relates The student relates The student learns The student does not
and compares the and compares the and compares the some basic academic understand basic
academic knowledge academic knowledge academic knowledge concepts and academic knowledge
about marijuana with about marijuana about marijuana with definitions about about marijuana.
his/her own with his/her own his/her own marijuana.
knowledge, widening, knowledge, knowledge, learning
adjusting and adjusting and new concepts and
learning new learning new definitions on the
concepts and concepts and subject.
definitions on the definitions on the
subject. subject.
Personal The student assumes The student assumes The student shows a The student’s The student’s attitude
a pro-active attitude an active attitude neutral attitude attitude towards towards learning about
towards learning towards learning towards learning learning about marijuana corresponds to
about marijuana and about marijuana and about marijuana and marijuana is of little extrinsic motivation and
is totally aware of its is aware of its is aware of its interest and is not does not care about
influence on him/her. influence on influence on him/her. aware of its influence marijuana’s influence on
him/her. on him/her. him/her.
Social The student The student The student The student The student does not
participates in all the participates in all the participates in most participates in a few participate in any activities

56
 activities and tasks activities and tasks the activities and tasks of the activities and or tasks proposed, does
proposed, respecting proposed, respecting proposed, respecting tasks proposed, but not respect turns,
turns, opinions, and turns, opinions, and turns, opinions, and does not respect opinions, and
contributions of contributions of contributions of turns, opinions, and contributions of his/her
his/her classmates, his/her classmates, his/her classmates, contributions of classmates, and generates
and helping create an and helping create a and is neutral about his/her classmates, indiscipline in the
excellent classroom very good classroom his/her classroom thus generating classroom.
ambiance. ambiance. ambiance. some indiscipline in
the classroom.

Table 6
Student self-assessment rubric.

Excellent Good Needs help Needs

4.6–5.0 4.0–4.5 3.0–3.9 improvement
1.0–2.9
Content I have acquired all or I have acquired a lot I have acquir ed a litt le I have not acquir ed
most of the academic of academic academic knowledge any academic
knowledge abo ut knowledge about about marijuan, and knowledge about
marijuana and have marijuana and have have relat ed it to so me marijuana and have
related it to other related it to oth er school subjects. not s een any
school subjects and schools subjects.

57
 my previo us relationship of it wit h
knowledge. other school subjects .
Language I understand I understand I underst and so me I do not understand
informatio n abo ut informatio n about informatio n about any information about
marijuana and can use marijuana and can use marijuana and can use marijuana and am not
it for different it for some for a few able to use it
communicative communicative communicativ e communicativ ely .
purposes. purposes. purposes.
Class participatio n I have completed all I have completed most I have completed I have completed
my work individually, of my work some wor k almost none of my
in pairs and in group s. individually, in pairs individually, in pairs work individually , in
and in groups. and in groups. pairs or in groups.
Attitudes I feel highl y I feel motivated and I feel a litt le I do not feel
motivated and am am autonomous. motivated and wor k motivated and am not
autonomous. under pressure. autonomous.

Table 7
Rubric for peer-assessment.

Excellent Good Needs help Needs

4.6–5.0 4.0–4.5 3.0–3.9 improvement
1.0–2.9

58
 Respect of physical,
cultural, ideological
differences, among others.
Participation in the
activities and tasks
(responsibility).
Taking advantage of
opportunities to practice
English.
Decision-making in pairs
or groups (agreeing).

3.6.2. Assessment of the proposal

Another pillar of this didactic unit has been motivation. Motivation has to do with affective evidence as proposed by Coyle et al. (2010), so a survey
for students will be used to collect relevant data in this respect, such as what sub-topics, activities and tasks they liked most, didn’t like, would
change, add; what was the hardest, easiest, and so on (Table 8).

A second tool to assess this proposal corresponds to a table containing criteria closely related to motivational strategies and techniques, so as to
realize whether they were applied and if they had an impact on student learning (Table 9). In a way, this tool acts as the teacher’s self-evaluation.
If the results are mainly positive, there is still a long way to go on how to improve the teaching-learning practice and influence student motivation.
If they are negative, the teacher is bound to try other alternatives to engage students and increase their interest and motivation.

