Content-Based Instruction CBI
According to Brown, H., & Bradford, A. (2017) it could be defined as:
“The central focus is on students’ content mastery and no language aims are specified (Unterberger & Wilhelmer, 2011, p. 96)
“focuses on content learning only” (Smit & Dafouz, 2012, p. 4)
“an umbrella term for academic subjects taught through English, one making no direct reference to the aim of improving students’ English” (Dearden & Macaro, 2016, p. 456)
“English-taught degree programs . .. predominately aim at the acquisition of subject knowledge” (Unterberger, 2014, p. 37).
“the use of English to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English” (Dearden, 2015, p. 4)
Approach of language teaching
According to Met, M. (1999)
Basic principles
In accordance with Richards & Rodgers (2001)
People learn a 2nd language when they use it as a means of acquiring information.
CBI reflects learner's needs, they use it as a tool with purpose
As specified by Brinton (2003)
Base instructional decisions on content rather than language criteria
CBI permits the choice of content
Integrate skills
It integrates the use of multiple skills as in the daily life.
Students participate actively
It is learner-centered, not teacher-centered
Content takes importance for its relevance and interest to the students.
The resources are authentic
It promotes the use of real life examples
Models
1st: Theme-based instruction, the them develops a main role in the curriculum.
2nd: Sheltered content instruction
Its main objective is to be understandable for students
3rd: Adjunct language instruction
Students take two courses
Content course
Lingustic course
Drawbacks
Due to its characteristics, it prioritizes the content and part of the grammatical structure is addressed not in a particular way, but in a general way.
The fundamentals of other approaches that would enrich the practice are not taken into account