Focus on Content-Based Language Teaching. Patsy M. Lightbown

B does a brief review of multiplication. Students quickly and accurately provide the answers as she writes examples such as 3 × 2 and 4 × 2 on the board. Then she writes 3 × 4 × 2 on the board.

      Teacher B: Who knows how to do this one? Can we multiply three numbers?

      Several students: You can’t do that.

      Teacher B: Why not?

      Sandra: You have to multiply two numbers.

      Teacher B: Are you sure? Who thinks you can do this? Hector, do you want to try?

      Hector: [comes to the board and writes 3 × 4 = 12 and 4 × 2 = 8]

      Teacher B: What do you think, class? Is that how you do it? Who has another idea? Natalie.

      Natalie: [comes to the board and writes 3 × 4 = 12 and then stops]

      Teacher B: What do you think she should do next?

      Students: Multiply by 2.

      Teacher B: Multiply what by 2?

      Students: 12.

      Teacher B: [writes 12 × 2 = …] What is 12 times 2?

      Students: 24.

      Teacher B: Is this the answer? Thumbs up if you agree. [Half the students raise their thumbs.] Thumbs down if you don’t agree. [A few students show disagreement.] Show me [by a hand wobble] if you don’t know. [A few students show uncertainty.]

      (After two more examples, there is agreement – by a show of thumbs – that you multiply the first two numbers and then multiply the product of those numbers by the third number.)

      Teacher B: So, who can tell me how to multiply three numbers?

      Richard: Multiply the first two numbers. [Several seconds elapse; teacher waits.]

      Teacher B: What’s next, Richard?

      Richard: Multiply the last number.

      Teacher B: Multiply what?

      Richard: Multiply the first numbers and then the last number.

      Teacher B: Yes, I think you know how to do it. Can someone else explain how we do this?

      Tomás: Multiply the first two numbers, then multiply the product by the last number.

      Teacher B: Yes, and I like the way Tomás used the technical word ‘product’. Now, is there another way we can do this?

      Note: Unpublished data based on field notes from classroom observations by the author. Some details are adapted to preserve anonymity or to simplify the presentation. ■

      Some readers may think that Classroom Snapshots 1.1 and 1.2 are shown for the purpose of contrasting approaches to teaching that are ‘good’ or ‘not so good.’ That is not the intention. Interestingly, readers might disagree about which is which! The most important thing to say about these two snapshots is that, depending on the other things that happen in this classroom and in the children’s overall learning environment, both kinds of interaction can contribute to their learning. Each teacher has a different focus: one is focused primarily on teaching language; the other is focused primarily on teaching content.

      In Classroom Snapshot 1.1, the teacher’s goal is to practice language patterns that the students are familiar with and that they can produce with relative ease. Such practice can help students develop fluency in their use of these patterns. Furthermore, in this case, the teacher is also preparing the students to focus on a new pattern that is less familiar and requires more concentration. In the next activity, the students will write a little piece about ‘something different’ they ‘would like to do’ for their next vacation. Notice that even though the teacher is focused on a quick round of fluency practice, he still listens to each student and responds to what the student says as well as to how it is said.

      In Classroom Snapshot 1.2, the teacher’s focus is on making sure that students understand a new mathematical operation. She does more of the talking than the students, but she gives them plenty of time to answer when she asks a question. She listens to their answers and builds on what they can say. She encourages the use of mathematical language, but pays attention primarily to whether students know how to multiply three numbers.

      We will return to these classroom examples and see many others as we explore the complex realities of content-based language teaching.

      What is Content-Based Language Teaching?

      What sets CBLT apart from other kinds of instruction is the expectation that students can learn – and teachers can teach – both academic subject matter content and a new language at the same time. With adequate preparation and resources, this expectation has been fulfilled in a number of different educational environments. In other situations, however, students have failed to reach the desired levels of either language proficiency or subject matter knowledge.