Support strategies for assessment

Raquel Zazo Serrano Yasmina Ruiz Pacheco

Assessment in CLIL

The goal of the CLIL curriculum is effective competence in a second language (Mackenzie 2008)

Assessment in CLIL is a complex area for a number of reasons:

1. Dual focus: LANGUAGE and SUBJECT which means there are 2 assessment processes involved.

It is necessary to know the extent to which language and subject assessment are integrated (through the same tasks and activities… or not?)

Assessment in CLIL For example, if a child in a primary school assessment task in

geography performs poorly, is it because of her limited understanding of the geography concepts or details, because she has not understood the question or because she cannot express her understanding clearly?

2. The purpose of assessment: a learning purpose which focuses on understanding and supporting learning of the CLIL policy and implementation.

3. Complex set of practical issues: tests, activities, standards, criteria and the teacher´s skills in bringing all these together in the classroom.

Assessment in CLIL How do we make a judgment about achievements in learning

(language and subject)?

If the results are not satisfactory, are they because students do not understand the language or is it because of the content?

We will focus on the assessment for learning: practices as integrated into teaching, and oriented, not towards a statement of level, but towards enhanced learning.

Assessment is viewed as an integral part of the process of teaching and the development of learning opportunities.

Formative Assessment : the focus is on the role of the student and on interaction.

Assessment for learning is… Activities undertaken by students and teachers to assess

themselves.

The provided information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.

Teachers need to:

Make decisions about lesson content, sequencing, materials, learning tasks, etc.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of students.

Observe the progress of each student, how they do activities, how they perform different tasks and DRAW CONCLUSIONS about it.

Why support strategies are important for CLIL students?

Support strategies facilitate the acquisition, understanding or later transfer of new knowledge and skills.” (Weinstein, Husman and Dierking, 2000)

To respond to learners´ needs They need to know how they are being assessed and what are

the expected learning results

Therefore, teachers should: Consider how and when they are to support students during

their learning and throughout their assessment. The timing is important in order to make changes if necessary.

SPECIALLY IMPORTANT DURING THE FIRST STAGES OF A CLIL PROGRAME

EXAMPLES

Difficulty

The language used in texts or problems is too difficult.

Support strategy

Before assessment

Use synonymsAdd visuals or diagrams

During assessment

Paraphrase orallyAllow the use of a bilingual dictionary.

Difficulty:

Learners are slow at writing.

Support strategy

Before assessment Change the task to

multiple choice, yes/no or closed responses

During assessment Provide extra time Give time targets

INFORMAL EVALUATION

To start up, we can make questions and observe our students.

In a CLIL context we must support students before and after evaluation.

We have to encourage our students to express what they know in the L2.

ACCOMMODATION

To get familiar with content and L2, teachers should support students to express themselves orally or writing.

STUDENTS´INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

Teachers have to be aware of the individual needs of each student.

We can use task differentiation to support our students.

Teacher´s support will last accordingly to the student´s specific needs.

Examples

SUBJECT EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT

PROBLEM

EconomicsHow a company might deal with clients from remote parts of the world and overcome any potencial problems?

The language used in the instructions is difficult

Geography Water will eventually be drawn from the river to the north on the border of Namibia....Describe the route of the river.

The explanation is long and has no map or diagram.

Teachers should be aware that students are able to work on their own (by themselves)and so with the appropriate support strategies and assesment they will be able to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

Activity Time

Some of the learning outcomes we want students to achieve through the following activities are:

To get students involved with one another and work as part of a team.

To build support strategies To learn different ways to work in class such as role

playing. To be able and identify situations when support is

needed in the class.

Exercise 1.

Split the class into 3 groups

Answer the questions and put it in common with the rest of the class.

2.

The group which guesses more answers right, will do a role playing for the class.

ACTIVITY

1. You have a student in the class who can´t see clearly what you write on the blackboard. What shall you do?

a) Place the student closer to the blackboard.

b) Nothing

c) Buy a bigger blackboard.

2. Maths´ vocabulary can sometimes be difficult for students. What would you do to help them?

a) Use diagrams.

b) Call someone else for help.

c) Change the subject

3. The task is too long so you…

a)Break it down in parts.

b)Give learners a break.

c)Nothing

4. If you are teaching history, what would help your students more?

a) Using synomyms.b) Explaining slowly.c)Using diagrams.

5. Your student don´t understand English. What can you do?

a) Use a dictionary.

b) Use Spanish words (at times) to help understanding.

c) Use pictures while explaining so the student can find out the meaning of the English words.

ActivityRole playing

LEARNING OUTCOMES

To support students before and during the evaluation.

To let students know what they are expected to achieve.

To take into account students´individual differences and needs.

To understand teachers´evaluation as a way to improve our educational work.