59
Table 8
Student survey on motivation.

IE Corazón del Valle

Sede Tomás Uribe Uribe
Survey on motivation
Name _________________________ Date: ______________________
Please, answer the following questions in a separate sheet and comment why.
1. Was the marijuana topic interesting, relevant, and motivating?
2. Were the learning objectives easy as well as challenging?
3. Did the materials and resources used by the teacher help you better understand the topics?
4. What lesson, activity or task was your favorite? the most boring? the easiest? the most difficult?
5. Did you like the different groupings (individual, pair and group work)?
6. Did the teacher make the lessons interesting and motivating?
7. Was the grading system fair?

Table 9
Evaluation criteria for the intervention proposal.
Criteria Yes No Comments, observations, improvement plan
1. The contents:
-are relevant

60
-are motivating
-fit to the students’ level
-show cross-curricular links
-offer multiple intelligences opportunities
2. The study materials and resources:
-include multimodal input
-offer a neutral standpoint
3. There is an integration of the 4Cs.
4. The methodology followed Kolb’s cycle (E-R-C-A).
5. There is use of technology:
-in the lessons delivery
-for tasks by students
6. There has been different groupings (individual, pair, group).
7. School projects are integrated in the didactic unit.
8. The learning goals are realistic and appropriate.
9. Students’ language skills have improved.
10. Student’s academic knowledge has improved.
11. The teacher’s roles have been fulfilled.
12. The assessment criteria and tools are clear and effective.

61
4. Discussion

The initial idea for this intervention proposal had to do with how to improve students’
results in the English subject at school. However, after a quick reflection on the matter,
the first conclusion was how were students supposed to get better results if they were not
motivated. Thus, the motivational factor came to the fore. After having established the
core of this intervention proposal, the literature review shed light on motivation in
general and also motivation in the classroom and motivation for learning either an L2 or
an FL. Since this work also involved the adaptation of the CLIL approach, it could be
inferred that C for content bore a direct relationship with motivation, so the intervention
proposal had all its components ready to be put into motion.

The teacher took into account the existing characterization of students, their families and
community, so as to have good grounds to choose a relevant topic for students. Besides,
the current legal Colombian requirements on the teaching of English as a foreign
language were surveyed. The flexibility of both the CLIL approach and the Colombian
laws permitted to adapt and integrate them so as to create a didactic unit aimed at
influencing student motivation.

As regards the didactic unit’s creation, it is worth knowing that the teacher worked on
his own, that is, he did not receive any help from the school board and did not work in
tandem with the non-linguistic subject teacher(s). Besides, the design of this work has
taken a lot of time. One possible reason for this is that, although there exist books for
sixth to eleventh grade suggested by the MEN (2016), these already incorporate the
desired language level -A2 for eighth graders, which is not their actual level- and do not
involve the marijuana topic as such. Therefore, the teacher had to do a lot of internet
search.

Taking into account that the students’ language level is A1 and that Colombia’s reality
corresponds to a monolingual context, there was a big emphasis on reading and hands-
on works belonging mainly to the arts subject. Yet, many other cross-curricular links
were made, so it is expected that the students’ academic and language level improve
which, in turn, are supposed to influence their motivation in the English lessons.

Lastly, the evaluation of the whole didactic unit has to be done in terms of the students’
learning, the teacher’s reflection on his own performance, and the materials and tasks
used and applied, so as to confirm its validity and reliability.

62
5. Conclusions

The purpose of this intervention proposal was the designing of a CLIL didactic unit aimed
at influencing student motivation in learning English as a foreign language. The
thorough literature review made it clear that motivation is widely accepted by scholars
and teachers to be one, if not the most important factor concerning the learning of an L2.
This fact gains more relevance when the learning is that of a FL in a monolingual context,
as it is Colombia’s case.

