This document discusses the dimensions of CLIL (Content, Language, Learning, Environment, Culture) and how they interact in practice. It explains each dimension in detail and outlines some advantages of CLIL for young learners, such as increased comprehensible input and motivation through learning topics that interest them. The document also discusses how key CLIL terms like target language, ICT, intercultural knowledge, and learning styles interact in a CLIL lesson. Finally, it explains how visual organizers and Bloom's taxonomy can be used to scaffold students' learning at the primary level.

1. PRACTICAL
Nº 14
Practice II. 2015
Erica, Corso.

2. Practice II,Didacticsof ELT and Practicum at primarySchool Level.
Practical Nº 14. Deadline:October 1st,2015.
Cavalotto,Andrea;Corso,Erica;Irusta,Carla.
1) Which are the five dimensions of CLIL? Do they act in isolation?
The five dimensions of CLIL are Culture, Learning, Environment, Language and Content.
Marsh points out that these dimensions are essential to build students’ competence in the
foreign language. It is said that these dimensions are viewed separately just to identify the
reasons why CLIL should be implemented in different contexts, as a way of idealizing them
to study CLIL. However, they do not stand alone in CLIL practice, as they are heavily
interrelated. There are connections among them because in real-life implementation of
CLIL there is relation to more than one dimension at the same time. It is also possible,
though, for some dimensions to be more prominent than the others because the reason
for using CLIL changes from one situation to another. All in all, when CLIL is implemented,
English is not taught in isolation. As language is taught through contents related to the
rest of the school curriculum, learning is seen as authentic, as it is learned in real contexts.
2) Explain each dimension in detail.
Culture dimension: It refers to cultural awareness. This dimension does not just states
that CLIL provides students with a higher level of intercultural knowledge but also with
cultural understanding. Students reflect on the fact that there is a wider cultural context
which includes not only prestigious cultures, but also minorities and cultures near to the
student’s one. It is seen as a great opportunity for future contact between cultures that
had been distanced from each other for some political reason.
Environment dimension: It refers to the important role that CLIL plays in
internationalization or globalization. It takes into account the environmental needs that
each institution considers relevant. In this way, the doors of the world are open for
students. They have the chance to study or work in a different culture, involving a
different language, taking into account that they have the necessary preparation on skills
so as to take an exam that evaluates their proficiency level. They also have certification
access because CLIL allows them to have Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS),
which are social language skills needed to interact with a foreign person, and Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), which deals with academic language skills to take,
for example, an exam.
Content dimension: CLIL acts as a provider of opportunities for seeing different contents
or topics through different perspectives or points of view. Each subject can see the same
topic in different ways, and CLIL is essential for giving students the chance to analyze

3. Practice II,Didacticsof ELT and Practicum at primarySchool Level.
Practical Nº 14. Deadline:October 1st,2015.
Cavalotto,Andrea;Corso,Erica;Irusta,Carla.
different perspectives. As a result, students will gain a deeper understanding of the topic.
They are taught to think critically and students become aware of the different
perspectives that a subject matter may have. Another advantage of this dimension is the
knowledge about lexis that students may acquire. Specific target language words are
taught so as students can express academic words of the different subjects.
Learning Dimension: It refers to the focus CLIL makes on students’ individual learning
strategies. As a learner-centered methodology, CLIL deals with the social and thinking
skills that students need to acquire. Concerned with studies of how the brain learns, CLIL
makes a special focus on, for example, different learning styles and intelligences. Lastly,
this dimension also refers to the fact that as the focus of CLIL is on learners, motivation is
a key point in the teaching of a language, as it is a means that propels learners’ language
acquisition.
Language Dimension: It refers to CLIL as a potential method for improving target language
competence as a whole. This involves all the macro skills: reading, writing, speaking and
listening. In addition, it makes a special emphasis on the importance of communication,
i.e. oral language as a provider of opportunities to interact and communicate. Finally, and
in relation with this last point, it is highlighted that a teacher does not need to have
native-like competence in the target language, indeed, what is important is to be able to
interact and transmit knowledge through the target language.
3) What are the advantages for acquisition/learning in young children?
Some of the advantages for acquisition/learning in young children are:
*Students have access to comprehensible input. The understanding that students have of
a certain subject matter of the L1 is crucial because it provides background knowledge
that makes English input more comprehensible.
*Students can see the usefulness of learning: learning is viewed as authentic because
contents are learned in real contexts (subjects at school).
*CLIL allows students to talk about present objects and to solve concrete problems, which
is essential so as to develop their cognitive and social skills.

