This slide show looks at teaching language in order to teach subject content using CLIL methodology. It also includes preparation for a CLIL science lesson for primary school.

1. CLIL: Looking at language for
teaching subject content
By Suzannah Behrens
The English Studio, Paciano, PG, Italy

2. BICS and CALP
• BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills)
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)
Classroom teachers need to understand the
difference between social language and
academic language acquisition. Here is a simple
description of BICS and CALP as theorized by
Jim Cummins.

3. BICS
• BICS are the skills needed for everyday
conversational talk. Examples of BICS include
greetings, asking for or giving directions,
stating preferences and describing the
weather. BICS also include informal language,
such as contracted forms (can’t, isn’t, etc.).
Researchers say learners take about two years
to develop BICS.

4. BICS
• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are
language skills needed in social, conversational
situations. It is the day-to-day language needed to
interact socially with other people.
• Social interactions are usually contextualised and
supported by teachers and resources. They occur in a
meaningful social context. They are not very
demanding cognitively. The language required is not
specialized. Examples repeating greetings and
matching cards with pictures etc.

5. The English that we teach at primary
and middle school is mainly BICS
• How are you?
• What have you got?
• What do you do?
• What are you doing?
• What did you do?
• What will you do?
• What can you do?
• Etc
• Greetings, adjectives
• Pets, Physical description
• Jobs, Daily routine, time
• Picture descriptions
• Talking about past events
• Talking about future
plans
• Talking about abilities

6. CALP
• CALP involves understanding and using formal
language about curricular subjects. This might
include explaining possible results of an
experiment and giving reasons for doing
calculations. Researchers say learners take five
to seven years to develop CALP.

7. CALP
• Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
• CALP refers to formal academic learning. This
is language used in subject teaching. It is often
abstract and formal and cognitively
demanding.
• This includes listening, speaking, reading, and
writing about subject area content material.
• Examples: justifying opinions, making
hypotheses and interpreting evidence.

9. Subject led language we use or could
use
• Animal projects: Categorise, habitats, physical
descriptions
• Science projects Water, weather, life cycles
• Maths projects: shapes, numbers, statistics,
measurements
• History projects: The Industrial Revolution, past
simple, occur, process, begin advancements, coal
petroleum
• Geography projects: landforms, countries, rivers,
lakes, volcanoes etc

10. Developing subject language in writing
• Teachers need to plan activities and games to motivate learners to
develop appropriate writing skills for their subject. There are many
types of activities which can develop written output of subject-
specific language. These activities can focus on subject output at
word, phrase, sentence, paragraph and text levels.
• Examples of activities which help learners develop these different
levels of output are:
• word and phrase level: bingo, ordering letters, labelling activities
• sentence level: reordering words, matching sentence halves,
completing half sentences
• paragraph and text level: gap-fill, pair-work dictations and other
information-gap activities

11. CLIL Science lesson

12. Science: The life cycle of a frog
• Objective: To learn about the life cycle of a
frog and explain it
• Stage 1 Brainstorm: What do we know about
frogs?

13. Frog questions
• Are they mammals, birds, amphibians or
reptiles?
• What colour are they?
• What can they do?
• How many legs have they got?
• Where do they live?
• What do they eat?

14. • They are amphibians
• They are green, brown, orange etc
• They can jump and swim, hop, catch flies,
climb
• They have got big mouths and long tongues.
• They have got four legs.
• They live near water.
• They eat insects.

16. Stage 2 Decide on language you need
to teach
• Vocabulary: Amphibian
Adult frog, eggs, tadpole, froglet, tail, front legs,
back legs,
Verbs: lay, grow, hatch, use, start, become,
Sequencers: First, then, after, finally
Grammar: present simple 3rd person singular
and plural

17. Stage 3 Prepare your text and visuals
• First the female frog lays thousands of eggs in the
water, usually a lake or a pond.
• After ten days the eggs hatch into tadpoles.
• The tadpoles swim using their tails.
• The tadpoles grow back legs and then front legs.
• The tail becomes smaller. The tadpoles turn into
froglets.
• Finally the tail disappears and the froglet
becomes a frog.

18. A tadpole

19. A tadpole with 2 back legs

20. A froglet

21. A frog

23. The life Cycle of a Frog sequence

24. Stage 4 Prepare your activities
• Match the words to the pictures
• Order and match the sentences to the pictures
• Write and complete the life cycle text
• Write a text
• Draw the pictures for a class poster of the life
cycle
• Label the diagram of a frog
• Watch a video clip on youtube etc
• Describe the life cycle to your partner using
pictures

25. Life cycle speaking activity

26. Writing activity

27. Class craft activity

28. Where are the 4cs?
• The content: “The life cycle of a frog”
• The cognitive imput: activities of ordering
labeling, describing,
• The communicative aspect: Describing the life
cycle to the class or partner and writing about
the cycle.
• The cultural aspect: talking about whether
students see frogs near where they live. Do they
see the eggs, tadpoles etc? Do they eat frogs? Do
they think frogs are useful or lucky?

29. Culture
• Frogs– Frogs For the Romans, the frog was a
mascot believed to bring good luck to one's
home.
• Frogs in fairytales: The Frog Prince
• Frogs, Toads and Phobias
• Batrachophobia- Fear of amphibians, such as
frogs, newts, salamanders, etc.
• Ranidaphobia- Fear of frogs.
• Bufonophobia- Fear of toads.

30. A story The Frog Prince