Content-based instruction | TeachingEnglish | British Council

What is content-based instruction? The focus of a CBI lesson is on the topic or subject matter. During the lesson students are focused on learning about ... Skiptomaincontent Home Understandingeducationalpoliciesandpractices Articles Content-basedinstruction Inrecentyearscontent-basedinstructionhasbecomeincreasinglypopularasameansofdevelopinglinguisticability.  Ithasstrongconnectionstoprojectwork,task-basedlearningandaholisticapproachtolanguageinstruction andhasbecomeparticularlypopularwithinthestateschoolsecondary(11-16yearsold)educationsector.Whatiscontent-basedinstruction?Whatdoesacontent-basedinstructionlessonlooklike?Whataretheadvantagesofcontent-basedinstruction?Whatarethepotentialproblems?Conclusions Whatiscontent-basedinstruction?ThefocusofaCBIlessonisonthetopicorsubjectmatter.Duringthelessonstudentsarefocusedonlearningaboutsomething.Thiscouldbeanythingthatintereststhemfromaserioussciencesubjecttotheirfavouritepopstarorevenatopicalnewsstoryorfilm.Theylearnaboutthissubjectusingthelanguagetheyaretryingtolearn,ratherthantheirnativelanguage,asatoolfordevelopingknowledgeandsotheydeveloptheirlinguisticabilityinthetargetlanguage.Thisisthoughttobeamorenaturalwayofdevelopinglanguageabilityandonethatcorrespondsmoretothewayweoriginallylearnourfirstlanguage.Whatdoesacontent-basedinstructionlessonlooklike?TherearemanywaystoapproachcreatingaCBIlesson.Thisisonepossibleway.PreparationChooseasubjectofinteresttostudents.Findthreeorfoursuitablesourcesthatdealwithdifferentaspectsofthesubject.Thesecouldbewebsites,referencebooks,audioorvideooflecturesorevenrealpeople.DuringthelessonDividetheclassintosmallgroupsandassigneachgroupasmallresearchtaskandasourceofinformationtousetohelpthemfulfilthetask.Thenoncetheyhavedonetheirresearchtheyformnewgroupswithstudentsthatusedotherinformationsourcesandshareandcomparetheirinformation.Thereshouldthenbesomeproductastheendresultofthissharingofinformationwhichcouldtaketheformofagroupreportorpresentationofsomekind. Whataretheadvantagesofcontent-basedinstruction?Itcanmakelearningalanguagemoreinterestingandmotivating.Studentscanusethelanguagetofulfilarealpurpose,whichcanmakestudentsbothmoreindependentandconfident.StudentscanalsodevelopamuchwiderknowledgeoftheworldthroughCBIwhichcanfeedbackintoimprovingandsupportingtheirgeneraleducationalneeds.CBIisverypopularamongEAP(EnglishforAcademicPurposes)teachersasithelpsstudentstodevelopvaluablestudyskillssuchasnotetaking,summarisingandextractingkeyinformationfromtexts.Takinginformationfromdifferentsources,re-evaluatingandrestructuringthatinformationcanhelpstudentstodevelopveryvaluablethinkingskillsthatcanthenbetransferredtoothersubjects.Theinclusionofagroupworkelementwithintheframeworkgivenabovecanalsohelpstudentstodeveloptheircollaborativeskills,whichcanhavegreatsocialvalue.Whatarethepotentialproblems?BecauseCBIisn'texplicitlyfocusedonlanguagelearning,somestudentsmayfeelconfusedormayevenfeelthattheyaren'timprovingtheirlanguageskills.Dealwiththisbyincludingsomeformoflanguagefocusedfollow-upexercisestohelpdrawattentiontolinguisticfeatureswithinthematerialsandconsolidateanydifficultvocabularyorgrammarpoints.Particularlyinmonolingualclasses,theoveruseofthestudents'nativelanguageduringpartsofthelessoncanbeaproblem.Becausethelessonisn'texplicitlyfocusedonlanguagepracticestudentsfinditmucheasierandquickertousetheirmothertongue.Trysharingyourrationalewithstudentsandexplainthebenefitsofusingthetargetlanguageratherthantheirmothertongue.Itcanbehardtofindinformationsourcesandtextsthatlowerlevelscanunderstand.Alsothesharingofinformationinthetargetlanguagemaycausegreatdifficulties.Apossiblewayaroundthisatlowerlevelsiseithertousetextsinthestudents'nativelanguageandthengetthemtousethetargetlanguageforthesharingofinformationandendproduct,ortohavetextsinthetargetlanguage,butallowthestudentstopresenttheendproductintheirnativelanguage.Theseoptionsshouldreducethelevelofchallenge.Somestudentsmaycopydirectlyfromthesourcetextstheyusetogettheirinformation.Avoidthisbydesigningtasksthatdemandstudentsevaluatetheinformationinsomeway,todrawconclusionsoractuallytoputittosomepracticaluse.Havinginformationsourcesthathaveconflictinginformationcanalsobehelpfulasstudentshavetodecidewhichinformationtheyagreewithormostbelieve.ConclusionsWhileCBIcanbebothchallenginganddemandingfortheteacherandthestudents,itcanalsobeverystimulatingandrewarding.Thedegreetowhichyouadoptthisapproachmaywelldependonthewillingnessofyourstudents,theinstitutioninwhichyouworkandtheavailabilityofresourceswithinyourenvironment.Itcouldbesomethingthatyourschoolwantstoconsiderintroducingacrossthecurriculumorsomethingthatyouexperimentwithjustforoneortwolessons.WhicheveryouchoosetodoIwouldadvisethatyoutrytoinvolveotherteacherswithinyourschool,particularlyteachersfromothersubjects.Thiscouldhelpyoubothintermsoffindingsourcesofinformationandinhavingthesupportofothersinhelpingyoutoevaluateyourwork.Lastly,trytoinvolveyourstudents.Getthemtohelpyoudecidewhattopicsandsubjectsthelessonsarebasedaroundandfindouthowtheyfeelthiskindoflessonscomparestoyourusuallessons.Intheendtheywillbethemeasureofyoursuccess.NikPeachey,teacher,trainerandmaterialswriter,TheBritishCouncil Comments ContentBasedInstructionforESL ContentBasedInformation(CBI)isapowerfulinnovationinacquiring&enhancingalanguage.Initsbestform,languagelessonsareblendedwithstimulatingcontent.Thestudentsfocusonthesubjectmatterthanthelanguagelearningprocess.Supportingstudents'successbyengagingtheminchallenging&informativeactivityhelpsthemlearncomplexskills.Thestudentslearnlanguageautomatically.Keepingthestudentsmotivated&interestedinthelanguagetrainingistheprofoundadvantageofCBI.Whenstudentsareinterested&motivatedinthematerialtheyarelearning,theymakergreaterconnectionstolifesituations,learninglanguagebecomesafun&easyactivity,informationisretainedforlongtime.Accordingtoeducationalpsychologiststheonlywaytolearnalanguageisthroughasubjectwearepassionateabout.AndthisisespeciallytrueforadultEnglishlearners. Hence,learningalanguageincontemporaryclassroomsisnoteffective. Classroom'spatternofteachingislimitedtogrammar,reading&comprehension.Thestudentsarenotparticularlyinterestedinthesubjectcontent&havefewpracticalapplications.BenefitsofCBI:1.Learnersareexposedtoaconsiderableamountoflanguagethroughstimulatingcontent.Learnersexploreinterestingcontent&areengagedinappropriatelanguage-dependantactivities.Learninglanguagebecomesautomatic.2.CBIsupportscontextualizedlearning;learnersaretaughtusefullanguagethatisembeddedwithinrelevantdiscoursecontextsratherthanasisolatedlanguagefragments.Hencestudentsmakegreaterconnectionswiththelanguage&whattheyalreadyknow.Thisenhancesthepracticalusabilityforthelearners.3.Complexinformationisdeliveredthroughreallifecontextforthestudentstograspwell&leadstointrinsicmotivation.4.InCBIinformationisreiteratedbystrategicallydeliveringinformationatrighttime&situationcompellingthestudentstolearnoutofpassion.5.Greaterflexibility&adaptabilityinthecurriculumcanbedeployedtosuitstudentsinterest.Out-of-ClassroomContentBasedInstructionforEnglishasSecondLanguage(ESL)Learners:"Moreofthelearningofalanguageissimplybytheexposureofliving.Muchthatpassesforeducationisnoteducationatallbutaritual.Thefactisthatwearebeingeducatedwhenweknowitleast".-DavidP.Gardner'EspoirSmartEnglish'istheonlysoftwareforESLlearnersusingCBI.LearnerslearnEnglishthroughManagementIdeas,Cricket,Movies,Love&Romance,Technology&Science,SuccessSecrets,Wit-n-Wisom,etc.Studentspayattentiontothecontentastheseareofspecializedinterest&canlearnformorethan700hrs.ThisprogramisspeciallydesignedfortheadultmindtolearnEnglishfortheirsuccessincareer,social,love&personallives.ItisacombinationofContentBasedInstruction&ThemeBasedLearningtohelpESLstudents.Conclusion:Theintegrationoflanguage&contentteachingisperceivedbytheEuropeanCommissionas"anexcellentwayofmakingprogressinaforeignlanguage".CBIeffectivelyincreaseslearners'Englishlanguageproficiency&teachesthemtheskillsnecessaryforthesuccessinvariousprofessions.WithCBI,learnersgraduallyacquiregreatercontroloftheEnglishlanguage,enablingthemtoparticipatemorefullyinanincreasinglycomplexacademic&socialenvironment. Loginorregistertopostcomments toimproveenglish Thearticlewasverygoodanditssointerestingbutifyouwanttoincreasethevocabularysectionthenyoushouldvisitwww.mnemonicdictionary.com.Thissitehascoolmemorytrickswhichwillhelpyouguystorememberthemeasily.Iamsureyouwilllikethissitebecauseitssointeresting. Loginorregistertopostcomments ThanksforthatlinkAnkur- ThanksforthatlinkAnkur-I'msurelotsoflearnerswillfindthatwayofrememberingvocabularyhelpful! Loginorregistertopostcomments What'sthedifferencebetweenCBLandTaskBased? Hithere, Thanksforthearticle,butI'minterestedinseeingthedifferencebetweenbothmethodsandhowtoteachbycompetenciesastheCFRstates. Thanks! 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