CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION

CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTIONBirCan GÜZEL08271002

[email protected]

Mersin,2011

A. What is «Content» ?

•Content is;- Information transmitted through a

medium.-  Not just anything; it has to actually

contain information that is irreducible to nothing.

-  It must have meaning.- Content is interpreted as the use of subject

matter as a vehicle for second or foreign language learning/teaching.

•It is not an approach, not a method and not a technique. It’s an Instruction.

•Content Based Instruction is first used in USA, for the immigrants. It means that it is survival.

•Simply, CBI refers to an approach emphasizing learning about something rather than learning about language.

“The teaching of content or information in the language being learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content being taught.”

Krahnke, as cited in Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 204.

A.1. Two central principles:

•People learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself.

• Content-Based Instruction better reflects learner’s needs for learning as a second language.

•“In a content-based approach, students simultaneously acquire subject matter expertise and greater proficiency in English, the medium of instruction. Additionally, they learn to master skills necessary for academic success.” 

D. Raphan & J. Moser: 1994 

B. Theory of Language

There is no theory of language there are assumptions about the nature of language:

B.1. Language is text and discourse based :

Language is seen as a vehicle for learning content. This indicates the centrality of linguistic entities that are longer than single sentences, because the focus of teaching is on how the meaning and information are communicated and constructed through texts and discourse. So the linguistic units are not limited to the sentence level.

B.2. Language use draws on integrated skills:

CBI views language use as involving several skills together, because in real world the four skills are not separate from each other but tey are integrated.

B.3. Language is purposeful:

Language is used for specific purposes. The purpose may be academic, vocational, social or recreational but it gives direction

C. Theory of Learning

Second languages are best  learned when the focus is on mastery of content rather than on mastery of language per se. Also there are additional assumptions about the theory of learning.

These are:

1. People learn a second language most succesfully when the information they are acquiring is perceived as interesting, useful and leading to a desired goal.

2. Some content areas are more usefull as a basis for language learning than others

3. Students learn best when instruction addresses students’ needs.

4. Teaching builds on the previous experience of the learners.

Objectives

In CBI, the objectives of the course are the objectives of the content course.

Types of learning and teaching activities

•Language skills improvement•Vocabulary building•Discourse organization•Communicative interaction•Study skills•Synthesis of content materials and

grammar

Learner Roles

Learners are active. Learning by doing principle is adapted.

The role of teachers

Teachers should be proficient.

The role of materials

Any live materials can be used.

Procedure

There is no specific techniques or activities that are associated with CBI, the activities of the language class are specific to the subject being taught.

D. Advantages

• Language learning becomes more interesting and motivating.

• CBI offer a wide educational knowledge to learners in the form of the different topics instructed.

• It helps students to develop valuable study skills such as note taking, summarizing and extracting key information from texts.

• Developing collaborative skills, especially when using group work, which can have great social value.

E. Disadvantages

• CBI implicit language instrucion can confuse learners and may give them the impression that they are not actually learning language.

• Overuse of native language can be a problem in some parts of the lesson.

• Finding information sources and texts that lower levels can understand can be difficult.

• In a nutshell, although CBI is a challenging approach for both teachers and students, the outcome of its implementation can be rewarding and motivating.

D. How Can We Use “CBI” in “Language Teaching”?

Activities:

For 8th gradersDesigned by BirCan GÜZEL

Understanding&Using Globes

1- Write the names of seven continents

A _ _ _ _ F _ _ _N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ R_ _ _

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Write the names of four oceans

P _ _ _ _ _ _

_ N _ _ _ _

_ T _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ C

What’ a map scale?

It’s used to calculate the distances on the map.It help us calculate the distances on the map.

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