la rivista multilingue di interculturalità CLIL: una ...media.pearsonitalia.it/0.366116_1359725240.pdf · al CLIL, Content and Language Integrated Learning. ... già nella 3a classe

CLIL: una opportunità

l a r i v i s t a m u l t i l i n g u e d i i n t e r c u l t u r a l i t àN° 6 – Settembre 2011 – anno III

contentsCLIL and Foreign Language Medium Instruction 2

Dalla teoria alla pratica – Una proposta operativa CLIL 6

Implication, Benefitsand Behaviors in CLIL – An American Experience 12

In caso di mancato recapito inviare al cmp/cpo di Roserio (MI),

per la restituzione al mittente previo pagamento resi

Andrea Garetto

Questo numero di LANG MAG, la rivista del gruppo Pearson perl’aggiornamento degli insegnanti di lingua straniera, è interamente dedicatoal CLIL, Content and Language Integrated Learning.

La Riforma della Scuola Superiore introdotta nel 2009 stabilisce che in tutti iLicei e gli Istituti Tecnici una delle materie curriculari debba essere insegnatain lingua inglese – negli IT – e in lingua inglese o in una seconda linguacomunitaria nei Licei. Una eccezione è rappresentata dai Licei linguistici, incui l’insegnamento di una disciplina attraverso una lingua veicolare iniziagià nella 3a classe.Questo insegnamento è affidato al docente di disciplina, che devepossedere competenze linguistiche di livello C1 secondo il Quadro ComuneEuropeo di Riferimento.L’articolo introduttivo di Carmel Mary Coonan illustra che cosa questa novitàcomporti nella situazione attuale della Scuola Superiore: un’opportunità di accrescere le competenze interculturali, la dimensione europea, lapercezione dell’equo valore dell’insegnamento disciplinare e linguistico, con la correlata possibilità di far trasmigrare stili didattici da una disciplinaall’altra.Senza contare la motivazione degli studenti, che utilizzano così la linguastraniera per scopi comunicativi autentici e non solo simulati.L’articolo di Camilla Bianco e James Pearson-Jadwat approfondisce la valenzapedagogico-culturale del CLIL, e suggerisce indicazioni concrete per larealizzazione di un percorso CLIL, proponendo una unità di apprendimentodi storia/cittadinanza e costituzione in lingua inglese (e possibili espansioniin lingua francese) sul periodo delle grandi rivoluzioni e delle grandi“Dichiarazioni”.L’articolo di Diane Pinkley riassume efficacemente i principi fondativi delCLIL, suggerendo gli approcci didattici più utili e esemplificando un’attivitàdi scienze in lingua inglese, realizzata con studenti di lingua spagnola.La redazione Pearson Lingue moderne, contattabile al sitowww.langedizioni.com, è disponibile ad approfondire con i lettori di LANG MAG questo tema innovativo e denso di opportunità didattiche.

Anna FrescoDirettore editoriale Lingue modernePearson Italia

RI616100150N_01-16_LangMag6 28-06-2011 10:12 Pagina 1

N° 6 – Settembre 2011

Foreign LanguageMedium InstructionIn Italy, foreign language mediuminstruction (henceforth FLMI) hasbeen practiced on a small scale in afew mainstream high schools asministerial projects since the early1990s1. However, interest in this formof foreign language education hasspread rapidly to other sectors ofmainstream schooling, encouragedby the support of FLMI by theCouncil of Europe and the EuropeanCommission as well as by the Law onSchool Autonomy 1999 (article 4,section 3). At the turn of the newcentury experiences of FLMI in Italywere numerous at all levels of schoolwith a preference for the high2

school and concentrated mainly inthe northern regions.

The Reform of the Ordinamenti(2009) of the Italian high schoolstipulates that in all Licei and IstitutiTecnici a school subject will betaught through a foreign language inthe final year of schooling. In thecase of the Liceo linguistico,however, two foreign languages willbe used as instructional languages,

the first introduced from 3rd and thesecond from 4th year. This meansthat, whereas in all the Licei andIstituti Tecnici FLMI will begin as from2014/2015, for the Licei linguistici theinnovation will be introducedbeforehand, from 2012/2013. Whereasthe Reform stipulates that the foreignlanguage medium in the IstitutiTecnici is to be English, no suchlimitation exists for the Licei.The Reform thus makes compulsorywhat was allowed, given certainconditions, by the Law on SchoolAutonomy. Furthermore, the recentreform of initial teacher education(Decreto 10 September 2010, n. 249,Article 14) provides preciseindications as to who is to teach inthese FLM situations (the non-language subject teacher) and whattheir level of language competence is

to be (C1 according to the CEFR3).These are important indications asthey provide points of reference forall future FLMI experiences which, sofar, have not had any benchmarksagainst which to measure themselvesor by which they could be evaluated. An awareness of what introducing aforeign language as a medium ofinstruction into the curriculumimplies is fundamental, and whatfollows is mainly related to thesituation of the secondary school4.

Content and LanguageIntegrated LearningThe adoption of a foreign language asa medium of instruction impacts onteaching style and strategies as thesehave to guarantee not only thelearning of the non-language subjectbut also the learning of the foreignlanguage (which is one of the mainreasons for implementing FLMI in thefirst place). This need is captured bythe acronym CLIL, which stands for“Content and Language IntegratedLearning” and which was introducedin the 1990s to refer to a “newgeneration” of models using theforeign language (as opposed to asecond language) as a medium ofinstruction. They are called CLILprogrammes and from theorganizational and structural point ofview have the following generalcharacteristics:

Bottom up: the use of a foreignlanguage as a medium of instructionis introduced at the request of the

2

CLIL and Foreign Language Medium Instruction

1 Liceo (classico) linguistico; Liceo a indirizzo internazionale; Liceo linguistico europeo.2 With the term “high school” we refer only to the “scuola secondaria di secondo grado”

(14-19 years of age).3 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching,

Assessment: www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre_en.asp4 With the term “secondary school” we refer to both the “scuola secondaria di primo

grado” and the “scuola secondaria di secondo grado”. The primary school has its owncharacteristics and problematic issues, which require separate treatment and for whichthe above arguments do not always easily apply.

Input, Output, Synergyby Carmel Mary Coonan


families or is proposed by the schoolitself to enhance its educational and“international” profile. In the“traditional” models (“bilingualeducation” models5) the use of twomedium languages is regulated bylaw (national or regional) andnormally involves the whole schoolsystem (of the region concerned, e.g.Valle d’Aosta);

Narrow range: in the situations of“bilingual education” or in the eliteinternational schools, the weight ofthe weaker medium language isequal to, or even more than, thenormal school language medium (cf.immersion education). This meansthat a broad-range of school subjectsis taught through both languages. Inthe new CLIL models, however, theoption is to teach a narrow-range(one to three subjects) through theforeign language. There is animbalance therefore in the weight ofboth medium languages, with theweaker language being in a weakerposition. This has obviousrepercussions on possible languagelearning outcomes.

Content and culture: in line withthe indications of the EuropeanCommission, which sees in CLIL theopportunity for the promotion ofmulticulturalism and interculturalcompetence, CLIL represents anoccasion to re-view normal subjectmatter and to introduce a culturaldepth (a European dimension) to theschool subject (e.g., the historysyllabus is integrated to allow for awider multicultural perspective onhistorical events).

