THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Moray House School of Education and Sport : Education

Undergraduate Course: Theory and Pedagogy of Bilingual and Immersion Education (EDUA10198)

Course Outline
SchoolMoray House School of Education and Sport CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
Taught in Gaelic?Yes
SummaryThe course will provide students with an understanding of the key theories, concepts and principles underpinning bilingual and immersion education, and will provide students with the opportunity to consider how these relate to their own practice within Gaelic-medium education. Additionally, the course aims to develop students' knowledge of the pedagogies employed in bilingual and immersion education internationally. The international context will be drawn upon as a source of key research on the effectiveness of different pedagogies used to build bilingualism, biliteracy, and to integrate the teaching of content and language within learning, and the course will provide opportunities for students to reflect on the appropriateness of such pedagogies within their own practice in the Scottish context.
Course description The course is designed to deepen and extend students' understandings of bilingual and immersion education by means of an examination of the key theoretical principles and pedagogical approaches which underpin this. The course will explore the key theories, concepts and principles of second language acquisition of relevance to immersion education, and will also explore the key approaches to teaching, learning and assessment used to build bilingualism, biliteracy, and to integrate the teaching of content and language within learning in bilingual and immersion education internationally. A key aim of the course is to develop students' skills of criticality. Students will have opportunities to develop these skills when evaluating the quality of quantitative and qualitative research evidence, and when evaluating the suitability of pedagogical practices employed in other national contexts for the Scottish context.

The course will be delivered in a hybrid way both face-to-face and/or online over eleven weeks deliverd via a hybrid model. The Theory and Pedagogy of Bilingual and Immersion Education course will be delivered bilingually - in Gaelic and in English - with Gaelic being the language of some lectures and workshops. Students may contribute online, in class, and complete assignments in either language. Students will be expected to prepare for sessions using material available on LEARN, and to actively participate in class-based activities, drawing both on their reading and professional experiences.

Achievement of course learning outcomes will be assessed by means of two pieces of formative assessment (a presentation, which may be online, and an assignment outline), and one summative assessment. A summary of the assessments, and the learning outcomes that they relate to, is provided below. The assignments and hand-in dates will be detailed on the course LEARN pages.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  7
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 10, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 164 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Formative Assessment:
- Oral presentation, about mid-way through the course, which gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their developing knowledge and critical understanding of the theories and practices of immersion and bilingual education relevant to Gaelic-medium education in Scotland. This presentation will either be in person or online, to be confirmed. (Learning Outcomes 1-5)
- 500 word written assignment proposal/outline submitted to tutor for written formative feedback (Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5).
- Summative Assessment: Written assignment - 2500 words, 100%. (Learning outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 5).
N.B. These elements of assessment may be completed in Gaelic or in English.
Feedback - Oral presentation: Tutor and peer feedback will be given both on presentation skills (a formatively assessed learning outcome of the course), and on the content of the presentation.
- Assignment proposal/outline: The tutor will provide written feedback on the assignment proposal/outline.
- Formal feedback on the summative assignment will be given within 15 working days (as per university regulations).

Students will also receive feedback in workshops, for example, on their developing abilities to critically evaluate the quality of research evidence and on the potential of pedagogies employed in other national contexts for the Scottish-Gaelic educational context.

No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of the key theories, concepts and principles of language acquisition of relevance to immersion education
  2. Demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of the key approaches to teaching, learning and assessment used in bilingual and immersion education
  3. Formally present to an informed audience on an aspect of the theory and pedagogy of bilingual and immersion education of relevance to Gaelic-medium education
  4. Demonstrate an ability to critically identify, define, conceptualise and analyse professional-level problems and issues and to critically evaluate research evidence relating to these
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of effective language-related pedagogical and assessment practices for immersion education in the diverse Scottish Gaelic-medium sector
Reading List
- Baker, C. (2011) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 5th Edition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
- Cammarata, L. (Ed.) (2016) Content based Foreign Language Teaching: curriculum and pedagogy for developing advanced thinking and literacy skills. London: Routledge
- GarcĂ­a, O. (2009) Bilingual Education in the 21st Century. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. (2013) How languages are learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T.S. (2014) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills - Students will develop skills of evaluation and critical analysis which will enable them to assess the quality of research evidence
- Students will develop skills of critical analysis in relation to assessing the suitability of pedagogical approaches for particular educational contexts
- Students will develop their skills in interpreting, using and evaluating numerical and graphical data
- Students will develop their skills in making formal presentations about specialised topics to informed audiences
Keywordsimmersion education,bilingual education,bilingualism,biliteracy,CLIL,Content based instruction
Contacts
Course organiserMs Rachel O'Neill
Tel: (0131 6)51 6429
Email: rachel.oneill@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lorraine Nolan
Tel: (0131 6)51 6571
Email: Lorraine.Nolan@ed.ac.uk
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