ABSTRACT
A central concern of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) – an instructional approach that fosters language proficiency and content knowledge – relates to the assessment of language and content: should it be done separately or in an integrated manner? This question poses a significant challenge to practitioners and researchers. This chapter addresses this issue by offering some guidance to approach assessment in CLIL teaching contexts. The first section introduces a theoretical model for developing assessments and justifying their use. This model can help assessors make decisions by identifying and analysing learners’ abilities. The second section presents three approaches to assessment in CLIL along a continuum of integration, from completely separate, to weakly integrated, to strongly integrated approaches. This section elucidates the links between assessors’ intended decisions and learners’ abilities to be interpreted, demonstrating concrete examples of assessment practices. The concluding section puts forth implications for practice and research on the topic of assessment in CLIL.
