3. Content-Based Instruction for Vocational High School a. Definition and Principles
Other principles in developing the learning materials are taken from the principles of CBI. Generally, CBI focuses more on the content of the text rather
than the grammatical structures. For vocational high school students, the knowledge to use and understand the language is far more important than the
knowledge about the structures of the text. Also, most principles in CBI approach do not disturb the instructional principles stated in any curriculum that
is set by the government. Therefore, in developing the learning materials which are based on Curriculum 2013 intended for vocational school students, CBI or
Content-Based Instruction is an approach which is fit to be used. Krahnke in Richards 2006: 27 defines CBI as the teaching of content
or information in the language with little or no direct effort to teaching the language itself separately from the content being taught. Richards and Rodgers
2001:204 add that CBI prefers teaching around content rather than teaching around linguistic or syllabus. Content is defined as the information or subject
matter that is learnt through language Richards, 2006:28. In CBI or Content Based Instruction, students will focus more on content rather than the language.
Language is a means to convey the content. The developed English learning materials intended for students of
Welding Engineering Department will be developed by putting more emphasize on content first before deciding the language skills. In other words, the
developed materials will use CBI as one of the basses. There are five principles
of CBI proposed by Brinton in Nunan 2004:132 that will be applied in developing the materials. The first principle is basing the instructional decisions
on content rather than language criteria. It means the content for the learning materials is determined first, as it is used as consideration in selecting the
language items, and then the language items come next. The content of the developed learning materials is decided to be relevant with welding and
students’ needs. The second principle is integrating skills. The four skills of language are
integrated together in developing the learning materials while, at the same time, grammar and vocabulary are included as parts of the skills. Here, grammar,
vocabulary, and language skills are not taught separately. All are integrated into one as part of the content in the learning material. The four skills are important
for students of Welding Engineering department to achieve their goal for their future when many job opportunities and scholarship require English as one of
the requirements. Because the target user of the developed learning materials are students of Welding Engineering department, the vocabulary will all be
related with welding. The third principle is involving students actively in all phases of the
learning process. Therefore, most of the learning activities developed in the learning materials will require students to be actively participated in finishing
the tasks together with their friends. By becoming independent, students can absorb more information and gain better understanding in learning the language
because they will be able to construct their own understanding about the
knowledge in the learning materials. Teachers only act as supplement whose role is to provide students with supplementary information and to help students
when they have problems when learning. The fourth principle is choosing content for its relevance to students’
lives, interests andor academic goals. CBI believes that the choice of the content of learning is dependent solely on the students. When the content of the
material is fit with that the students need, then the instructional process can be effectively conducted. This principle is coexist efficiently with the theories of
ESP which required all the learning materials to be relevant wit h students’
needs. The last principle is selecting authentic texts and tasks. The developed
learning materials will use authentic materials for the texts example. For students of Welding Engineering development, the authentic materials mean
that the texts used will be rotated around welding world, such as, the definition of metals, the instructions on how to use a specific welding tool, or
conversations related about a problem faced by a welder when he tried to weld a particular metal and so on. Texts and tasks which are not specially designed
for similar with real life content will make students able to learn better because they indirectly using the language that they learn in a real life situation.
b. Theories of Language and Language Learning in CBI
Kategori