Objectives and Assessment in a CLIL Context

Usually, here in Valencia, when we implement a CLIL Program, we based our lessons in the content of the subject, and the knowledge of the language is not a really aim, we use a foreign language sometimes as a language of work, sometimes to learn vocabulary… but teachers don’t teach the language in fact. What I mean, is that maybe we are too focused on achieve the curriculum objectives (and that’s what we assess) that we forget to teach and assess the language competence because it isn’t said literally in the curriculum.

I know that is important to teach the objectives established in the curriculum, but in CLIL, is also important focus on how to learn the foreign language explaining new grammar structures, vocabulary and language for communication and interaction. But, we have to take into account, that the objective of a subject is understand their content, we should avoid too only teaching language per se, forgetting their purpose of the subject. So, for me, the most important thing to teach to my Students in Economy, my subject, is to teach a well-balanced mix of both: content and language learning.

In order to what I’ve said, it seems to me a good model teaching in CLILA[1], which it defines three dimensions:

1.    Subject-specific skills and competences
2.    Subject-specific themes
3.    Communicative competences in the foreign language.

I would like to teach Economy focusing in contents, like understand how the market operates, some important skills as do a good research of information and know how to use it, and communicative competences as show opinions and personals points of view about current issues, teaching the structures that they need to show their opinion, using as support the descriptors of the language level, making it an additional aim apart from the curriculum.

For instance:

Skill: Be assertive showing your point of view.

Content: Market operation

Communicative competence: I can give or seek personal opinions in an informal discussion with friends, agreeing and disagreeing politely.

In that case, use this model is as a matter of fact, an instrument to do the assessment, because the descriptor allow teachers to focus the achievement of the students in the language competence in an integrated way whit the content objective.

I would assess their learning monitoring their learning from the beginning to the end:

1.    Diagnostic Assessment: to know what the student’s level is.
2.    Formative Assessment: to check how students are learning.
3.   Summative Assessment: To add all the contents, skills and communication competences acquired at the end of the course, as addition of the all assessments done during the course.

In my point of view, apart from assess their abilities, contents and language knowledge, is important to assess their behavior and their progression to take into account the inter-personal part of the learning process.

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[1] Ute Massler, Daniel Stolz &Claudia Queisser (2014) Assessment instruments for promary CLIL.