Medical CLIL (Part II): How the Body Works

The research presented in this paper is based on the successful outcomes of the use of multimodal-based studies in the university English classroom (Baldry, 2008a, 2008b; Baldry, Coccetta, 2012, in press; Baldry, Kantz, 2009, forthcoming; Coccetta, in press) as a means of helping students not only improve their competence in the foreign language, but also develop analytical skills to better cope with the texts they will encounter in their future occupations. This multimodal perspective in the English classroom is further enhanced when CLIL-oriented syllabuses are adopted. This study reports on the author’s experience as professore a contratto in two undergraduate degree courses at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Pavia: the course in Healthcare Professions (Corso di laurea della Classe 3 – Professioni sanitarie tecniche) and the one in Nursing (Corso di laurea in Infermieristica) based in Treviglio. The English course for the Healthcare Professions is a 40-hour course split between the first (24 hours) and the third year (16 hours). The course for Nursing, on the other hand, was of 65 hours split between the first (45 hours) and the third year (20 hours). In particular, the paper briefly: 1) discusses the rationale for and management of a multimodal CLIL approach to medical English in the two degree courses; 2) describes the courses’ final exam and the kind of exam-oriented activities carried out in class; and 3) explains why the approach and materials functioned for both degree courses despite their fundamentally different nature.