4. Practice II,Didacticsof ELT and Practicum at primarySchool Level.
Practical Nº 14. Deadline:October 1st,2015.
Cavalotto,Andrea;Corso,Erica;Irusta,Carla.
*Learners learn to use the language on topics that interest them.
*They activate their thinking skills because the learning of another subject makes them
think and interpret it in terms of the foreign language.
*This natural way of acquiring language makes it easier for them to understand the
foreign language.
*Students develop different learning styles through project work and task based projects.
*They develop cooperation and collaboration values when they have to solve problems.
*Children learn by doing, which is essential at primary school.
*They acquire language in a meaningful way when they are faced to challenging activities
with clear purposes, and activities which are within their conceptual abilities.
4) How do you think the following CLIL key terms interact in a CLIL lesson? Target
language, exposure, ICT, Intercultural knowledge and understanding, language
awareness, learning styles and learning strategies?
Through CLIL, students learn topics from different subjects in a second language. If we
decide to prepare a CLIL project to teach any topic to our students, we first have to bear in
mind the target language, that is, the language used in CLIL, because that is the starting
point. Then, we can make use of ICT, by delivering our classes using power point or Prezi
presentations. If we provide assignments to our students, we can prompt them to upload
them in blogs, or we can teach them to use Google Docs so that they keep themselves in
touch with their classmates when solving homework, for instance. The use of computers
enables learners to improve information-processing skills, to explore ideas, to access and
investigate the Internet. For learners, the more the exposure to the target language, the
greater their input will be, especially if they are exposed to a rich linguistic environment.
As regards intercultural knowledge and understanding, CLIL not only provides students
with a higher level of intercultural knowledge but also with cultural understanding. Students
reflect on the fact that there is a wider cultural context which includes not only prestigious
cultures, but also minority ones. For instance, if we teach our students food items, we can do
it by comparing different healthy meals from different countries, for instance meals from

5. Practice II,Didacticsof ELT and Practicum at primarySchool Level.
Practical Nº 14. Deadline:October 1st,2015.
Cavalotto,Andrea;Corso,Erica;Irusta,Carla.
Argentina and from China. CLIL classes allow for different learning styles and learning
strategies through project work. Children learn in different ways according to their
personal learning styles, and teachers can help them to develop their strategies. This
involves showing to students some images, videos, songs to activate prior knowledge or to
let them anticipate what the new topic is going to be about. Certain types of language
teaching methods may suit some learners but not others, so we might consider employing
different teaching approaches so that students can improve their learning. Exposure is the
percentage of CLIL teaching in a curriculum in a school year.
5) How do visual organizers help to scaffold students’ learning? Provide graphic
examples.
Visual organizers help to scaffold students’ learning because it helps them to understand
and remember new information by making thinking visible. This involves writing down
ideas, making connections and combining language with arrows, symbols, etc. These
organizers can be diagrams, tables, columns and webs.
For example:
Carroll diagram: a means of classifying information according to four criteria.
Living Non-living
Natural
Manufactured
Keys: based on splitting information into two parts. A progressive series of questions,
each of which has only two possible answers.
Eg. Trees Does it have cones?
Tree Stone
Genetically modified
organism
Computer
NOYES

6. Practice II,Didacticsof ELT and Practicum at primarySchool Level.
Practical Nº 14. Deadline:October 1st,2015.
Cavalotto,Andrea;Corso,Erica;Irusta,Carla.
Are the cones round? Does it have winged seeds?
Yes No Yes No
Quadrants: four areas divided by two lines to show connections between concepts.
High sounds
Quiet sounds Loud sounds
Low sounds
6) Explain the impact of Bloom’s taxonomy to help students reach higher order thinking.
How can we achieve this at Primary School level?
Students’ cognitive performance can be improved if students are helped to use productive
thinking when gathering information and as they build understanding of that new
information. This means that higher orders skills imply being able to restructure new
information into an existing schema. Teachers’ intervention is needed since they will be a
guide to support learners’ critical thinking and will help them to develop their creativity.