CBI also believes that students learn best when instruction addresses students’ needs. This way, students have clear pictures about why they attend
the class and what they will do in order to achieve the learning goals. The last theory states that teaching builds on the previous experience of the students.
This theory proposed in CBI support the notion that learning processes must be continuum. What the students learn today must be useful if they want to
effectively learn in the next meeting. This way, the students will not easily forget the previous topic as they enter the new topic in the learning process.
3. Learner Roles
CɒI has its own view about the learner’s role. In CBI, students are the active interpreters of input. One of the goals of CBI is for learners to become
autonomous so that they come to understand their own learning process and take charge of their own learning from the very start Stryker and Leaver
1993:286. Students in CBI are the ones who actively decide how the course will be going. They need to willingly explore alternative learning strategies,
make multiple interpretations about the input, and even take active in choosing the topic and the activity in the class.
4. The Role of Teachers
In CBI, the main role of the teachers is to become the student ’s needs
analysts and create the learner-centered classroom Brinton 1989 in Richards and Rodgers 2004:214. Also, teachers need to have good knowledge about
the subject matter and have the ability to elicit that knowledge from their students Stryker and Leaver 1993:286. As CBI prefers learner-centered
learning, teachers should not be too involved in the teaching and learning process. It is enough for the teachers just to make the situation where students
are learning independently and maintain that situation.
5. The Role of Materials
The materials used in CBI are authentic materials. The authenticity of the materials implies that the materials are similar with materials used in native
language instruction, such as reports or article in a newspaper, magazine, and any other media materials that were not originally produced for language
teaching purpose Brinton 1989:17. The authentic materials give students a relation between classroom and the real world. As language is supposedly used
in real world, getting the materials as closely resemble as the real world proved to provide good simulation for students to practice how to use the language.
For vocational school students, the authentic materials which they need may be limited to those which are related to their field of study. This way, the
teaching and learning process become more effective. In can be concluded from all the statements regarding CBI that in a class
where all the students have specific goals or specific needs, CBI will serve as a great helping hand in supporting the students. Fortunately, the learning steps
stated in Curriculum 2013 can be integrated with the principles of CBI approach. Therefore, the use of Content-based learning in the learning
materials can be realized.
4. Materials Development for Vocational High School a. Definition of Materials
