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Article published In: 10th Anniversary Celebration
Edited by Pádraig Ó Duibhir and Laurent Cammarata
[Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 10:2] 2022
► pp. 230–264

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Thematic patterns, Cognitive Discourse Functions, and genres

Towards an Integrative Model for CLIL

 | Guangzhou Medical University
 | Simon Fraser University
Published online: 3 November 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.21024.wu
Abstract
As CLIL is developing into an established discipline, it is timely to deepen the theorizing of integration of content and language, particularly in CLIL assessment. To illustrate the challenges, a representative example of a high-stakes CLIL biology assessment task in Hong Kong will first be presented. An Integrative Model for CLIL will then be proposed and applied to illuminate the demands of the assessment task and diagnose a sample student performance. The Integrative Model is developed by integrating genre and register theory (Martin, J. R., & Rose, D. (2008). Genre relations: Mapping culture. Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), Cognitive Discourse Functions (Dalton-Puffer, C. (2013). A construct of cognitive discourse functions for conceptualising content-language integration in CLIL and multilingual education. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 216–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), thematic patterns theory (Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values. Ablex Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), Concept-and-Language-Mapping (CLM) Approach (He, P., & Lin, A. M. Y. (2019). Co-developing science literacy and foreign language literacy through “Concept+ Language Mapping”. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 7(2), 261–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and translanguaging/trans-semiotizing theories (García, O., & Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; (2019). Theories of trans/languaging and trans-semiotizing: implications for content-based education classrooms. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(1), 5–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). To further illustrate the utility of the Model, a range of possible assessment-for-learning (Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2003). Assessment for Learning: Putting it into practice. OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) CLIL task examples designed by the authors will be presented. The article will conclude with implications for CLIL pedagogy and assessment.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.An illustrative example of a high-stakes CLIL biology assessment task
  • 3.Towards an Integrative Model for CLIL: Integrating existing theories
    • 3.1Thematic patterns and “concept” learning
    • 3.2Cognitive discourse functions (CDFs)
    • 3.3Genres, registers and curriculum context
  • 4.Application of the Integrative Model: Analysis of the demands of the CLIL biology assessment task and diagnosis of the sample student essay performance
    • 4.1Understanding the overall requirements of the assessment task
    • 4.2Applying the Integrative Model to analyze the demands of the assessment task
      • 4.2.1Developing a thematic pattern map informed by content specialists’ perspectives and the Integrative Model
      • 4.2.2The demands of the assessment task illuminated through the thematic pattern map
      • 4.2.3A more well-formed essay delineating the thematic patterns, CDFs and genre features
    • 4.3Diagnosing the performance of the sample student essay
      • 4.3.1How the student essay performance fares from the perspective of the Integrative Model
      • 4.3.2Putting content specialists’ comments in perspective through the lens of the Integrative Model: Two levels of challenges revealed
    • 4.4The contribution of the Integrative Model for CLIL
  • 5.Designing formative, assessment-for-learning tasks in CLIL
  • 6.Coda
  • Notes
  • References
References (24)
References
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