Article #2 Summary

        Article #2, The Whats, Whys, Hows and Whos of Content-Based Instruction in Second/Foreign Language Education by María Dueñas has to do with Content Based Instruction in second language teaching. It is interesting to me that this based instruction is derived from Communicative Language Teaching.  According to María Dueñas using the language to communicate was seen as the best way to learn it. When both the target language and some meaningful content are integrated in the classroom is when learning a second language becomes easier and affective. In this summary I will briefly overview the questions about what, why, how and who are important to Content Based Instruction.

      The “what’s” important in Content Based Instruction or CBI is that there are four characteristics specified to this instruction. The four characteristic are: subject matter, use of authentic texts, learning of new information and the appropriateness to the specific needs of students.

       The” why” of CBI is that learners receive comprehensible input. By comprehensible input the author means that the student will not be forced to memorize vocabulary or manipulate language by means of grammar exercises. Also it means that the students have the opportunity of using the new language productively, both orally and in writing. An important instruction to the why of CBI is Cooperative Learning. Cooperative learning requires that small groups of students work together to learn information and perform different tasks, as a result promoting peer group support and peer instruction, which I think is very important considering that cooperative learning is one of the three mayor problems in the Department of Education today.

      The “how” we would go about CBI would be first of all by using immersion education, which is to emerge all subjects in the use of the second language. Second of all by using sheltered courses this means taking out native speakers and allowing the second language to be primary. Third of all, is to have adjunct classes, which are not implemented on their own but aim at assisting an existing regular subject-matter class. Last but not least, theme-based models being the most popular are focused on the central idea that organizes major curricular units selected for their appropriateness to student needs and interests, institutional expectations, program resources, and teachers’ abilities and interests (Dueñas 2004).

      To conclude, Content-Based language learning has many benefits because it allows the teacher to manipulate her classroom in the best interest of her second language learner. By allowing this the student will need to use the language at all times to be able to proceed in other subject areas within the language.