TKT: CLIL case studies
TKT: CLIL · Put your knowledge to work in context.
TKT CLIL - Content and Language Integrated Learning - is one of the two specialist modules of the Teaching Knowledge Test, a series of modular qualifications from Cambridge English that test knowledge in specific areas of English language teaching. It is designed for both new and experienced teachers, including teachers of primary, secondary and adult learners, who want to prove their knowledge with an internationally recognised certificate; Cambridge English lists an English level of B1 or above for its target audience. The TKT: CLIL case studies are 5 cases and about 4,127 words.
1Labelling works, explaining doesn't
Part-way through the first term of a bilingual programme, a Grade 8 geography teacher (a subject specialist, fluent in the L2) teaches a 50-minute lesson on plate tectonics to 28 students at CEFR A2–B1. He spends 25 minutes on a 22-item glossary with L1 translations, then reads a textbook paragraph aloud, asks 'Is everyone OK?' (the class nods), and issues a labelling worksheet.
751 words, about 4 min2Seven objectives, forty-five minutes
Over the half-term break a maths teacher plans a 45-minute CLIL lesson on the area of composite shapes for 30 fourteen-year-olds at CEFR B1. Her plan lists seven objectives, including 'understand area', 'learn maths vocabulary', 'work in groups' and 'improve speaking'.
781 words, about 4 min3L1, noise and the threat to go back to rows
A Grade 5 CLIL science class of 32 ten-year-olds is seated in eight groups of four. The lesson is a practical: each group tests four materials for absorbency, measures the water left in a beaker and records results in a table.
856 words, about 4 min4The 320-word spread on the water cycle
A Grade 6 CLIL science teacher is planning a unit on the water cycle for 26 learners at CEFR B1. The class textbook - written for L1 learners - has a 320-word spread containing 14 terms the class has not met (precipitation, transpiration, condensation, run-off, aquifer, impermeable…).
932 words, about 5 min5A 41% mean and the conclusion that 'they didn't know the content'
At the end of a Grade 9 biology unit on enzymes, 30 learners at CEFR B1 sit a 60-minute written test in the L2. The paper has 10 multiple-choice items with long, syntactically complex distractors, five short answers beginning 'Explain why…', and one essay.
807 words, about 4 min