Bilingual view: unlike the situationsof bilingual education where a schoolsubject is normally taught entirelythrough the second language (thus itconstitutes a monolingual teaching ofthe subject), in CLIL situations theoption is to use a modularorganization (very much the situationin Italy) which allows for a bilingual

teaching of the subject, e.g., a thirdof curriculum time is in the foreignlanguage and two thirds in thenormal school language. The ratio isnot fixed and can change accordingto local needs or desires.Furthermore, the bilingual viewunderpins the idea that the twolanguages can be present during aCLIL module. In other words, the CLILapproach does not prohibit thepresence of the two languagestogether but that, where they are co-present, there alternation should beregulated in a principled way,keeping in mind the fact that theamount of time detracted from theuse of the foreign language hasobvious repercussions on thepossible foreign language learningoutcomes.

However, the main importance of theacronym lies, in our view, in theattention it gives to the dual natureof FLMI programmes – content andlanguage – indicating that these twodimensions must be pursued aslearning objectives, the one throughthe other, in an integrated manner.Thus, CLIL implies that, alongside thecontent objectives, teachers alsodecline language objectives (e.g.productive skills, specialisticvocabulary, text competence, etc.).Teaching procedures are needed toensure that this is possible for,unless provision is made, e.g. forwriting and speaking activities, theseskills will not be promoted and thusthe objectives not met. Withreference to the Italian context, thiscan mean a considerable degree ofchange for some situations onaccount of the gap that existsbetween what is required toguarantee the dual objectives in CLILand the styles and strategiestraditionally adopted for the teachingof the non-language subjects – stylewhich does not take on board thelanguage issue and which becomesmore and more transmission-basedor ex-cathedra the higher up theschool system one goes and where,as a result, space for foreignlanguage development is limited andsubject matter learning is put at risk.

Input, output, synergyCLIL tackles these issues. The learneris put in a situation where, whilstlearning the foreign language, he canalso learn the subject matter without

hindrance from the foreign languagemedium. This means that the teacherputs in place a series of strategies toensure that this is possible. Toexplore the issues involved we takethree key factors: input, output,synergy.

a. InputThose who work in the field offoreign/second language teaching areaware of the importance ofcomprehensible input for languageacquisition. According to Krashen(1987), the quantity (there must belots) and the quality (it must becomprehensible) of linguistic input isa determining factor (along with theaffective variables) in languagedevelopment. The presence of FLMIprogrammes, running parallel to thenormal foreign language teachingcurriculum, allows the school toincrease the number of hours ofexposure to the foreign language.Mere exposure alone however cannotguarantee success in learning – thepupil may not understand the inputand, as a result, not access thecontent or even acquire thelanguage. Thus, a language-sensitiveapproach, as CLIL is, must underpinthe way the FLMI programmes arerun. So, as a response to thelearners’ possible comprehensionproblems, to the difficulties that thelanguage characteristics of thesubject pose (genres, text types,lexis, …) and to the demands thatsubject matter make on the learner,input must be strategically managed.

CLIL calls for greater, purposeful,attention to: • teacher oral input (e.g., suitabletone of voice and voice volume;efficient use of redundancy strategieslike paraphrase, repetition,clarification, reformulation; adequateuse of non-verbal strategies such asgesture, diagrams, flow charts, etc.) tocapture and sustain attention;• written input (use of graphicorganizers such as paragraphs andparagraph headings, underlining,fonts, images, glossaries, etc.) toguide and support access to thelanguage and content;• teaching strategies which aretypically used for the teaching offoreign languages. With reference toinput these could be: pre-listening/reading activities to activate requiredcontent and language schemata, tosensitize the pupils to the new

N° 6 – Settembre 2011 3

5 Diverse models of Bilingual Education,which use two languages as mediums ofinstruction, were established in Europesince the end of the Second World Warmainly as a result of bilateral agreementsin order to safeguard the language andculture of minorities or to createlinguistic and cultural links withneighbouring countries. These modelswere essentially designed for secondlanguage situations.



content and to create expectations;while listening/reading activities thatguide and support the task ofcomprehension; postlistening/reading that consolidatecomprehension and lead the learnerthrough further learning activities ofapplication, analysis, synthesis andevaluation. A glance at Italian highschool text books (Coonan, 2007)shows that such listening/readingactivities are limited in number andthat numerous and varied activitiesfor taking learning beyond the initialinput are lacking, leaving one todeduce that the activities the pupilsare mostly engaged in are listeningand/or reading for comprehensionand answering teachers questions toconfirm comprehension. In conclusion, the comprehensibilityof the input is fundamental both forlanguage learning and for contentlearning. Strategies such as theabove, that invest the teacher’sability to communicate and to teach,and the materials’ efficacy incommunicating the content, must bein place to ensure this.

b. OutputApart from understanding how theteacher and the materials“communicate”, the CLIL approachalso requires knowing how the pupils“communicate”, namely, in knowingthe extent to which they (can) talkand/or write during the lessons. Whydoes the CLIL approach consider thisan important feature to consider forFLMI programmes?

One of the routes for promotinglanguage learning is not onlythrough language exposure, but alsothrough actually using the language.In foreign language teaching, as farback as the Audio-lingual Method(1950s), the importance of the oral

practice of the language wasrecognized. Later the CommunicativeApproach, which established its rootsin the Modern Languages Project ofthe Council of Europe in the 1970s,puts the promotion of meaningfulcommunication as its main aim and aplethora of different formats capableof leading to this, especially at theoral production level, were designed.A more recent development is thetask-based approach (Willis, 1996)that promotes multiple-skillsdevelopment (reading, writing,listening and speaking) and wherethe activities or tasks carried out arenot only meaningful (perceived asrelevant by the learner) but alsomeaning-based (through theactivities the learners communicateconceptual meaning related tospecific topics). New ideasconcerning classroom organization tofacilitate interaction through pairwork or group work were alsointroduced. The CLIL approach takeson board these indications as theyallow for language use: the languageis used to learn (the content) and, atthe same time, the pupils learn thelanguage. CLIL requires that thelecture-mode give way to moreinteractive teaching, that there bemore pupil-pupil interactions andthat, in order for learning to be moremeaningful/relevant, learning becomeexperiential and discovery based. Thegreater involvement of the pupilsleads to greater in-depth processingof both the language and the content(Wolff, 1997).

Apart from the consideration that inorder to learn to speak the language,one must speak it (the developmentsin the field of language teachingreflect this awareness), otherconsiderations can be made aboutthe relation of language output to

the development of the foreignlanguage competence.

In the field of second languageacquisition theory, “noticing”(Schmidt, 1993) is considered aprerequisite for language acquisition.In Krashen’s “input hypothesis”,noticing is an important element. Hesuggests that a rough tuning (1985)of the input (presenting input thatmore or less reflects the general levelof language competence of the class)should be sufficient for those learnerswho are “ready” to notice forms andacquire them. According to Vanpatten(1993) however, individuals generallygo for the meaning of the message;they attempt to grasp the general gistof the message and have fewresources left to attend to the singlelanguage forms it contains. In FLMIprogrammes comprehension ofcontent is all-important and withoutsome focusing on form, there is therisk that the learner’s languagecompetence will not develop to theextent that would be expected. Thisis precisely what Swain and Lapkin’sresearch in immersion educationrevealed (1982). Whilst some focusingon form can be carried out by theteacher during the lessons (withouthowever transforming the lesson intoa language lesson), there are otherways that forms can be made salient.Of these, the most important is therole of language output. Swain (1985)suggests that input alone may not besufficient for language development.She hypothesizes that output(speaking/writing) can play animportant role for it forces thespeaker/writer into syntacticprocessing (you have to combinewords together into a comprehensiblemessage – something you are notobliged to do when merely listening).The act of encoding the messagehelps the learner to notice the holesin his own competence and, if in asituation of interaction, to notice thegap between his competence andthat of his interlocutor. Thus, from thepoint of view of second languageacquisition theory, languageproduction is important for itscontribution to languagedevelopment.

