KEVIN THOMAS -

ASSESSING CLIL: APPROACHES TO CLIL ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT PERSPECTIVES : LANGUAGE TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

There has been debate on how students on CLIL courses should be assessed (Coyle et al., 2010) Different approaches to balancing assessment of content and language have been taken. This presentation details how I designed a presentation-based assessment for a CLIL course in Japan. A harder approach towards CLIL assessment with greater emphasis on content was taken mirroring the approach of the course in general. A rubric was designed with reference to theory and given to students before the assessment. After students were assessed, they were interviewed on if they felt the assessment method was transparent, appropriate for the CLIL course and consistent with their wider English learning context. Students indicated they found the assessment transparent and suitable for the course but they would prefer more emphasis on language and help with the language of presentations. The presentation concludes by arguing CLIL assessment needs to be flexible, taking into account each group of students’ language levels, knowledge of academic skills and wider learning needs. This could be done through a diagnostic interview at the beginning of each course.

I have been teaching English for over 20 years and have taught at universities in the UK and in Japan. I have recently been teaching a CLIL course in Japan on British music and society bring together my academic interests in sociology and politics and my love of British music.