Assessing will-be CLIL Teachers’ language competence: issues of testing and language competence of education professionals

The increasingly integral role of CLIL in the discourse surrounding secondary schooling in Italy suggests that this innovative teaching approach will become a protagonist in the future of learning in Italy. Yet, the implementation of CLIL in the Italian context raises a series of questions and concerns, the most pressing of which regard the level of competence in the vehicular language of future CLIL teachers. This study aims to bring to light Italian CLIL teachers’ language competence and its assessment by presenting one specific case: a testing session for the methodological course selection of teachers aimed at assessing levels of foreign language competence in which the authors were involved as decision-makers, organisers and observers. This article begins with an overview of the language policies related to CLIL in the Italian context, emphasizing the directives related to teacher training. A discussion of issues surrounding the testing of educational professionals and of strategies employed and processes undertaken to tackle these issues follows. Then, results of the proficiency exam and of the pre-exam survey are analysed and explored to inspire reflection on language competence and related factors. The implications of these outcomes for teacher training and future CLIL instruction are also considered.