In a FLMI situation, there is an addedvariable that relates output tolanguage development – the use ofthe foreign language in activities tolearn the content. The pupils activatethinking skills according to what the

4


learning activity requires them to do(speculate, compare, evaluate, relate,associate, sequence, group, classify,define, deduce, select, explain,illustrate, transform, generalize,… )and as the thinking skills areprocessed through the language (ininput and output), the languagecompetence that develops as a resultreflects this. What is developed is aCALP competence (CognitiveAcademic Language Proficiency) asopposed to merely a BICScompetence (Basic InterpersonalCommunicative Skills) (Cummins,cited in Baker, 1996, pp. 151-161). Thelanguage sensitive approachrepresented by CLIL considers thislanguage-cognitive dimension ofparamount importance for the qualityof language competence it is capableof developing. It requires thereforethat attention be paid to the types ofactivities the pupils are asked tocarry out.

So opportunities must be availablefor the pupils to actually produce theforeign language. Research (Coonan,2006; 2008) in CLIL lessons hasshown that speaking activities arerare, except for the question andanswer sort, and that the quantity

and quality of oral languageproduction in the FLMI lesson is verylimited (cf. also Krashen on this,1998). An examination of the workproduced by students enrolled on apost graduate CLIL course has shownalso that writing activities are rareand where they exist, do notgenerally require the production of acomplete text, asking instead that atext be completed (fill in the gap,complete, label).

As in the case of the teaching offoreign languages, in FLMI situationsspace for the productive skills lagsbehind that afforded the receptiveskills. The CLIL approach requiresthat the situation be rectified.

C. SynergyLanguage enhancement in the CLILsituations is created not only by thecare given to the language elementduring the CLIL lesson but alsothrough bridge-building with theforeign language teacher and his/herforeign language curriculum.Knowledge of the languagecharacteristics of the school subjectand of what the pupil will be requiredto do in order to learn the subjectmatter can allow for the identification

of language needs concerning theoral discourse types they will be incontact with, the written genres andtext types they will meet and maybehave to produce, and the linguistic-cognitive structures involved. Forexample, while learning history theymight have to read articles, textbooks, listen to documentaries withcomments and analysis or they mayhave to make summaries or makepresentations in which they willnarrate, make comments andinterpretations, provide explanations,present analyses, …). Such activitiesbring into play the linguistic skills ofanswering questions, using discoursemarkers appropriately, organizingdiscourse in a coherent and cohesiveway as well as the cognitive skills ofexplaining, analyzing, interpreting,arguing, hypothesizing, synthesizingwhich, in turn, imply usingappropriate linguistic structures i.e.“to explain” (English): because, whichis why, since, due to, lead to, as aresult of which, etc. (cf. Beacco,20096 for a detailed exampleconcerning History).Bridges are built not only byidentifying the needs of the studentsa priori but also by identifying needsas they appear in itinere. In bothcases the language needs areincluded as part of the syllabus ofthe foreign language curriculum.


Carmel Mary Coonan Associate

professor in Glottodidactics at Ca’

Foscari University Venice, Italy. With

reference to the field of CLIL: national

coordinator of CLIL project financed

by the Ministero dell’Università e

della Ricerca focussing on the

language issues in CLIL; coordinator

CLIL training projects in Italy (Veneto,

Umbria, Friuli, Calabria) over last ten

years; director of post graduate in-set

CLIL course (Ca’ Foscari) since

2002. Has participated in European

projects related to Bilingual education

(TNP, ALPME, LLP-CNN and

EUCLID). Has written extensively on

CLIL and teaching and learning.

References� Beacco, J-C. (2009). Items for a description of linguistic competence in the language of

schooling necessary for teaching/learning history (end of obligatory education). Council ofEurope: Language Policy Division (produced for the Platform of Resources and Referencesfor Plurilingual and Intercultural Education).� Coonan, C. M. (2006). Taking the matter to task. Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata,

1, pp. 55-70.� Coonan, C. M. (2007). How are students engaged in subject learning through the LS?

Activities for learning in a CLIL environment. In D. Marsh & D.Wolff (Eds.). Diverse Contexts– Converging Goals. Content and Language Learning in Europe (pp. 153-169). Frankfurt:Mehrsprachigkeit in Schule und Unterricht, 6, Ed. Peter Lang. � Coonan, C. M. The Foreing Language in the CLIL lesson. Problems and implications. In C.

M. Coonan (Ed.). CLIL e l’apprendimento delle lingue. Le sfide del nuovo ambiente diapprendimento (pp. 13-36), 8. Venezia: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina.� Krashen, S. D. (1985). The Input Hypothesis. Issues and Implications. London and New

York: Longman.� Krashen, S. D. (1987). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, EngleWood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall International.� Krashen, S. D. (1998). Comprehensible output. System, 26, 175-182.� Schmidt, R. (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied

Linguistics, 13, pp. 206-226.� Swain, M. & Lapkin, S. (1982). Evaluating Bilingual Education: A Canadian Case Study.

Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.� Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence. Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.). Input in SecondLanguage Acquisition (pp. 235-256). Rowley: Newbury House.� Van Patten, B. & Cadierno, T. (1993). Explicit instruction and input processing. Studies in

Second Language Acquisition, 15, pp. 225-243.� Willis, J. (1996). A Framework for Task-Based Learning. Harlow: Longman.� Wolff, D. (1997). Content-based bilingual education or using foreign languages as working

languages in the classroom. In D. Marsh, B. Marsland, & T. Nikula (Eds.). Aspects ofImplementing Plurilingual Education: Seminar and Field Notes (pp 51-64). Research andField Reports, 29. Jyväskylä, Finland: University of Jyväskylä, Continuing Education Centre.

6 Consult the following site of the Councilof Europe for a wealth of documentationpertaining to the project “Languages forSchooling”: www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Schoollang_EN.asp



Premessa L’introduzione del CLIL nella scuolaitaliana trova la propria ragiond’essere nel suo spessorepluridimensionale che gli consente, apieno titolo, di cavalcare l’onda diuna riforma che, prima ancora diessere una riforma scolastica, è unariforma del pensiero.Ritengo utile, prima di presentarneun’applicazione didattica, scindere ilCLIL dalla sua lettura “politica” eliberarlo dalla zavorra delleinterpretazioni ideologichee dai pregiudizi. Il CLIL non èun’imposizioneimmotivata: lasua originenon è

normativa, ma pedagogica eculturale. Esso non comporta unariduzione quanti-qualitativadell’insegnamento linguistico e/odisciplinare; non rallental’apprendimento, né interferisce suisuoi piani linguistici e contenutistici;non è prerogativa degli alunni piùpreparati. Il CLIL è sinonimo di arricchimentodell’offerta

formativa, è potenziamento deiprocessi di apprendimento, èfacilitatore della consapevolezzametalinguistica e metacognitiva. IlCLIL è una proposta di pensieronuovo, un cammino di lavorointellettuale e un percorso di crescitacognitiva, linguistica e personale daoffrire a ogni alunno.In sintesi, il CLIL – non mortificabilesul piano culturale né riducibile aduna mera traduzione di testi di

contenuto disciplinare – siinserisce nell’ambito dei

saperi richiesti dallasocietà della

conoscenza e piùconcretamente

in quellemacroaree di

interazione

6 LANG MAG

DALLA TEORIA ALLA PRATICA UNA PROPOSTA OPERATIVA CLIL

di Camilla Bianco, James Pearson-Jadwat

ruota curricolare CLIL, C. Bianco 2011


con le competenze individuate dallaU.E. e le istanze di Morin.1

• Lingue straniere: l’apprendimentoin/tramite L2 arricchisce il bagagliolessicale, potenzia la competenzalinguistico-comunicativa e lacapacità di destrutturare eristrutturare i testi e il pensiero aessi sotteso.

