Diane Larsen-Freeman

140 Content-based. Task -based, and Participatory Af}proaches Content-based, Task-based, and Participatory Approaches 14 t
correct answer: Bogord. Croup 4 then give the others new co-ordinates:
'This city is located a t 34 0 so uth latitude and 1.)1 0 cas t longi tude.' T he
a nswer: Sydney!
For homework, the st ude nts a re given a ma p a nd a descripnon of Australia.
They have to read the description an d la bel the major cities and
points of interest on the map.
Thinking about the experience
Let us follow our cus toma ry procedure by listing our observat ions an d
the principles that underlie them.
Observations
T he class is studying geography.
Principles
The sub ject ma tte r content is used
for language teaching purposes.
Observations
7 The teacher provides a number
of exa mples using the prese nt
passive wit h larirude and
longit ude co- ordin ates.
8 T he students are given the
latitu de and longitude coordinates,
and th ey have to
co me to the from of the
classroom to find the city on the
globe.
Principles
When they work wit h a uthentic
subject matter, st ude nts need
la nguage sup po rt. For instance,
the teacher ma y provide a number
of exa mples, build in so me
redu ndan cy, use comprehension
checks, etc.
Learners work with meaningful,
cogninvcly dema nding language
an d content within the context of
authent ic material and tasks.
2 Th e teacher asks the students
wh at they know about a glo be.
3 The stude nts callout their
a nswers enthus iastically as the
reacher writes them on the
blackboa rd.
4 The teac her supplies the missing
langua ge when the student s
have trouble in explaining a
concept in the target language.
5 T he teac her reads the new
vocabula ry a nd then the
students wa tch a video entitled
' Understanding Globes.'
6 Th e students fi ll in the
vocabulary words in the blanks
in the modified d oze passage as
they watch the video.
Teach ing sho uld build on students'
pre vious experience.
When learners perceive the
releva nce of their language use,
they a re motivated to lea rn. T hey
know tha t it is a means to a n end,
rather th an an end in itself.
The teacher 'sca ffolds' the
linguistic content, i.e. helps
learners say what it is they ' ....ant
to say by building tog et her with
the stu dents a complete
ut terance.
Langu age is learned most
effectively when it is used as a
medium to convey informationa l
con tent of interest to the students.
Vocabular y is easier to acq uire
wh en there a rc contextual d ues ro
help convey mea ning.
9 For homework, the students are
given a map, which the)' are to
la bel based on a desc riptive
reading they have been given.
Communica tive competence
involves more than using language
conversationallyIt also includes
the a bility to read, discuss, and
write about content fro m other
fields.
Th e lesson we ha ve just observed migh t be co nsidered a for m of language
immersion, wh ere acad em icsubjects arc learne d through the mediu m of a
foreign language. In Canada, successfu l second la nguage immersion programs,
in which Anglophone children learn their aca demic subj ects in
French, have existed for many years. Snow has refer red to content-based
instruction as a method with many b ees. Another content-based instruction
'face, ' where content and language instruction have been integrated,
is the adjunct model. In the adj unct model, stude nts enro ll in a regular
academic cou rse. In ad dition, they take a language course that is linked to
the academic co urse. Th en , du ring the laugunge class, the lang uage
reacher's focus is on helpin g students process the language in o rde r to
und erstand the academic conte nt prese nted by the sub ject teac he r. The
lan guage teacher also helps studen ts ro complete aca demic tas ks such as
wri ting term pap ers, improving their note-taking abilities. an d read ing
academic textbooks assigned by the conte nt teach er.
In sheltered-la nguage instruction in a second langua ge environment, a
third model of content- based instruction has been used. Horh nat ive