2.6. Content- Based
Instruction (CBI)
As mentioned earlier, this study also seeks to answer the
first subsidiary research question (see Section 1.3.): what is the current
approach to language teaching at the NUR? In this study, I was not able to
conduct classroom observations to see what the prevailing teaching approach is
but I was able to examine the content of the academic English programmes. In
this regard, principles of a Content-Based Instruction model to language
teaching will be of help. The latter constitutes a starting point for
evaluating the current English programmes at the NUR. In fact, from my
observations the prevailing teaching and learning practices in this institution
reflect a content-oriented language teaching approach. This will be highlighted
further in Chapter 4.
This form of instruction has been at the centre of the debates
among several scholars and some of them are referred to below. For instance,
Davies (2003) in his article provides us with a simple definition of CBI in
line with the EFL context. He states that Content based instruction (CBI) is a
teaching method that emphasises learning about something rather than
learning language (2003:1). Curtin (1995:2), on her part stresses that
Content-based instruction is a method of teaching foreign languages that
integrates language instruction with instruction in the content areas. She
adds that in this approach the foreign language is used as the medium for
teaching subject content, such as mathematics or social studies, from the
regular classroom curriculum. The list of definitions is not exhaustive.
According to Richards & Rodgers (2001:204) Content- based instruction (CBI)
refers to an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is
organised around the content or information that students will acquire, rather
than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus. To be more specific, they
specify that CBI as an approach is grounded on the following two central
principles:
(1) 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 .
(2) Content-based instruction better reflects
learner's needs for learning a second language. (2003:207)
They further emphasise that the second principle reflects the
fact that many content based programmes serve to prepare ESL students for
academic studies or for mainstreaming (2001:207). As a consequence, CBI
proponents argue that a central priority would be to access the content of
academic learning and teaching as quickly as possible, as well as the processes
through which such learning and teaching are realised (2001:207) Within the
approach to CBI, there is a theory of language and a number of assumptions
about the nature of language underlie it. In this respect, Richards &
Rodgers (2001:208) put forward three main points to take into account:
(1) Language is text-and discourse based;
(2) Language draws on integrated skills;
(3) Language is purposeful.
Briefly speaking, the first statement has to do with the fact
that CBI addresses the role of language as a vehicle for learning content. The
second one deals with the fact that CBI views language use as involving several
skills together. The third and last, advocates the use of language for specific
purposes. With regard to the theory of learning underlying CBI, the scholars
make reference to the first core principle as listed earlier on as an
indication (i.e. 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) In other words, acquiring information or the content itself constitutes
the point of departure or organising principle of the course. (Richards and
Rodgers, 2001:209)
Kagwesage (2001:22) states that advocates of the content-based
model believe that language and content development should not be regarded in
isolation from each other. Rather they are related and therefore students can
learn the target language while they are learning other subjects. This is the
case for second year English students at the NUR and more details on this are
provided in Section 4.5.5.
As Crandall (1987:5) says, the focus is not just on learning
the language, but in using it as a medium to learn something else. When using a
language as a medium of learning (which is the case for the English students at
the NUR), as Snow et.al put it, and when the learners' second language is both
the object and medium of instruction, the content of each lesson must be taught
simultaneously with skills necessary for understanding it (1989:202). In the
next section, I briefly discuss the principles of materials design.
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