• Integrare discipline e saperi:l’incontro di più mondi disciplinaripotenzia la crescita culturale e neaffina la sensibilità. Le disciplinesono ambiti di conoscenza apertiche consentono la ricomposizione ela riorganizzazione degli schemicognitivi e quindi della conoscenza.

• Contestualizzare e sapere come èfatta la conoscenza: l’integrazionedi concetti e metodipluridisciplinari consente di metterein relazione le conoscenze eriflettere in modo critico ecostruttivo su di esse.

• Competenze sociali: l’incontro fragli ambiti disciplinari diversi siconcretizza in un ambientedidattico di apprendimentointegrato e cooperativo.

• Tecnologie dell’informazione: ipercorsi formativi, di ricerca e diapprofondimento sono progettati erealizzati avvalendosi di tecnichemediali e multimediali.

Come progettare e realizzare un percorsodi apprendimento CLILLa progettazione e la realizzazione inclasse di un percorso diapprendimento CLIL, qualunque sia lapolidisciplinarità di riferimento, vannocontestualizzate all’interno dellamacro-progettazione di un’istituzionescolastica; con essa infatti il percorsodeve interagire sia sul piano delpartenariato educativo con le famiglie,sia sul piano dell’individuazione deibisogni formativi, delle competenzeda sviluppare e delle performances davalutare.

La progettazione CLIL può esserevisualizzata con una “ruotacurricolare”, la cui struttura consentepiù facilmente, nonché visivamente,di comprendere la circolarità deiprocessi sottesi al modello diapprendimento proposto, nonché disottolineare l’interdipendenza diciascun elemento dal precedente edal successivo.

CLIL: qualeapprendimento?Il CLIL, nella sua progettualitàdidattico-educativa, è learner-centrede consente la costruzione di nuoveconoscenze a un alunnodinamicamente immerso inesperienze plurime di apprendimentoe in contesti complessi, caratterizzatida una ricca varietà di opportunità,stimoli e risorse.Ciò è perfettamente in linea con lascuola della riforma che, ricordiamo,chiede a noi docenti di attuare ilpassaggio dalla linearità e purasequenzialità della programmazioneper obiettivi (tipica di un modelloconservatore di insegnamento), allareticolarità di una nuova didattica,incentrata sulla programmazione evalutazione per competenze. Sono proprio le competenze chiavedi cittadinanza e le competenze dibase degli assi culturali (asse deilinguaggi, asse matematico, assestorico-sociale e asse scientifico-tecnologico) la nuova guida allaprogettazione dei percorsi diapprendimento, ancor più se si trattadi apprendimento CLIL. L’accorpamento pluridisciplinare perasse, “storicamente” precedutodall’accorpamento in ambitidisciplinari (Riforma della ScuolaElementare del 1985), intendesostituire nella scuola superiore latradizionale settorialità dellediscipline con la dimensione olisticae reticolare dei saperi. Saperi non piùtrasmessi ma costruiti, integrati,coniugati e vissuti esistenzialmentecome una struttura di fondo, untelaio su cui disegnare e articolare latrama delle conoscenze disciplinari,delle abilità e dei comportamenticognitivi.L’apprendimento CLIL, nella suaspecificità e complessità, è unmeaningful learning2 e, in quantotale, esso è: attivo (il learner è resoresponsabile dei propri risultati);costruttivo (il learner apprende

attraverso un equilibrio fra i processidi assimilazione e diaccomodamento); collaborativo (illearner apprende in e attraverso: unacomunità di apprendimento /learning communities,l’insegnamento reciproco / reciprocalteaching e il sostegno offerto daidocenti / scaffolding & coaching);intenzionale (il learner è motivato ecoinvolto attivamente e pienamentenel perseguimento degli obiettivicognitivi); conversazionale (il learnerapprende coinvolgendo I propriprocessi sociali e in particolare quellidialogico-argomentativi);contestualizzato (il learner svolgecompiti di apprendimento checoincidono con i compiti significatividel mondo reale); riflessivo (illearner, anche attraverso tecnologieipertestuali, apprende riflettendo suiprocessi svolti e sulle decisioni chehanno comportato). L’apprendimento CLIL, in altre parole,è un apprendimento processualmentecomplesso e pluridimensionale(dimensione linguistica, disciplinare emetacognitiva) che, non riducibile aschemi di rigida sequenzialità,consente al learner di costruirenuove conoscenze seguendo non unalogica di accumulazione progressiva,ma una logica di scoperta ecostruzione di significati.Coerentemente con la complessitàdei processi attivati e nel contestoinevitabile di una progettazioneeducativa personalizzata, la crescita


1 La testa ben fatta. Riformadell’insegnamento e riforma delpensiero, Milano, Cortina Editore, 2000; Isette saperi necessari all’educazione delfuturo, Milano, Cortina Editore, 2001

2 “Cognitive Approaches to InstructionalDesign”: D.H. Jonassen et. al. (1993),from The ASTD Handbook of InstructionalTechnology, G.M. Piskurich (Ed.), NewYork, McGraw-Hill.

A Perfect Classroom Any EFL madrelingua will tell youthat the Italian classroompossesses a tremendous resourceof untapped enthusiasm. WhenItalian students are having funand learning something relevantto themselves, rather than somecold-mannered nation across thesea, they become unstoppablecommunicators and academicpowerhouses. I’ve never knownstudents more energised thanthose learning to make cocktailsin the present simple, or thosedebating the benefits of EUmembership with modal verbs ofobligation. The very greatpleasure of watching studentsexcel themselves, enjoythemselves, learn double, andbuild a skill for life can be yours!



linguistico-cognitiva attivata inciascun learner non seguirà unandamento lineare, piuttosto ritmidiscontinui, e procederà per picchi didensità di apprendimento e pertemporanei declini.

PROPOSTA OPERATIVALa seguente Unità di ApprendimentoCLIL (v. pagine 10-11) è progettata perun gruppo classe di quarto anno discuola superiore. La materiacoinvolta è storia / cittadinanza ecostituzione, con possibilicollegamenti interdisciplinari adiritto, filosofia, francese. A seconda della pianificazione orariae del tipo di coinvolgimento /partecipazione del consiglio diclasse, essa può essere svoltadurante le ore disciplinari di storia odurante le ore di compresenza coldocente di lingua inglese.Il tempo previsto è di 2 / 4 ore.L’UDA, che nasce da una co-progettazione del docente didisciplina e del docente di L2, èstrutturata tenendo conto di: ambitidi apprendimento linguistico(educazione delle abilità linguistiche,riflessione sulla lingua, educazionestorico-letteraria); operazionicognitive basilari della conoscenzastorica (organizzazione tematica,organizzazione spazio-temporale,rilevazione di mutamenti /permanenze, problematizzazionedegli eventi); contenuti diapprendimento linguistico (dominilessicali, nozioni morfosintattiche,funzioni comunicative, testualità,pragmatica linguistica e varietàlinguistiche); fasi di apprendimentodi L2: comprensione-assimilazione eproduzione. Le competenze che si intendono

8 LANG MAG

sviluppare sono trasversali all’assedei linguaggi e all’asse storico-sociale: • Leggere, comprendere e

interpretare un testo• Comprendere il cambiamento

(dimensione diacronica-sincronica)• Utilizzare la L2 per scopi operativi e

comunicativi• Produrre testi in L2 in relazione a

scopi operativi e comunicativiLe conoscenze che gli alunni avrannomodo di confermare, sviluppare epotenziare sono:• Strutture essenziali di un testo• Principali connettivi logici• Tecniche di lettura• Uso di dizionari • Modalità, tecniche e fasi della

produzione scritta• Contesti storico-culturali e

contenuti di The United StatesDeclaration of Independence; TheDeclaration of the Rights of Manand of the Citizen