In this respect, it is the teacher’s task to find out which aspects of FL learning motivation
are appropriate to the students’ context and background, and design the corresponding
supporting tasks and ways of assessment for teaching to be effective (AlAzoumi, 2014).
Along with this, there were some necessary steps such as taking into account the
students, their families and community’s characterization, abiding by the Colombian
educational policies, and studying in depth about motivational strategies and techniques,
particularly to be used and applied in the language classroom.

Bringing all together, it could be inferred that one way to motivate language learners was
to link their reality to the school curriculum. Given this, C for content in CLIL was given
more relevance regarding motivation, and the marijuana topic was selected. CLIL’s
flexibility to adapt to any national curricula and other advantages it offers, including
opportunities to study content through different perspectives, complementing other
subject areas instead of competing with them, increasing learners’ confidence towards
the language and the content, and offering diverse forms of classroom practice (Attard,
Walter, Theodorou, & Chrysanthou, n.d.), have proved successful in the design of the
didactic unit.

This CLIL didactic unit involves interdisciplinary, relevant and cognitively challenging
subtopics, covering both LOTS and HOTS, and is embedded with quite a number of
selected motivational strategies to initiate and maintain student motivation to learning
not only English as a foreign language but also the contents themselves. It is noteworthy
that, in order to exploit the benefits of the CLIL approach and the motivational strategies
to the full, the remaining Cs played a major role in supporting the different components
of the didactic unit. For instance, C for culture permitted to apply some language level
motivational strategies in terms of songs, and C for cognition allowed the assigning of
tasks, which corresponds to the learner level motivation.

63
As the expected practicality of this didactic unit is concerned, it can be stated that the
template it presents offers an invaluable tool for many teachers willing to carry out the
CLIL approach adapted to their corresponding national curricula. What is more, this
didactic unit on marijuana has a free hand to be used in schools whose reality agrees with
the one that prompted this intervention proposal. A word of warning must be given,
though: The correspondences with the legal requirements for the teaching of English as
a foreign language of every country must be applied.

Despite the fact that motivation is a complex human construct difficult to understand
and explain, it is clear that teachers can directly influence their students’ motivation.
Thus, teachers are encouraged to be creative and plan interesting lessons that are of great
significance for the students’ needs, interests, context and reality. By doing this, teachers
are in a better stance to develop motivation in their students, taking into consideration
that “sometimes the best motivational intervention is simply to improve the quality of
our teaching” (Dörnyei, 2001, pp. 25, 26).

6. Limitations and further research

Throughout the devising of this intervention proposal, there were some limitations of
different kinds. First, during the literature review, a few studies showing specific
proposals on content subject and motivation were found, so there is a need for
practicality in terms of motivational strategies. Besides, when motivation is referred to
and assessed, the usual perspective is that of an “a posteriori” approach rather than an
“a priori” attitude, which renders the motivational factors apparently obvious.

In a similar vein, the school board demands for greater student motivation and better
grades and results, but they do not offer any pedagogical updating on the matter.
Moreover, the school’s existing English curriculum is still, to a great extent, grammar-
based, so the implementation of even a soft CLIL version poses many challenges and
responsibilities to the teacher willing to implement it (time, resources, assessment, etc.).

It is also necessary to note that the content (marijuana) contained in the intervention
proposal may find difficulties in being implemented by some teachers, either because
they still follow a rather traditional style of teaching (being authoritative) or because they
can be resistant to teaching this kind of topics, considering it immoral. The same issues
could apply in case of different cultures in other countries where it might not be allowed
to teach this kind of contents, as these may be considered a taboo or are not socially or

64
legally accepted. Another shortfall is that the students’ language level is A1, which did
not permit higher cognitive expectations, such as debating about the marijuana topic.

In spite of all the difficulties faced, there are still some recommendations regarding the
didactic unit proposed. Although this intervention proposal has not been applied in the
classroom, its actual implementation is suggested in a way to verify whether the
motivational strategies and techniques included meet the purpose of influencing student
motivation in the different moments of the lessons. Other variables that could be
evaluated after the implementation include the students’ grades or discipline matters.

