5. The Framework for Implementing Content-Based Instruction
According to Stoller and Grabe 1997, the framework for developing the course that utilizes CBI is grounded on the Six-T’s Approach. In the Six-T’s
Approach, it is assumed that first consideration must be given to an array of student needs, student goals, institutional expectations, available resources, teacher abilities,
and expected final performance outcomes. In other words, the implementation of the Six-T’s Approach includes collecting the data of the students, formulating the
learning goals, considering the resources and teacher abilities, and finally designing the teaching learning activities as the final performance outcomes. Therefore, it can
be concluded that the Six-T’s Approach is a systematic planning of instruction for any instructional settings that endorse CBI. Furthermore, the approach has three basic
goals, namely the specification of theme-based instruction as central to all CBI, the extension of CBI to support any language-learning context, and the organization of
coherent content resources for instruction and the selection of appropriate language learning activities Stoller and Grabe, 1997: 4. The explanation of the components of
the Six T’s Approach and the steps for implementing the Six-T’s Approach is discussed below.
a. The Components of the Six-T’s Approach
As well as its name, the Six-T’s Approach has six components. They are:
1 Themes.
Themes are the central ideas that organize major curricular units. 2
Texts. Texts are content resources written and aural which drive the basic
planning of theme units. The types of the texts in the Six-T’s Approach are:
• Instructor-compiled content resources: Readings of various genres, videos,
audiotapes, maps, tables, graphs, and software. •
Instructor-generated content resources: Lectures, worksheets, graphic representations, and bulletin board displays.
• Task-generated content resources: Student freewrites, discussions, problem-
solving activities, graphic representations, library searches, debates, and surveysquestionnaires.
• External content resources: Guest speakers and field trips.
3 Topics.
Topics are the subunits of content which explore more specific aspects of the theme. The topics should be organized to generate maximum coherence for
the theme unit and to provide opportunities to explore both content and language. 4
Threads. Threads are linkages across themes which create greater curricular
coherence. They are relatively abstract concepts e.g., responsibility; ethics, contrasts, power. Threads can bridge themes that appear quite disparate on the
surface. 5
Tasks. Tasks, the basic units of instruction through which the Six-Ts Approach
is realized day-to-day, are the instructional activities and techniques utilized for content, language, and strategy instruction in language classrooms e.g., activities
for teaching vocabulary, language structure, discourse organization, communicative interaction, study skills, academic language skills. In the Six-Ts
Approach, tasks are planned in response to the texts being used.
6 Transitions.
Transitions are explicitly planned actions which provide coherence across topics in a theme unit and across tasks within topics. Transitions create
links across topics and provide constructive entrees for new tasks and topics within a theme unit. The transition occurs when the students are asked to predict
new topics, discuss the importance of prior task, consider issue that prior task does not address, brainstorm additional concepts and associations, engage in
guided speed writing, discuss the relationship between the latest reading and a
prior reading, and relate personal experiences to past and upcoming tasks.
b. The Steps for Implementing the Six-T’s Approach
Kategori