Le abilità sviluppate sono:• Abilità di studio (study skills)

• Abilità di reperimento delleinformazioni (information skills,utilizzare e gestire fonti diriferimento)

• Abilità progettuali (programmare /pianificare / fare uso delle risorse /cooperare / usare le preconoscenze)

• Abilità cooperative (svolgimento diattività socializzanti e di ricerca)

• Abilità di consultazione (referenceskills)

• Abilità di autovalutazione(monitoraggio del lavoro in itinere)

• Abilità di analisi critica (criticalthinking)

• Abilità di risoluzione di problemi

Proponiamo come core di questaUDA CLIL un testo di readingcomprehension preceduto da alcuneattività di pre-reading. Nelladimensione di apprendimento CLIL, il docente è un facilitatore; il suoapproccio (aperto e flessibile) neiconfronti dell’errore saràdeterminante per svilupparenell’alunno lo spirito di ricerca e la

Putting CLIL into Practice A CLIL student doesn’t read simple and inauthentic texts designedexclusively for language textbooks – they engage with real-life texts thatare above their typical level. Students are more challenged by what theyread and hear, but they become more active, more communicative, andmuch more interested!There are a range of ways in which CLIL materials help to build up learningskills and structure students’ understanding, allowing them to approachthese tougher texts. There are also a few essential things that the CLILteacher should do in the classroom.1. Make sure your students feel confident.When approaching difficult texts, students need to believe in their ownintelligence. A student who thinks he is below the necessary level may failto take the first step, and fade out of the activity. Don’t let your studentslaugh at each other! Praise and encourage them for their achievements,and also when they need it. It also helps if you let students communicatefreely, correcting major errors at your discretion rather than continuallyinterrupting them. Accuracy is often taught at the expense of fluency, andconfidence is essential to verbal communication.2. Make sure your students cooperate with each other.Student cooperation is a fantastic opportunity! If students can gatherinformation from each other rather than depending on the teacher, theywill speak more freely, practice more, and learn to independently evaluatethe information they get. If you find your students assisting each other inthe target language rather than asking you, congratulate yourself! You’vedone your job well.3. Make it relevant.CLIL emphasises the links between what students learn and their lives – ifstudents can relate content to their ideas, hobbies, society, etc., they willremember and synthesise. If a student studying the social contract asksyou why it is relevant to modern politics, don’t dismiss him – encouragehim, put the question to the class, and use it! If students have a littlemore control over what they learn, they are much more motivated.


apprendimento attivo, costruttivo,contestualizzato, riflessivo,conversazionale, intenzionale ecollaborativo, le attività di ricercapotrebbero essere svolte in piccoligruppi, possibilmente in assettolaboratoriale e con l’ausilio delcomputer.


voglia di scoprire. Ricordiamoci chel’America è stata scoperta pererrore!

1. PRE-READING ACTIVITIESLe attività di pre-readingrappresentano la fase dellepreconoscenze; fase in cui glistudenti, lavorando in modocooperativo e con l’aiuto deldocente, contestualizzano i nuovicontenuti preparandosi a integrare lenuove conoscenze – lessicali e/odisciplinari – nella rete delle proprieconoscenze.

2. READING Proponiamo poi al gruppo classe dileggere il testo cercando di desumereil significato delle parole nuove dalcontesto. L’ideale sarebbe potereascoltare il testo da un CD (pur nontrattandosi di una listening activity),perché questo consentirebbe aldocente di disciplina di compensare ipropri possibili errori di pronunciae/o intonazione.

3. POST-READING ACTIVITIES Dopo la fruizione del testo,proponiamo alla classe delle attivitàdi post-reading, le prime delle qualifinalizzate alla rielaborazione deicontenuti, al consolidamento /radicamento delle nuove conoscenzeacquisite, al consolidamento dellestrutture morfo-sintattiche della L2 eall’arricchimento lessicale. In questafase gli studenti lavorano in gruppo,si confrontano e chiedonoliberamente aiuto (al docente e fra diloro) sul piano linguistico ecomunicativo. Gli errori vengonocorretti e commentati erappresentano dei momentifondamentali dell’apprendimentocooperativo. È importante che l’attività dianswering (es. 1) venga svolta conun adeguato investimento di tempo ein modo collaborativo. Il docente, seritiene, può chiedere agli alunni disvolgere l’attività in pair-work o farescrivere alla lavagna le parole chiaveo le risposte date. Questo può essereun ulteriore modo per orientare laclasse alla sintesi, alla composizionescritta e alla rielaborazioneconclusiva di una sintesi finale.Ricordiamo che il CLIL non èriservato agli alunni più preparati equindi sarà cura del docente prestareattenzione agli equilibri relazionali e

alle compensazioni cognitiveall’interno del gruppo classe. La parafrasi (es. 2) è un’attivitàlinguistica spesso trascurata e nonadeguatamente utilizzata nellapratica didattica. Richiede l’utilizzo diconcetti, categorie interpretative estrategie di studio apprese in aula.Per gli studenti affetti da DSA se neconsiglia un uso minimo e orale.Dopo le attività più strettamentelegate alle comprensione eall’assimilazione dei contenutitrasmessi dal testo, seguono attivitàpiù libere di espansione,approfondimento, rielaborazionepersonale, che mettano in gioco tuttee quattro le abilità.

ListeningSarebbe sicuramente opportuno cheun’UDA CLIL comprendesse ancheun’attività di listening, possibilmentecorredata da attività linguistiche e dicomprensione.

SpeakingQualora il docente titolare del(per)corso CLIL desiderasse condurreun’attività linguistica di speaking,l’argomento trattato si presterebbeallo svolgimento di attivitàcomunicative più libere. Pur senza ilvincolo formale della compresenza, ildocente di lingua inglese (dellaclasse) – qualora lo ritenesseopportuno – potrebbe rendersidisponibile e contribuire al percorsodi apprendimento attivato facendosvolgere agli studenti delle attivitàintegrative di produzione (guidata elibera).

WritingImportante anche l’attività discrittura, che porta lo studenteall’elaborazione di un “prodotto”scritto che sintetizza le conoscenzeacquisite e mette in gioco abilità ecompetenze trasversali alledisicipline.

4. RESEARCH ACTIVITYL’attività di ricerca non può mancarenel percorso CLIL e corrisponde allacompetenza di cittadinanza“progettare” (l’allievo è in grado diapplicare tecniche e logiche diprogettazione per raggiungereobiettivi di studio, di ricerca e dirisoluzione di problemi pratici eteorici riguardanti specifici ambiti distudio e ambiti di interessetrasversale). Al fine di rispondere almeglio a un modello di

Answer Key1.1 a. T; b. T; c. F (They met in

Philadelphia); d. F(Leadership, not dictatorship);e. T

1.2 a. 4; b. 10; c. 5; d. 9; e. 1; f.8; g. 7; h. 2; i. 6; j. 3

1.3 French; change; unequal; unjust; out-of-date; return to;natural; government;principles

2.2 The concept of contractualismbegan as a philosophy, andthen manifested itself in thereal word. Then, it becamethe text that represented theideas of America’s founders:The United States Declarationof Independence (1776).

2.3 a. subsequent; b. exception;c. to lay; d. property; e.witness

CAMILLA BIANCO, per anni docente

specialista di L2 nella Scuola

Primaria, dal 2006 insegna Lingua

Inglese in una Scuola Superiore di

Palermo ed opera, in vari contesti

istituzionali, come formatrice di

docenti e orientatrice di genitori.

Autrice di testi scolastici, testi di

poesia e narrativa, collabora con

alcune case editrici e riviste di

cultura pedagogico-scolastica.

