The purpose of the course work: Content-Theme-Based instruction to increase the quality of efl class study
Task of the course work: : Content-Theme-Based instruction to increase the quality of efl class learning and applying to life.
1. Study, analysis and generalization of scientific on the topic;
2. Theoretical study of methods of formation of speech and communication skills in preparatory groups.
3. Development of recommendations within coursework materials;
1. Content-theme-based instruction
Theme-based CBI is effective in EFL class context as the other two models, sheltered and adjunct models, require a partnership of the language teacher with a specialist of the content-area. Further, the primary aim of the two models is to teach a specific subject and specific target vocabulary in some institutional setting. The objective of theme-based CBI model is to advance students‟ language skills regardless of the institutional settings and language proficiency level of the students. Content-theme-based instruction can be taught by an EFL teacher, a content specialist is not arequirement. Classes are planned to teach about a topic in foreign language. Thesyllabus is structured around themes or topics, with the linguistic items in thesyllabus. “In a theme-based course, the content is exploited and its use is maximizedfor the teaching of skill areas.” This model also provides coherence and continuity across the skill areas andthe curriculum. Further,this model is flexible in terms ofinstitutional setting and student proficiency level. The courses are structured around themes or topics, with the language elements in the syllabi. “In a theme-based course, the content is exploited and its use is maximized for the teaching of skill areas” (Wesche 1989). To design a content-theme-based lesson, teachers should consider the students‟ linguistic, strategic, and cultural objectives. Through the class, students are supposed to improve their English skills, to learn strategies to be applied in all subject areas, and to understand the culture of English-speaking people. Moreover, according to Crandall (1999), language instructional models should be consideredwith several features. Thus, the teachers is suggested toconsider the following six issues while using Content-theme-based instruction to improve the subject content and communicative capabilities of his/her students.
1. learning a language by studying of academic text,
2. focusing student attention on underlying knowledge and discourse structures of academic text, 3. developing students‟ learning strategies,
4. focusing on holistic language development through integrated thematic units,
5. developing academic language, skills, and discourse through the use of texts, tasks, and themes drawn from other content areas,
6. focusing on the development of tasks, themes, and topics. Thus, in content-theme-based language instruction, teachers should account for academic concepts and language skills at the same time. Stoller and Grabe suggested Six T-s approach to build coherence in Content-based instruction. These can be successfully adopted in theme based model. Themes: The major ideas around which the units are organized are themes determined by taking
students‟ interests, needs and likes, relevance and institutional appropriateness into account. Topics: Subunits of themes are topics. A theme may subsume several topics organized / building
one topic on the other arranged in a synchronized manner. Texts: language in classroom is presented in meaningful texts. Stoller and Grabe (1997) claim that
students‟ interest, relevance, and instructional appropriateness, length, coherence, connection to other materials, accessibility, availability, and cost are important. Tasks: Students can develop valuable study skills, such as note-taking, summarizing, and extracting key information from texts through tasks. They may also develop skills in synthesizing, problem solving, and critical thinking. Transitions: Curricular coherence is provided by transitions. Topics and tasks are linked smoothly by transitions. Threads: Another curricular coherence is provided by threads. They are defined by natural linkages across themes. They help students to recycle content, use learning strategies, and to synthesize Content-theme-based language class focuses on the exposure to the synchronized teacher‟s input and peer input and interactions. In such classrooms, students learn through doing and are actively engaged in the learning process. They do not depend on the teacher to direct all learning or to be the source of all information. Accordingly, students assume active, social roles in the classroom that involve interactive learning, negotiation, information gathering and the co-construction of meaning.Thus, it is important for teachers to give students voice, especially in the current educational climate, which is dominated by standardization and testing. I n foreign language situations, it can be challenging to find reallife communicative contexts in which to use the target language. When teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at any level, the classroom has to be a place in which language is not only taught but also used meaningfully. If language is being used “meaningfully” in the classroom, it is not taught only in isolated chunks or by breaking the language into its grammatical or semantic components. Instead, language is being used within a context that either mirrors real world discourse or possibly uses subject matter content, such as science, math, business, law, etc., depending on age of the learners and their purpose for studying English. Using theme-based language instruction, which is one type of content-based instruction, can be helpful for various age groups and proficiency levels. Brinton (2003) supports the use of this approach when the purpose for EFL students is language acquisition. According to Brinton (2003, 203): “The thematic content stretches over several weeks of instruction, providing rich input for lessons that are either language-based (i.e., with a focus on vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar) or skills-based (i.e., with a focus on listening, speaking, writing or reading). In this environment, students can successfully acquire language.” For EFL teachers, developing thematic units around their required curriculum can be a way to build a larger context in which to teach language that spans a group of lessons and can provide more opportunities for communicating in English. A unit of instruction, as referred to in this article, consists of a series of lessons that are connected to each other, possibly by a theme, grammatical point, or language function. A lesson, as defined by Brown (2001, 149), “is popularly considered to be a unified set of activities that cover a period of classroom time, usually ranging from forty to ninety minutes.” Therefore, a thematic unit is a series of lessons, possibly for four to five classroom periods, that are connected by a topic or theme that connects students with language in a communicative manner. There is much support for using this kind of foreign language instruction. Haas (2000) states: “Planning thematic units allows the teacher to incorporate a variety of language concepts into a topic area that is interesting and worthy of study and that gives students a reason to use the language.” In addition, Brinton (2003) points out that using this type of instruction provides optimal conditions for language acquisition because “(1) language is being continually recycled throughout the unit and (2) students are given multiple opportunities to use the new language they acquire as they read, discuss, and write about the topics” (201). Curtain and Dahlberg (2004) also support the use of thematic unit planning for grades K–8 because they contend that thematic units provide a meaningful context in which to teaching language, thereby making the input more comprehensible as well as engaging the learner in more complex communicative situations that emulate real-life situations. Brown (2001) also points out that the use of theme-based instruction can be effective for EFL because it promotes automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation, and communicative competence, which, he says, “put principles of effective learning into action” (236). Furthermore, use of thematic units integrates all four language skills communicatively, and as Oxford (2001) explains, it is this type of skills integration that “exposes English language learners to authentic language and challenges them to interact naturally in the language” (2). All this support for the use of thematic units is based in Krashen’s (1985) notion that second language acquisition mirrors first language acquisition, which entails providing students with comprehensible and meaningful input in second language instruction. Certainly EFL teachers can apply this mode of instruction to foster acquisition in foreign language contexts. If thematic units can be connected to familiar, interesting, and relevant topics for students, including grade level content for school age students, such units can provide opportunities to engage in real communication that can move beyond teaching language merely in its grammatical and semantic parts. In addition, as we will see in this article, the matic units can be a dynamic way to integrate all four language skills communicatively and promote learner autonomy through projectbased instruction and experiential learning. Since experiential learning, which can be found in the form of project work, “provides opportunities for the negotiation of meaning between learners in pair work and group work activities,” it can help build the kind of acquisition environment that is needed in foreign language contexts (Eyring 2001, 335). It is through this notion of learning by doing, which is at the heart of experiential learning, that the classroom can become more than just a place to learn a foreign language; it becomes a place of meaningful communication using English and an independent process in which learners can think critically and make choices in realistic situations. Although content-based instruction (CBI) has been in academic circles since the mid-1980s, it is gaining popularity as an effective form of teaching. Content-based instruction is a teaching approach where learners study language through meaningful content. It motivates students to learn because the subject matter is interesting, and allows them to apply their learned language skills in a different context instead of rotely memorizing vocabulary.
Here are the different ways that this is implemented in the classroom:
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