Content-Based and Immersion

Models
For Second and Foreign Language teaching

Angel R. Negrido MAED

English
What is content?
Historically...
 Grammar translation Content is defined as....
- the grammatical structures of the target language
 Audiolingual method Content consists...
-grammatical structures, vocabulary, or sound patterns presented
in dialogue form
 Communicative approach Content is generally defined as....
-the communicative purposes for which speakers use the
second/foreign language
 Natural approach
- a game
 Content-Based Instruction
 Content - is the use of subject matter for second/foreign language teaching
purposes (ESP)

 This is to prepare second language students for types of academic tasks they
will encounter in school, college or university. (EAP)

 To teach foreign languages to English-speaking children at the elementary

school level in immersion programs or applied to secondary and post
secondary settings
 Models of content-based instructions differ in
implementation due to such factors as
educational setting, program objectives, and
target population.

All share a common point:

the integration of language teaching aims with subject matter
 CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION:
A RATIONALE

Krashen (1984)- second language acquisition occurs when the learner

receives comprehensible input , not when the learners is memorizing
vocabulary or completing grammar exercises.
-comprehensible subject-matter teaching is language teaching, since
learners acquire language when they understand messages in that
language.
“Comprehensible subject teaching is language teaching”
Swain (1985,1993)- suggest that in order to develop a communicative
competence, learners must have extended opportunities to use the
second/foreign language productively.
Thus in addition, to receiving comprehensible input, they must
produce comprehensible output

-Learners need to be “pushed toward the delivery of message that is

conveyed precisely, coherently and appropriately.”
Vygotsky - notions of zone of proximal development in which the
learners are assisted by the teachers or “more capable peers” in
their development and inner speech internally directed speech as
strategies for problem solving and rehearsing can be effectively
realized in content-based settings where students have opportunities
to negotiate not just the language, but content as well, in
increasingly complex ways.
Anderson’s theory - This theory reinforces teaching
approaches which combine the development of language and
content knowledge, practice in using this knowledge, and
strategy training to promote independent learning.
Bereiter and Scardamalia - argue the expertise is a process in which
learners reinvest their knowledge in a sequence of progressively
more complex problem-solving tasks.(constructivism)
-as learner are exposed to increasing coplexity in learning activities
that improves and they develop intrinsic motivation
Grabe and Stoller - note that the effective content-based instructional
approaches “combine coherent and interesting informational
resources to create increasing , but manageable task complexity”
 MODELS OF CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION
Models of content-based instruction can be distinguised from each other by several defferent means:

1. Setting - some models are typically implemented in the foreign language

setting while other are more common in the second language
2. Instructional Level - there are many well developed examples reported in the
literature of integrated language and content teaching at the elementary school
level; other methods have typically implemented successfuly at the secondary or
postsecondary levels with adolescents or adults.
3. Degree of Emphasis - looking at the degree of emphasis on language and
content which underlies a particular program
Continuum of a Content and Language Integration
 IMMERSION EDUCATION
 The prototypical content-based approach is the immersion model of foreign
language education
 In the total immersion model, English-speaking elementary school students
receive the majority of their schooling through the medium of their second
language.
 Immersion children consistently perform at or above grade level scholastically
are on par with their monolingual peers in English language development, and
by the end of the elementary school, become functional bilinguals
 EARLY TOTAL IMMERSION
The foreign language is generally used for most or all academic instruction
beginning in kindergarten to grade 1
 MIDDLE OR DELAYED IMMERSION
onset on instruction in the foreign language begins in the middle elementary
grades, usually in fourth grade.
 LATE IMMERSION
do not typically begin until the end of elementary school or beginning of
secondary school
 EARLY PARTIAL IMMERSION
There is usually a 50/50 time allocation of English and the foreign language to
teach academic content.
 Objectives of Immersion Programs
 grade-appropriate levels of primary language (L1)
development,
 grade-appropriate levels of academic achievement,
 Functional proficiency in the second/foreign language,
 An understanding of and appreciation for the culture of the
target language group.
 Content-Enriched Foreign Language in
the Elementary School
 Programs for Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES), were widespread across the
US. 1950s-1960s
 “Traveling” language teachers met with the students for 20-30minutes,per week for foreign
language instruction.
Focuses on formal study of the foreign language.
 Programs were criticize for their failure in producing functional users of the foreign
language.
 “Content-enriched”FLES offers and updated approach to traditional FLES, in which subjects
from the standard school curriculum are selected for introduction or reinforcement in the
FLES class.
 Theme-based Model
 The theme-based model is a type of content-based instruction in which selected
topics or themes provide the content from which teachers extract language
learning activities
 This model is widely implemented in language institutions at the college or
university level
 classes are often composed of students of diverse language backgrounds whose
common goal is to attend to schools in an English-speaking country
 The first systematic framework for theme-based instruction was offered. It was
called 6T’s Approach
 (6T’s) Theme-based Model
 Theme
-are central idea that organize major curricular units selected for their
appropriateness to students needs and interests, institutional
expectations, program resources, and teacher abilities and interests
language learning activities.
 Topic
- subunits of content which explores more specific aspects of the
theme
 Text
- Drive the basic planning of theme units
- Include readings from various genres, videos, audiotapes, maps,
softspeakers, or field trips.
 Threads
- Linkages across the units that create greater curricular coherence
 Tasks
- day-to-day instructional activities utilized to teach content,
language, and strategy instruction.
 Transitions
- explicitly planned actions which provide coherence across the
topics in a thematic unit and across tasks within topics.
 Sheltered Model
 Sheltered courses currently exist in a variety of secondary
and postsecondary settings.
 Sheltered models mean the separation of second/foreign
language students from native speakers of the target
language for the purpose of content instruction.
 Immersion Model
 Established in Canada
 Students receive the majority of their schooling through the
Second/Foreign language
 The students become functional bilingual at the end of elementary
school.
 Second/Foreign language is generally used for most of the academic
instruction beginning in kindergarten or grade 1.
 Adjunct Model
 A content-based approach in which students are concurrently
enrolled in a language class and a content course.
 A key feature of the adjunct models the coordination of objectives
and assignments between language and content instructors.
 The language class becomes content based in the sense that the
students’ needs in the content class dictate the activities of the
language class.
1. The theme-based model is a type of content-based instruction in which
selected topics or themes provide the content from which teachers extract
language learning activities
2. Sheltered models mean the separation of second/foreign language students
from native speakers of the target language for the purpose of content
instruction.
3. Adjunct model is a content-based approach in which students are
concurrently enrolled in a language class and a content course.
4. In an Immersion Model, Students receive the majority of their schooling
through the Second/Foreign language
5-10 What are the 6 T’s Approach in a Theme-Based Model?