Content Area Instruction
Content-Based Second Language Instruction:
What is it?
Origins and Definitions
• Although it is most often associated with the genesis of language immersion education in Canada in 1965, content-based instruction is hardly a new phenomenon. We know that "until the rise of nationalism, few languages other than those of the great empires, religions, and civilizations were considered competent or worthy to carry the content of a formal curriculum" (Swain & Johnson, 1997, p. 1).
• CBI is "...the integration of particular content with language teaching aims...the concurrent teaching of academic subject matter and second language skills" (Brinton et al., 1989, p. 2).
• CBI approaches "...view the target language largely as the vehicle through which subject matter content is learned rather than as the immediate object of study" (Brinton et al., 1989, p. 5).
• CBI is aimed at 'the development of use-oriented second and foreign language skills' and is 'distinguished by the concurrent learning of a specific content and related language use skills' (Wesche, 1993).
• CBI is "...an approach to language instruction that integrates the presentation of topics or tasks from subject matter classes (e.g., math, social studies) within the context of teaching a second or foreign language" (Crandall & Tucker, 1990, p. 187).
What qualifies as 'content' in CBI?
• Curtain and Pesola (1994) limit the definition of CBI to those "...curriculum concepts being taught through the foreign language ... appropriate to the grade level of the students..." (p. 35).
• Genesee (1994) suggests that content '...need not be academic; it can include any topic, theme, or non-language issue of interest or importance to the learners' (p. 3).
• Met (1991) proposes that "... 'content' in content-based programs represents material that is cognitively engaging and demanding for the learner, and is material that extends beyond the target language or target culture" (p. 150).
• "...what we teach in
What is it?
Origins and Definitions
• Although it is most often associated with the genesis of language immersion education in Canada in 1965, content-based instruction is hardly a new phenomenon. We know that "until the rise of nationalism, few languages other than those of the great empires, religions, and civilizations were considered competent or worthy to carry the content of a formal curriculum" (Swain & Johnson, 1997, p. 1).
• CBI is "...the integration of particular content with language teaching aims...the concurrent teaching of academic subject matter and second language skills" (Brinton et al., 1989, p. 2).
• CBI approaches "...view the target language largely as the vehicle through which subject matter content is learned rather than as the immediate object of study" (Brinton et al., 1989, p. 5).
• CBI is aimed at 'the development of use-oriented second and foreign language skills' and is 'distinguished by the concurrent learning of a specific content and related language use skills' (Wesche, 1993).
• CBI is "...an approach to language instruction that integrates the presentation of topics or tasks from subject matter classes (e.g., math, social studies) within the context of teaching a second or foreign language" (Crandall & Tucker, 1990, p. 187).
What qualifies as 'content' in CBI?
• Curtain and Pesola (1994) limit the definition of CBI to those "...curriculum concepts being taught through the foreign language ... appropriate to the grade level of the students..." (p. 35).
• Genesee (1994) suggests that content '...need not be academic; it can include any topic, theme, or non-language issue of interest or importance to the learners' (p. 3).
• Met (1991) proposes that "... 'content' in content-based programs represents material that is cognitively engaging and demanding for the learner, and is material that extends beyond the target language or target culture" (p. 150).
• "...what we teach in