The possibility of extending the intervention proposal to a whole school year and in
different, if not all, grades might give way to the designing of a school curriculum based
on drugs awareness, for instance, as this is a strongly felt need not only by the school but
also by families and society in general.

In addition, this intervention proposal could guide the designing of other didactic units
that give more emphasis to another C, for example C for culture, implementing local,
regional, national and international customs and celebrations. In this way, the
effectiveness of motivational strategies and techniques could be analyzed, too.

Another alternative is to implement this intervention proposal with one group of

students, while another group (the control group) is taught the contents suggested by the
government. Then, the results of this comparative study could be contrasted in terms of
language learning, content learning and motivation.

It would be great to integrate national projects within similar didactic units, such as those
related to sex education and the construction of citizenship, healthy lifestyles, and the
exercise of the Human Rights, or school projects as well, to see if they have an impact on
engagement and motivation.

Lastly, since many teachers are invited to create their own teaching-learning material,
Wikis can be a great tool for research, in a way to encourage students to participate in
the creation and sharing of their experiences and knowledge of the world, start their own
learning communities, and make them more autonomous.

65
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8. Annexes

8.1. Annex I. Types of marijuana.

Image taken from https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/everything-you-ever-needed-to-

know-about-cannabis-leaves/

Image taken from https://flagspot.net/flags/rel-rast.html

8.2. Annex II. Anatomy of the cannabis plant.

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Image taken from https://mrclay10sci.wikispaces.com/Parts+of+a+plant

Image taken from http://mjinews.com/marijuana-101-parts-of-the-plant/

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8.3. Annex III. Sample of a scaffolded paragraph.

The medicinal and psychoactive effects associated with marijuana are caused by
unique chemical structures called cannabinoids in the actual (=real) plant. At the
moment, there are (=exist) 86 cannabinoids identified. The major (=principal)
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is delta-g-tetrahydrocannabinol,
commonly referred to as THC.

8.4. Annex IV. Effects of cannabis on the brain.

Image taken from http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/endocannabinoid

8.5. Annex V. Marijuana worldwide current status map.

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Image taken from http://blog.openmarkets.com.au/the-world-of-medical-cannabis

8.6. Annex VI. Prueba saber sample, Part 1.

74
Author’s creation.

8.7. Annex VII. Marijuana glossary rubric.

75
 Excellent 4.6 – Outstandi ng 4.0 – Good 3.6 –3.9 Needs Unacceptable
5.0 4.5 improvement 1.0–2.9
3.0–3.5
Completene Understandable Understandable Understandable Illegible Illegible
ss, handwriting handwriting and/or handwriting handwriting and/or handwriting
correctness and/or printings, printings, minimal and/or printings, printings, many and/or printi ngs,
(spelling), no spelling spelling mistakes, some spelling spelling mistakes, many serious
neatness. mistakes, 46 or 36-45 concepts with mistakes, 26-35 16-25 co ncepts with spelling mist akes,
more concepts their definitio ns in concepts with their their definitions in 6-15 concepts with
with their English. definitions in English and/or their definitions
definitions in English. Spanish. in English and/or
English. Spanish.
Effort and The work is The work is handed The work is handed The work is not The work is not
quality of handed in time, in time, shows high in time, shows handed in time, handed in time,
work. shows high quality research and acceptab le quality shows incomplet e, shows poor
quality r esearch the glossary research, and the superficial res earch, research, and the
and the ov erall evidences hard glossary evidences done fast, and the glossary evidences
glossary work. little effort. glossary evidences lack of h ard work.
evidences hard lack of h ard work.
work.
Creativity, The whole The glossary catches The cover of the The cover and the The cover and the
use of glossary catches people’s attention, glossary catches content of the content of the

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visuals, and people’s attention and b ears a lot of people’s attention, glossary do not glossary do not
personalizat and is tot al ly relationship to the but the content catch people’s catch people’s
ion. related to the marijuana topic. does not. attention. attention.
marijuana topic

77