CLIL, CALP, BICS, Cooperative Work & Scaffolding

Posted on Mar 1, 2025 in Primary Education Teacher (Teaching Degree)

CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning

CLIL is defined as a dual-focused teaching and learning approach. It uses a first language (L1) and an additional language (or two) to promote both content mastery and language acquisition to pre-defined levels.

CLIL implies:

  • About the Foreign Language (FL): It’s a medium, not an aim. The level depends on the content, and there are no specific tasks.
  • About the Content: It’s the main aim of teaching, applicable to all levels of education and topics, including cross-curricular projects.

The Triangle Model

Focuses on how-to skills, ranging from reviewing or understanding knowledge to producing creative and critical thinking. The aim is to learn in efficient ways.

The 4Cs Framework

  • Content: Cross-curricular and linguistically adapted.
  • Cognition: The necessity of reasoning.
  • Communication: Meaningful interaction.
  • Culture: Becoming a citizen in the real world.

Core Features

  • Multiple Focus: Feedback and combination-based learning.
  • Safe and Enriching Learning Environment: Confidence and experimentation.
  • Authenticity: The usage of realia and reality.
  • Active Learning: Teachers become facilitators.
  • Scaffolding: The construction of new knowledge.
  • Cooperation: Interaction of all the agents.

CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

CALP refers to formal academic learning. This includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material. Students need time and support to become proficient in academic areas. It includes skills such as comparing, classifying, and evaluating. Academic language tasks are context-reduced.

BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

BICS are language skills needed in social situations. It is the day-to-day language needed to interact socially with other people. The language required is not specialized.

Cooperative Work

Students work in small groups with responsibilities at both individual and team levels. The teacher only facilitates the activities.

It fosters:

  • Collaboration for and participation in the team’s success.
  • The development of shared interests through interaction.
  • Self-learning on content, language, and learning skills.

Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning

  • Positive Interdependence: Inter-related tasks and goals.
  • Individual and Group Accountability: Two-level assessment.
  • Interpersonal and Small Group Skills.
  • Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction.
  • Group Processing: Critical thinking about actions.

Benefits

  • For Students: FL practice, communicative skills, comfort, and participation.
  • For Teachers: Pressure-relief, assistance for students, monitoring, not leadership.

Scaffolding

“Structure” is the key word. Without clear structure and precisely stated expectations, many students are vulnerable to a kind of educational “wanderlust” that pulls them far afield.

Characteristics

  1. Scaffolding provides clear directions: The operating concept here is the “Teflon lesson” – no stick, no burn, and no trouble – a learning experience that has been well-tested in advance so that anything that might go wrong is considered in advance and eliminated if possible.
  2. Scaffolding clarifies purpose: Scaffolding keeps purpose and motivation in the forefront. Rather than offering up an empty school, the scaffolded lesson aspires to meaning and worth. Built around essential questions, the scaffolding helps to keep the “big picture” central and in focus.
  3. Scaffolding keeps students on task: The learner can exercise great personal discretion within parameters but is not in danger of “off road” stranding. Each time a student is asked to move along a path, the steps are outlined extensively.
  4. Scaffolding offers assessment to clarify expectations: Right from the beginning, students are shown rubrics and standards that define excellence. In traditional school research, students were often kept in the dark until the product was completed.
  5. Scaffolding points students to worthy sources: Scaffolding identifies the best sources so that students speed to signal rather than noise.
  6. Scaffolding reduces uncertainty, surprise, and disappointment: The goal is to maximize learning and efficiency. The lesson is refined at least one more time based on the new insights gained by watching students actually try the activities.
  7. Scaffolding delivers efficiency: Scaffolded lessons require hard work, but the work is well-centered on the inquiry.
  8. Scaffolding creates momentum: In contrast to traditional research experiences, the energy was dispersed and dissipated during the wandering phases; the channeling achieved through scaffolding concentrates it.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication.

Skills

  • Analyzing
  • Reasoning
  • Evaluating
  • Problem Solving
  • Decision Making

Significance

  • Going beyond the mere acquisition and memorization of knowledge and skills.
  • Creating ideas and theories and applying them effectively.
  • Avoiding misinformation, false reasoning, distortion of data, prejudice…
  • Self-esteem and self-evaluating, and in-group skills.

Problems

  • Lecturing system of teaching.
  • Traditional importance of memorization.
  • Crowded curricula and crowded classrooms.
  • Short class periods.
  • Challenging process.