Biodata

Mark is Head of English Programmes for the British Council in Spain with responsibility for the British Council’s initiatives in support of the teaching and learning of (and through) English across the country. In recent years the vast majority of this work has been focused on multilingual and bilingual education (and CLIL) and he manages the British Council’s partnership with the Spanish Ministry of Education on the national Bilingual Education Programme as well as British Council collaboration with Regional Governments. He is also involved in developing British Council schools work in Europe especially in relation to bilingual education, and represents the British Council at conferences across Europe as well as in Spain. He was previously an English teacher and a teacher educator, working with Spanish teachers of English for many years. He has lived in Spain for much, much longer than the 6 months he had originally planned for!

Key factors in effective bilingual programmes

Whether in ‘traditional’ language classes or in subject classes taught through English in bilingual programmes, some of the teaching is successful and some of it isn’t; some learners learn and some don’t. What makes a bilingual (or CLIL) programme work? What makes a bilingual project last beyond any initial enthusiasm or injection of resources? In this presentation I will reflect on the learning from 20 years of our Bilingual English Programme with the MECD to identify key factors in delivering and sustaining (more) successful bilingual programmes.