Reviving the Effective Use of Content-Based Instruction (CBI)

BY Rhyann Carlos D. Balan

Teacher 1, TUYO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLDate Posted: MArch 22, 2019 | 9:43 AM


Empowering our learners for 21st-Century skills comes certain changes and development in instructional strategy. There are many teaching style and approaches that can help teachers to motivate and encourage students as they make the process more interested and engaging as the use of Content-Based Instruction.

In recent years, CBI has become an effective way of developing linguistic ability. It has related to project output, performance-based learning and addressing consideration to language instruction through content-based, purpose-driven opportunities to craft an oral or written output.

These activities can provide opportunities to enhance and develop students’ strong language and communication skills, reading comprehension skills, content knowledge, and academic performance.

It is a significant approach in learning language, designed to provide second-language learners with effective instruction and motivation in content and language. It is used to describe any subject matter besides languages. This might be, for example, math, history, or science.

It is one of the tools for innovation through acquiring & enhancing language that increase the value and boost productivity of learning. So then, students should not focus on the subject matter but also in the language learning process as well.

Let us support our students to attain high performance both in content and language through engaging them in more challenging & motivating activity that helps them to achieve diverse skills that they will be used in the future.

Keeping the students motivated & interested in learning is the main goal of CBI. When students are interested & motivated in the activities, materials and styles of learning, they tend to have greater connection to our lessons so that learning language becomes enjoyable & easy for them and the information obtained for a long time.

How is content-based instruction processed for learning?

In a content-based instruction (CBI), it describes a classroom-based instruction where the content is taught in the students’ second language which they are still in the process of learning.

It is more than imparting knowledge because it inspires and encourages learners to learn the language and content at the same time. Content here is meant as the use of subject matter as a vehicle for second language teaching or learning.

Students are more focused on learning that certainly capture their interests. They learn about the content using the language that they are also trying to learn. Therefore, it will serve as a tool for developing their knowledge and skills in content and language.

The goal of CBI is a great help for teachers to prepare their learners in acquiring the languages while using the context of any subject matter. The students learn the language by using it within a specific context.

Learning to learn emphasizes the significant role that strategies and techniques used by the teachers play an important role in the teaching-learning process. That should be the natural way of developing language ability especially to young learners.

What are the advantages of content-based instruction?

Content-based instruction will be challenging and demanding for the teacher and the students, but it must be very stimulating and rewarding because it makes learning a language more interesting and motivating for them.

It supports contextualized learning wherein teachers are able to present information wherein learners construct ideas based on their experiences. Thus, students make greater connections with the language & what they already know.

This is also develops the communication and collaborative skills of the learners. With CBI, learners enable to participate more fully in an increasingly complex academic & social environment.

The advance instruction for language helps the teacher to motivate and encourage learners in the process by which the students perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate. It is also a great help to advance literacy skills.