Da anni si dedica a studi di

glottodidattica e di apprendimento

CLIL. www.camillabianco.it

JAMES PEARSON-JADWAT (BA

(Hons) Dunelm, MSc (Merit) Edin,

CELTA) has a keen interest in CLIL

and ESP, and has taught specialist

courses in IT, Politics, Literature, and

Hospitality. For two years, he

worked alongside Camilla Bianco in

Palermo, collaborating with her on

L2 learning methodology and CLIL

for students and teachers. He was

born in Wales, and currently writes

textbooks in Oxford.


1. PRE-READING ACTIVITIES

1. Are the following sentences true or false?Decide with your partner, and correct the falseones.

a. There were two major revolutionary events in 17th

century England: the Civil War, and the GloriousRevolution. b. The American War of Independence began on the 9th ofApril 1775, and by 1776 the British had already beenforced to evacuate Boston. c. On the 4th of July 1776, the representatives of thethirteen colonies met in Washington and declared theirindependence. d. George Washington was the dictatorial ruler of America.e. The French Revolution, inspired by the democraticvalues of liberty, equality, and fraternity, developed into abloody fight for power.

3. Working in pairs, read the short text about theFrench Revolution below. Choose the correctword in each bold pair, and underline it.

In the opinion of the French/German revolutionaries, itwas time to change/keep the social order, with all itsequal/unequal laws, unjust/just privileges and out-of-

date/up-to-date institutions. They wanted to return to/create a simpler, morenatural/unnatural social order and a system ofgovernment/dictatorship based on the principles/laws

of ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’.


a. God-given (adj) ____ 1. to save or to keep

b. basis (noun) ____ 2. morally correct

c. equal (adj) ____ 3. to remove or ban by law

d. to secure (v) ____ 4. given by God

e. to preserve (v) ____ 5. of the same status or value

f. to consent (v) ____ 6. the specific type of ruling body and state apparatus that controls a country

g. the governed (n) ____ 7. the people who are under the rule of a government (archaic)

h. just (adj) ____ 8. to agree or permit

i. form of government 9. to save or stabilize(n) ____

j. to abolish (v) ____ 10. the foundation of an idea or argument

2. Working with your partner, match the followingwords to their definitions.

TWO REVOLUTIONS, 2. READING

1. Working in pairs, read the text and agree on asubtitle for paragraphs a-e.

Two Revolutions, Two Declarations

a. Contractualism is a political philosophy based on the idea ofa ‘social contract’, and it dictates that the state does not haveGod-given authority over the citizen: instead, the citizen allowsthe state to exist, in order to preserve the rights of theindividual and the people. Its authentically revolutionaryprinciples had already been applied during the two Englishrevolutions of the seventeenth century, and were furtherdeveloped throughout the subsequent decades in the works ofLocke, Voltaire, and Rousseau. Its principles eventually cameto form the ideological basis of the American and Frenchrevolutions. The journey of these ideas can be followed fromthought to literature, literature to action, and finally to the textthat embodied the spirit of America’s founding fathers: theUnited States Declaration of Independence (1776).

b. Its main author was Thomas Jefferson, a man personallydevoted to the figure of John Locke. Jefferson consideredhim, the philosopher Francis Bacon, and the scientist Sir IsaacNewton, to be “the three greatest men that have ever lived,without any exception” (from a 1789 letter by Jefferson).

c. The principles of Liberalism are engraved, as if in stone, inthe best-known words of the United States Declaration ofIndependence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator withcertain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Libertyand the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights,Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their justpowers from the consent of the governed, – That wheneverany Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,

Subtitle: ....................................................................

Subtitle: ....................................................................

Subtitle: ....................................................................

Declaration of Indipendence: Juliy 4th 1776, litograph, hand colored



TWO DECLARATIONS

3. POST-READING ACTIVITIES

1. Answer the following questions.

a. What is “contractualism”?b. What influence did contractualism have on the FrenchRevolution?c. What are man’s inalienable rights, as written in the U.S.Declaration of Independence?d. According to the U.S. Declaration of Independence,why are governments formed, and who allows them tocontinue?e. In the Declaration of the Rights of Man, what is thepurpose of political association?

f. According to the Declaration of the Rights of Man,where does authority come from?

2. How can you paraphrase the followingparagraph? Change the words without changingtheir meaning. Use the text to help you!

The journey of these ideas can be followed from thoughtto literature, literature to action, and finally to the text thatembodied the spirit of America’s founding fathers: theUnited States Declaration of Independence (1776).

3. Find five words in the text that match thefollowing definitions.

a. … adjective (paragraph A): an event or person thatfollows another in time.b. … noun (paragraph B): something that does not obey ageneral rule or statement.c. … verb (paragraph C): to put down or to place.d. … noun (paragraph D): something that you own, orsomething that belongs to you. e. … noun (paragraph E): someone who saw an event, andcan talk about it afterwards.

4. (SPEAKING + WRITING) Get into a group of fivepeople. Together, you are going to write a ten-article constitution for a new society – one whichis fair, just, and perfect!

1. Each student writes two articles of the constitution.2. Read your articles to the other students. Decidetogether whether they need changing or not.3. When your articles are complete, place them in order ofimportance. Why are some more important than others?4. Write your constitution on paper, and compare it withthe constitutions of other groups. If you see anyinteresting points, ask the group about them.5. Together, as a class, agree on one constitution for yourcountry.

5. (WRITING) You are a journalist, and you haveonly five lines in which to write about the UnitedStates Declaration of Independence and theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.Explain their importance to your readers. Go!

4. RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Locke, Bacon, and Newton

Thomas Jefferson admired the three great thinkers above,but why did he admire them? In groups of six, split intoteams and research these historical figures to find outwhat they achieved and why they were so admirable.Make notes as you research, and then give a shortpresentation in English to the others in your group.Together, decide which of the three you admire most.(Note: there are two famous people with the name FrancisBacon – make sure you research the right one!)

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and toinstitute new Government, laying its foundation on suchprinciples and organizing its powers in such form, as to themshall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”.

d. Thirteen years after the 1776 Declaration of Independenceand 27 years after Rousseau’s Social Contract, the FrenchRevolution produced a Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme etdu Citoyen (The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of theCitizen, 1789), the first three articles of which read:1. Les hommes naissent et demeurent libres et égaux endroits. Les distinctions sociales ne peuvent être fondées quesur l’utilité commune. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Socialdistinctions may be founded only upon the general good.2. Le but de toute association politique est la conservation desdroits naturels et imprescriptibles de l’homme. Ces droits sontla liberté, la propriété, la sûreté et la résistance à l’oppression.The aim of all political association is the preservation of thenatural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights areliberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.3. Le principe de toute souveraineté réside essentiellementdans la nation. Nul corps, nul individu ne peut exercerd’autorité qui n’en émane expressément. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in thenation. No body or individual may exercise any authoritywhich does not proceed directly from the nation.

e. Some of the key texts belonging to the history ofhuman rights were penned by an inspired witness to arevolution, like Locke’s Second Treatise of Government.Others are the product of a visionary mind, likeRousseau’s Social Contract. Others, like the twodeclarations just discussed, were forged in the midst ofthe battle against oppression.

Subtitle: ....................................................................

Subtitle: ....................................................................



CLIL: A DefinitionIn the last few years, there has beenincreasing interest in the instructionalapproach known as Content andLanguage Integrated Learning (CLIL).The acronym itself was first used byDavid Marsh, University of Jyväskylä,Finland, in 1994, and explained asfollows: “CLIL refers to situationswhere subjects, or parts of subjects,are taught through a foreignlanguage with dual-focused aims,namely the learning of content andthe simultaneous learning of aforeign language.”

