Content Based Approach

7/27/2019 Content Based Approach

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/content-based-approach 1/19



Content-based Approach There are three more approaches that make

communication central: content-based instruction,task-based instruction, and participatory approach.The difference is a matter of their focus.



CLT lessons centered on giving studentsopportunities to practice using the communicative

function of making predictions. In this chapter,the approaches we examine do not begin withfunctions or any other language items. Instead,they give priority to process over predetermined

linguistic content.



In these approaches rather than ‘learning to useEnglish, ‘students use ‘English to learn it’ (Howatt,1984:279).



Using content from other disciplines in languagecourses is not a new idea. For years, specializedlanguage courses have included content relevant to aparticular profession or academic discipline.



The special contribution of content-based instructionis that it integrates the learning of language with thelearning of some other content, often academic subjectmatter. It has been observed that academic subjectsprovide natural content for language instruction.



Such observations motivated the ‘language acrossthe curriculum’ movement for native English

speakers in England, which was launched in the1970s to integrate the teaching of reading and writing into all other subject areas. Of course, when students study academic subjects in a non-

native language, they will need a great deal



of assistance in understanding subject matter texts.Content-based instruction fits in with the othermethods in this chapter where the selection andsequence of language items arise from communicativeneeds, not predetermined by syllabi.



Principles The subject matter content is used for language

teaching purposes.

Teaching should build on students’ previousexperience.



When learners perceive the relevance of their languageuse, they are motivated to learn. They know that it is ameans to an end, rather than an end in itself.



The teacher ‘scaffolds’ the linguistic content, i.e. helpslearners say what it is they want to say by buildingtogether with the students a complete utterance.



Language is learned most effectively when it is used asa medium to convey informational content of interestto the students.



Vocabulary is easier to acquire when there arecontextual clues to help convey meaning.

When they work with authentic subject matter,students need language support.



Learners work with meaningful, cognitively demanding language and content within the context of authentic material and tasks.



Communicative competence involves more than usinglanguage conversationally. It also includes the ability to read, discuss, and write about content from otherfields.



Another content-based instruction ‘face,’ wherecontent and language instruction have been integrated,is the adjunct model. Students enroll in a regularacademic course. In addition, they take a languagecourse that is linked to the academic course.



In sheltered–language instruction in a secondlanguage environment, both native speakers and

non-native speakers of a particular language followa regular academic curriculum. For classes withnon-native speakers, however, ‘sheltered’instruction is geared to students’ developing

second language proficiency.



Sheltered-language instructors support that theirstudents through the use of particular

instructional techniques and materials. It offersthe significant advantage that second languagestudents do not have to postpone their academicstudy until their language control reaches a high

level.



In sum, what all modes of content-basedinstruction have in common is learning both

specific content and related language skills. Incontent-based language teaching, the claim in asense is that students get “two for one”—bothcontent knowledge and increased language

proficiency’ (Wesche, 1993).

Content Based Approach

Documents

Transcript of Content Based Approach