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of CBI are shared among its various forms. CBI can vary widely in its implementation; however, it has certain defining characteristics among them.
They are: 1 Learners are exposed to language while learning about other content areas.
2 Content areas are relevant to learners’ academic andor professional needs. 3 Language is contextualized through these relevant content areas, and thus is
also relevant to learner needs. 4 Support is provided for learners’ linguistic development.
5 A focus is placed on developing academic andor professional language proficiency.
6 Authentic materials are used to present content matter. 7 The use of authentic materials lends itself to the integration of skills, to
increased motivation, and to increased cognitive and linguistic complexity.
c. The Advantages of Content-based Instruction
According to Peachey in http:www.teachingenglish.org.ukthink methodologycontent.shtml, there are five advantages of CBI. Those are:
1 CBI can make learning a language more interesting and motivating. Students can use the language to fulfill a real purpose, which can make students both
more independent and confident. 2 Students can also develop a much wider knowledge of the world through CBI,
which can give feedback into improving and supporting their general educational needs.
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3 CBI is very popular among EAP English for Academic Purposes teachers as it helps students to develop valuable study skills such as note taking,
summarizing and extracting key information from texts. 4 Taking information from different sources, re-evaluating and restructuring that
information can help students to develop very valuable thinking skills that can then be transferred to other subjects.
5 The addition of a group work element within the framework given above can also help students to develop their collaborative skills, which can have great
social value.
d. Models of Content-based Instruction
Several different instruments can differentiate models of CBI from each other. Those can be classified depending upon the objectives of the program, its
target on the student’s number, and the demand of the instructional setting. Met as cited in Snow, 2001: 305 stated a way to distinguish Content-based models
from one another by looking at the degree of emphasis on language and content, which underlie a particular program. She visualized a continuum by setting
“content-driven” models at one end and “language-driven” models at the other end.
Figure 2.2 indicates some of the different ways in which language and content are integrated and organized according to the relative weighting of the two
components. To the left, content is dominant and to the right, language is dominant. As discussed by van Lier cited in Jourdenais Shaw, 2005: 4, all
second language courses involve both language and content and there are cases PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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where language and content are in roughly equal weight as in Sheltered and Adjunct models. In other cases, content is the more significant as in total or partial
immersion, whereas Theme-based model is principally based on language and language-related skills.
Theme-based Model
Content-Driven Language-Driven
Total Partial
Sheltered Adjunct Theme-based Language Classes
Immersion Immersion Model Model Model
with Frequent Use of Content for
Language Practice
Figure 2.2 The Content - Language Continuum Snow, 2001: 305
The most common three Content-based models described by Brinton, Snow and Wesche as cited in Brinton in http:www.humnet.ucla.eduflrcontent-
basedgeneral-modelsd-brinton.htm are Theme-based model, Adjunct model, and Sheltered model. Each of the three content-based models shares the same and
different features. For example, content as a point of difference, relation to student interests and needs, authenticity of materials and task, and place of language to L2
learner proficiency levels. Through time, CBI has been developed into five models Snow, 2001: 305-309. Those five Content-based models are discussed as
follows.
1 Immersion Education
Immersion education is where the students receive most of their lesson in their second language. Immersion education is divided into two. They are total
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immersion and partial immersion. In total immersion, the learners receive the majority of their schooling through the medium of their second language Snow,
2001: 305. Whereas in partial immersion, 50 of the study time allocation is for the learners to use their first language and the other 50 is to use the second
language on learning the subject.
2 Content-Enriched Foreign Language in the Elementary School
According to Snow 2001: 306, this model finds points of coincidence with the standard school curriculum which can be paired with the objectives of the
foreign language curriculum. For example, terms and structure for describing plant are linked to a science unit on biology, rather than being presented in
isolation.
3 Theme-based Model
Theme-based model is usually found in EFL contexts. Theme-based model integrates the language skills into the study of themes or topics. Topics in theme-
based model are chosen based on students’ interests and needs. The teacher presents topics of themes as a vehicle for language development. The main goal of
Theme-based model is teaching language rather than teaching the content.
a The Six T’s Approach
Stoller and Grabe as cited in Snow, 2001: 307 offered the Six T’s Approach, the first systematic framework for Theme-based model. The Six T’s
Approach is a basic approach to the arrangement of content resources and the selection of suitable language learning activities. The Six T’s components are
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Themes, Texts, Topics, Threads, Tasks, and Transitions. This approach assumes that the first consideration must be given to an arrangement of students’ needs,
students’ goals, institutional expectations, available resources, teacher’s abilities, and expected final performance outcomes. When these criteria are specified,
informed decisions can be made about those six curricular components.
b The Six T’s Components
Further discussion of each component of the Six-T’s Approach proposed by Stoller and Grabe 1997 is presented as follows.
1 Theme Themes are the main ideas that arrange selected major curricular units for its
appropriateness to the students’ needs and interests, teacher’s abilities and interest, program resources, and institutional expectation. For example, insects
theme might include in elementary school theme, whereas violence might be chosen for advanced students.
2 Topic Topics are the sub-units of content which explore more detailed part of the
theme. For example, a theme unit of violence might include topics around violence in family, violence at work and more.
3 Texts Texts are defined as content resources which guide the basis planning of
theme units. Text selection will depend on a number of criteria: students’ interest, relevance, and instructional appropriateness provide a first set of
guidelines for determining text selection; format appeal, length, coherence, connection to other materials, accessibility, availability, and cost represent
secondary criteria. There are four types of texts as follows. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Instructor-compiled content resources readings of various genres, videos, audiotapes, maps, tables, graphs, software
Instructor-generated content resources lectures, worksheet, graphic representations, bulletin board displays
Task-generated content resources student’s free writing, discussions, problem-solving activities, graphic representations, library searches,
debates, surveysquestionnaires External content resources guest speakers, field trips
4 Threads Threads are the linkage among units that create greater curricular coherence.
Threads are relatively abstract concepts that provide a means of linking themes. For example, the thread responsibility might be used to link the unit
developed around the themes of civil right and Native Americans. 5 Tasks
Tasks are daily instructional activities used to teach content, language, and strategy instruction. In this approach, tasks are planned based on the texts
being used. 6 Transitions
Transitions are explicitly planned actions which provide coherence among the topics in a thematic unit and among tasks within topics.
4 Sheltered Model
Sheltered and Adjunct CBI models usually occur at universities in English L1 contexts. The main focus of sheltered model is on the content rather than on
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the language. Students study the content through a second language with the assistance of the content instructor. The content instructor is sensitized to the
language acquisition process and to students language needs and abilities.
5 Adjunct Model
In Adjunct model, students are at the same time joined in a language class and a content class. The linked classes are taught by content and language
teachers respectively. The purpose of the content class is content mastery; in the language class, the purpose is for students to master elements of the second
language which are necessary for success in the content area. Coordination between content and language teachers is essential. Language teacher needs to be
familiar with the content material, i.e., read the content textbook and attend content lectures whenever possible. Snow 2001: 307 stated that a key feature of
the Adjunct model is the coordination of objectives and assignments between language and content teachers. The language class becomes content based
meaning that the students’ needs in the content class influence the activities of language class.
3. Listening