CLIL: Dimensions and FocusCLIL Compendium contributors (A.Maljers, D. Marsh, D. Coyle, A. K.Hartiala, B. Marsland, C. Pérez-Vidal,and D. Wolff ), informed by aresearch-driven project with supportfrom the Directorate-General forEducation and Culture of theEuropean Commission, identifiedseveral important dimensions thatrelate to core principles of thiseducational approach as it ispracticed in Europe. The fivedimensions are as follows:Each of these dimensions is to beconsidered in relation to three key

factors: the range of ages of thestudents, the social-linguisticenvironment, and the students’degree of contact with CLIL.

The cultural dimension• build intercultural knowledge and

understanding• develop intercultural

communication skills• learn about specific neighboring

countries, regions, and/or minoritygroups

• introduce the wider cultural context

The environmental dimension• prepare for internationalization (as

in EU integration)• access international certification• enhance school profile

The language dimension• improve overall target language

competence• develop oral communication skills• deepen awareness of both the

native language and the targetlanguage

• develop multilingual interests andattitudes

• introduce the target language

The content dimension• provide opportunities to study

content through differentperspectives

• access subject-specific targetlanguage terminology

• prepare for future studies and/orworking life

The learning dimension• complement individual learning

strategies• diversify methods and forms of

classroom practice• increase learner motivation

Student BenefitsBased on the dimensions outlinedabove, proponents of CLIL list severalkey benefits for students: increasedmotivation; meaningful use ofEnglish to reach immediate, real-life

goals; development of multiculturalawareness; and preparation forfuture studies and work in a globalcontext. In addition, as Berton (2008)states, “learners will developlinguistic and communicativecompetencies by using language as atool in a natural and innovative way.”

Teaching ImplicationsTeachers from subject-areabackgrounds and teachers fromlanguage backgrounds face differentchallenges in the CLIL classroom,particularly in the area ofmethodology. In the typical subject-area classroom, teachers areresponsible for covering a largequantity of facts and informationrequired by the school curriculum.Often, the most efficient deliverysystem involves a lot of lecture andexplanation from the front of theclass. Students may ask questionsfrom time to time and answerquestions from the teacher, butinteraction is limited. Teachersusually do not have time to scaffoldstudent learning through modeling,focused vocabulary work, visuals,writing frameworks, or graphicorganizers.

In the language classroom, on theother hand, teachers make studentinteraction a priority through pairand group work and deliberately tryto reduce their own “teacher talk” inorder to provide maximumproduction opportunities forstudents. They sometimes focus onfluency of expression rather than onaccuracy and see mistakes as alearning opportunity rather than as alack of effort on the students’ part tomaster material. They take the timeto scaffold their students’ learning ina variety of ways and provide asmuch context as possible to helpstudents understand and use theirEnglish by supplying manyopportunities for repetition andextended practice.

12

Implications, Benefitsand Behaviors in CLIL

An American Experienceby Diane Pinkley

culture

environmentlearning

languagecontent


Another challenge for potential CLILteachers centers on their owndegree of familiarity and knowledgein two areas – school subjects andthe English language. Subject-areateachers are confident in theircommand of facts and depth ofknowledge, but they may feel theirown English language skills aren’tsufficiently developed to teach inthe language, and they may havelittle understanding of secondlanguage acquisition or the types ofactivities that foster it. Languageteachers understand how studentsacquire a second language, haverealistic expectations about thelength of time and the amount ofpractice needed, and draw on arepertoire of activities thatencourage interaction. They maylack confidence, however, in theircommand of content areas such ashistory or science and how to teachthem. Clearly, for best results, bothsets of teachers will benefit fromrethinking their usual practices tosome degree in order to adjust tothe specific requirements of the CLILclassroom.

CLIL: Effective TeachingBehaviorsAccording to de Graaff, Koopman,and Westhoff (2007), effective CLILteachers attend to functionalcommunication, form and meaning,and corrective feedback:

1. Teachers facilitate exposure tolesson content (input) at a level ofchallenge just beyond the learners’current abilities. They carefully selectand adapt their texts in advance andprovide needed scaffolding.

2. They facilitate meaning-focusedprocessing through assignment oftasks that involve learners inconstructing meaning, check foraccuracy of meaning, and providesupport and feedback if meaning hasbeen insufficiently understood.

3. They facilitate form-focusedprocessing by raising learners’awareness of certain languagefeatures and by employing implicittechniques such as clarificationrequests or recasts, or explicittechniques such as direct teachercorrection or peer correction.

4. Teachers facilitate studentresponse (output) by encouragingpeer interaction in the targetlanguage, by asking for reactions,and by assigning written practice.

5. They facilitate the use of receptiveand productive compensationstrategies to solve problems withlanguage, content, or communication.

Similarly, Coyle (1999) emphasizesthe importance of teachers’ inclusionof the following elements in CLILlessons:

1. Content – teachers need tofacilitate progression in knowledge,skills, and understanding related tospecific curriculum targets.

2. Communication – teachers need tofacilitate students’ use of languagefor content while learning to uselanguage.

3. Cognition – teachers need todevelop students’ thinking skills thatlink concept formation (abstract andconcrete), comprehension, andlanguage.

4. Culture – teachers need to provideexposure to alternative perspectivesand shared understandings, thusdeepening awareness of othernessand self.

A CLIL LessonFrameworkDarn (2006) outlines a four-stageframework for CLIL lessons:

1. Processing the text – the use oftexts that include visuals and textstructure markers such as headings,subheadings, and features such asbold or italic text for emphasis

2. Identification and organization ofknowledge – the use of graphicorganizers such as tree diagrams,timelines, flow charts, and tables

3. Language identification – the useof language features that helpstudents to reproduce core contentknowledge in their own words suchas the language of comparison andcontrast, cause and effect, andspeculation; as well as features suchas collocations, subject-specificvocabulary, and academic vocabulary

4. Tasks for students – the use of avariety of learner-appropriate tasks,both receptive and productive, suchas those that follow.


Listening Tasks (receptive) Speaking Tasks (productive)

1. listen and label a picture, map, 1. present information from a visual diagram, chart with the use of a language support

handout

2. listen and fill in a table 2. work with a partner or group using information gap activities with a sheet of questions for support

3. listen and reorder information 3. class surveys using questionnaires

4. listen and identify locations, 4. question loops—terms and speakers, places definitions, halves of sentences,

questions and answers

5. listen and fill in the blanks in 5. “for and against” debates with a text (cloze) language support

6. listen and label the stages of a process

7. listen and follow instructions

8. listen and take notes

CLIL-Appropriate Activities



In addition to listening and speakingpractice, students need meaningfulactivities that provide support forreading and writing about content inthe target language, such as thefollowing:• Anticipation guides: six to eight

short statements related to thecontent students will study, aboutwhich students write A (agree)/D(disagree) or T (true)/F (false)before reading (e.g. An asteroidstruck Earth and killed thedinosaurs.).

• Blind sequencing: students ingroups receive cards that each haveone step or stage of a sequence orprocess; without looking at eachother’s cards, they orally negotiatewhat they believe the correct order

is and lay their cards face down;then they turn over their cards tocheck the sequence, or read a textand then check their sequence [e.g.the life cycle of a frog].

• Clustering in context: students see apassage with key words blanked outand call out words they think mightfit the context; the teacher writestheir words on the board in a circlearound an empty central space;finally the proper word is written inthe center [e.g. description andfunction of the abacus].

• DR-TA (Directed Reading-ThinkingActivity): using a transparency witha title and part of a text at a time,the teacher elicits predictionsabout the text; students silentlyread the uncovered portion of thetext to confirm their predictions[e.g. Aesop’s fables].

• Expository paragraph frames:partial paragraph writing guides for students to complete, based on specific content and the textstructure/genre used, such as cause& effect, classification, description,

exemplification, or processdescription [e.g. the reasons whysome animals are endangered andmay die out].

