LET´S GO FOR CLIL!
Bilingual Programme
Learn to teach in English
The Bilingual Programme at Cardenal Cisneros University Centre (CUCC) aims to help prospective teachers develop all the competencies necessary to work in a bilingual Spanish/English context. This includes both the language and methodological skills to perform your teaching excellently.
The Programme is based on the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) methodological approach. It has been operating successfully since 2010 in the Teacher Training Degrees for Early Childhood Education and Primary Education.
What is CLIL?
By studying in English for the Teacher Training Degree, you will achieve:
- Improve your level of English.
- Experience directly how a child learns a subject in a foreign language and then know how to apply it in your professional career.
- Acquire linguistic and methodological training to teach subjects through English. This training will help you pass the qualification exams that many Spanish Administrations require to work in bilingual schools.
- Obtain a European Diploma Supplement in which the subjects of the Degree you have taken in a Bilingual Programme are listed.
- Practice CLIL and other teaching methodologies for bilingual contexts.
- Expand your possibilities to work at a national and international level.
As a communication-focused approach in the classroom, CLIL can connect with other student-centered teaching & learning methodologies. In the Bilingual Programme you will be able to experience a variety of innovative proposals that enrich your formation as a person and as a teacher. This include:
- Project-based learning.
- Interdisciplinary projects.
- Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routines.
- Dialogic talks.
- Education through Art.
Teaching is delivered with the CLIL approach, which is used in most bilingual schools in Spain. This approach ensures that students are able to better develop their communicative skills in the English language while learning curricular content.
The Bilingual Programme covers the areas of university training, teacher training, and research. This Programme was awarded in 2014 with the European Language Label, awarded by the Ministry of Education through the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education (SEPIE) for encouraging language learning as a necessary vehicle for genuine European integration.
A group of teachers from the Bilingual Programme has published the book Bilingual Teaching in University Education that explains the methodology conducted in the Bilingual Groups. All of them are experts both in the curricular content of the subjects and in the specific language of each of them. You can download the book HERE.
Bilingual Education in Teacher Training
The CLIL approach is used in most bilingual schools in Spain. Therefore, this approach ensures that Teacher Training students can better develop their communicative skills in the English language while learning curricular content.
In these Degrees, the student can choose a teaching group in English or Spanish. The subjects that can be taken in English appear in the curriculum with the names in Spanish and English. Subjects taken in English will appear with this observation on academic certificates and on the European Diploma Supplement issued after the completion of the studies.
Progressive immersion
The curriculum in the groups taught in English is structured progressively. From the 1st to the 4th year, the number of subjects taught in English is increasing. In the 1st year, only two subjects are taught in English (one in each semester), in the 2nd year, they are increased to four and so on progressively until you finish your studies having completed 50% of the Degree in the Bilingual Programme.
Specialised teachers
The Bilingual Programme has a staff of twelve teachers specialized in several content areas, who have been trained to teach subjects with the CLIL methodological approach. All of them have been recognised for their language achievement and participate annually in training and updating programmes, both in Spain and in other European countries, in order to offer quality teaching.
In addition, in the classes there is a native language assistant, who works together with the subject teacher and helps the bilingual students to achieve all the information, improve language skills, learn vocabulary and introduce the necessary corrections.
Internships in bilingual schools
You will be able to carry out the internships of the degree in bilingual educational centers throughout Spain, England, Ireland, Finland, the USA, Canada, Nepal, and Australia.
You will also have the opportunity to study a semester at English-speaking universities through Erasmus scholarships or agreements established by our International Relations Office.
Training and recognition
- English classes in the afternoon to prepare for the official certification exams (B1, B2 and C1).
- English level certification with Linguaskill, a multi-level Cambridge Exams test that is taken by computer at the centre to assess your level of English.
- “Talk to Me” language exchange programme with American students on campus.
- Evaluation of your English skills in 1st and 3rd Grade with a guidance report for improvement.
- Official Cambridge University exams at the centre itself.
- Job opportunities for schools in England through Uteach.
- The CUCC has been highlighted with the “BEDA Cum Laude” Certification granted by the University of Cambridge, MacMillan and the Catholic Schools Federation.
- Our Centre has training and collaboration agreements with prestigious institutions such as the British Council, Bowling Green State University, University of Cambridge, Macmillan Training Services, and the publishing houses Edelvives, Vicens Vives and University of Dayton.
BILINGUAL PROGRAMME
- Mathew Johnson
Coordinator - Carolina Benito Cox
proyecto.bilingue@cardenalcisneros.es
91 889 12 54 Exts. 122
Avda. Jesuitas 34, 28806. Alcalá de Henares (Madrid)
Academic Building