• Graphic organizers: students mayuse different types for during-reading and after-reading activitiesto organize information in the text;students may use other types forprewriting activities to organizeideas for writing [e.g. solareclipses].

• Jigsaw: each member of a group(A, B, C, D) is assigned one part ofa learning task; class membersfrom other groups get together tostudy, extend their knowledge, andrehearse (all student As together,all student Bs, all student Cs, allstudent Ds); original groups of A,B, C, D reunite; each “expert”teaches his/her part of theinformation to the rest of thegroup; the learning picture iscomplete after all members haveshared their portions; students maythen take a group quiz to test theirknowledge and understanding orwrite a summary of the full contentshared and learned [e.g. the Azteccivilization].

• KWHL (what I Know, what I Want toknow, How I can find out, what ILearned): students fill in the firstthree parts of a chart beforereading a text; students summarizewhat they learned in the chart afterreading [e.g. formation and typesof earthquakes].

• Think-Pair-Share: the teacher asks aquestion, allows individual studentsto think about it for a few minutes,and then has students form pairsand share their ideas [e.g. ways toprotect the environment].

14

DIANE PINKLEY is the former

Director of the TC TESOL Certificate

Program and full-time faculty

member in the TESOL Program and

the Department of Arts and

Humanities at Teachers College,

Columbia University in New York.

A well-known teacher trainer,

educational consultant, and author

in ESL/EFL, she has trained

teachers and presented papers at

conferences around the world. In

addition, she has made major

contributions to several bestselling

ESL and EFL textbook programs for

both children and adults. Formerly

the Director of the Institute of North

American Studies in Badalona,

Spain, and Curriculum Coordinator

at the Michigan Language Center in

Ann Arbor, Michigan, she has taught

all levels of ESL/EFL from

kindergarten through college, in

addition to American culture and

American and British literature.

References and Resources� Berton, G. (2008). “Le attività di apprendimento nelle classi CLIL,” in Coonan, C. M. (a

cura di). La produzione orale in ambito CLIL, sezione monografica di Rassegna Italiana di

Linguistica Applicata.

� British Council. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) Introduction/TeachingEnglish/British Council/ http://www.britishcouncil.org� Coyle, D. (1999). Theory and planning for effective classrooms: Supporting students in

content and language.� Integrated learning contexts. In J. Masih (ed.) Learning Through a Foreign Language.

London: CLIL.� Darn, S. (2006) CLIL: A lesson framework. Retrieved from the World Wide Web at

www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/clil-a-lesson-framework.� de Graaff, R., Koopman, G. J., and Westhoff, G. (2007). Identifying Effective L2 Pedagogy in

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Based on “An Observation Tool forEffective L2 Pedagogy in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)” by de Graaff,Koopman, Anikina, and Westhoff, in The International Journal of Bilingual Education and

Bilingualism (2007), vol. 10/5, 603–624.� Maljers A., Marsh D., Coyle D., Hartiala A.K., Marsland B., Pérez-Vidal C., Wolff D. (2002)

The CLIL Compendium. http://www.clilcompendium.com� Marsh, D. (2001). Using Languages to Learn and Learning to Use Languages: An

introduction for parents and young people. TIE-CLIL: Milan.



Vocabularyact like distort newspaper smallerbend distortion outwards spoonbig drop plastic step(s)bigger enter procedure stickcause experiment reflect surface tallchange fishbowl report textclear fun house short watercurve(d) light size direction magnification slow downdistance mirror small

A Teacher’s Edition Sample CLILScience Lesson: Magnification(a 50-minute lesson for 28 second-grade native Spanish speakers)

Science Content Objectives • to understand magnification and distortion• to describe properties of mirrors and water• to understand the role of light in magnification and

distortion

Science Process Skills • to compare and contrast properties of mirrors and

water• to develop a hypothesis• to observe an experiment to see if water can act like a

fun house mirror• to describe a sequence of events• to determine cause and effect• to take notes and record data

Language Objectives • to ask and answer questions• to use content-related and scientific vocabulary• to use the language of speculation and cause & effect

Learning Strategies • to access prior knowledge• to ask for clarification• to predict• to collaborate cooperatively• to draw conclusions

1. The teacher begins by reminding students of a rhymingpoem they read yesterday about a trip to the Fun Houseand the different mirrors there. She holds up illustrationsand repeats the poem as students listen. Then she hasthem repeat the poem with her as she points to thecorresponding pictures. She asks questions about themirrors: How many mirrors are in the Fun House? Are they all thesame? How are they different? What effect do themirrors have? The class discusses the poem, illustrations, and answersquestions.

2. The teacher passes around a large, shiny metal spoon.Students look at their reflections in the back of thespoon. The teacher encourages the children to say howthe spoon is like the Fun House mirrors in the poem: thechildren’s reflections are distorted, just like the reflectionsin the mirrors.

3. Next, the teacher poses the research question: Canwater act like a fun house mirror? If so, why? She has thechildren gather around as she conducts an experiment. Apage from a newspaper is covered in transparent plastic.She carefully drops ONE large drop of water in the centerof the clear plastic. (The curved drop acts as a lens.)

4. Holding the drop of water on the plastic about an inchor so above the newspaper, she invites the children tolook down through it. What do they think they will see?What do they see?

5. The teacher allows students to experiment with singledrops of water of different sizes held at differentdistances from the newspaper. What do they observe?How does the text change each time? Students reporttheir observations in small groups.

6. Next, the teacher holds up a clear fishbowl full ofwater. She invites the children to predict what willhappen when a student holds the fishbowl in front of hisface. The students call out their predictions and thenthey watch as the student holds the fishbowl in front ofhis face. The teacher asks if the boy’s face is bigger orsmaller, and explains that the water has magnified anddistorted his face. All the students take turns holding thefishbowl up to their faces and describing the results.

7. Last, the teacher puts the fishbowl about half full ofwater on the desk and puts a stick at an angle into thewater. Students look down into the bowl. The teacherasks if the stick looks different, and if so, how and why.Students in pairs work out their ideas and then sharethem with other pairs.

8. The teacher writes any of their ideas that haverelevance on the board, and then explains, usinggestures and board drawings to scaffold her explanation: As light enters the water, it slows down. If the surface ofthe water is curved, it bends the light in a new direction.The curve of the water sends the light outwards, and asit gets bigger, it causes magnification. Students listen to the explanation again, repeating thekey ideas out loud. Then they retell what happened inpairs, and finally, write a summary report using sentenceframes the teacher writes on the board.

9. For reinforcement and family involvement, the teacherassigns replication of the experiment with a spoon and aglass of water at home, followed by a written report.Through content-rich instruction such as the science lessonabove, students learn and use language in an immediateand meaningful way. The target language is the vehiclethrough which they meet social and academic needs,employ learning strategies and critical thinking skills, andexpand and display their knowledge of curricular content.


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Per i passi antologici, per le citazioni, per leriproduzioni grafiche e fotografiche appartenentialla proprietà di terzi, inseriti in questo fascicolo,l’editore è a disposizione degli aventi diritto nonpotuti reperire nonché per eventuali non voluteomissioni e/o errori di attribuzione nei riferimenti.

Contributi di questo numeroCamilla Bianco, James Pearson-Jadwat,

Carmel Mary Coonan,

Diane Pinkley

Coordinamento editorialeEmilia Giribaldi

RedazioneGiulia Abbiati

Progetto graficoap Comunicazione

Ricerca iconograficaLaura Urbani

Materiale iconograficoICP: p2; p4; p8; p13; p15

Library of Congress: p10 LC-USZC2-2244

ImpaginazioneCostantino Seminara

Stampato daTipografia Gravinese, Torino


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