A Six-T’s Approach to CBI

A Six-T’s Approach to Content-Based Instruction

• Integrating language and content instruction for second language students.
• Approaches representing different perspectives on the integration of content and language, differing in theoretical and practical organizations.
• Prepare students to learn subject material through their L2.

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Approaches to CBI

• Genre-based approach to K-12 literacy instruction,
• Language Immersion Programs in K-12 contexts,
• Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA),
• a version of whole language instruction,

• Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) approach,
• English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instruction,
• University-level foreign language CBI,
• by Mohan’s overall theory knowledge structures,

Incorporating the common features in those eight approaches into the Six-T’s Approach, promoting opportunities for student negotiation of language and content tasks, cooperative learning, focus on development of discourse-based abilities and use content materials to motivate students.

Content-Based Instruction is Theme-Based Instruction

All CBI is fundamentally theme based meaning that there is a sequence of topics tied together by the assumption of a coherent overall theme.

Design Criteria for the Six-T’s Approach

The approach has three basic goals:

1. specification of theme-based instruction as central to CBI
2. extension of CBI to support language-learning context
3. organization of coherent content resources for instruction and selection of appropriate language learning activities

A Six-T’s Approach to Content-Based Instruction

Design Criteria for the Six-T’s Approach

Six curricular components which define the Six-T’s Approach;

1. Themes; central ideas that organize major curricular units
2. Texts; content resources that drive the basic planning of theme units
3. Topics; subunits of content that explore specific aspects of the theme
4. Threads; linkages across themes that create curricular coherence (abstract concepts)
5. Tasks; basic units of instructional activities and techniques for content, language and strategy instruction
6. Transitions; explicitly planned actions that provide coherence across topics in a theme unit and across task within topics.

Create coherent and meaningful instructional units for content and language learning objectives.

Implementing a Six-T’s approach

Initial Planning Considerations

Curriculum designers need to evaluate five important preplanning considerations:

• Review students’ needs (critical needs analyses),
• Instructional expectations and corresponding objectives,
• Resource possibilities,
• Teacher preparation

These considerations lead to straight-forward taxonomies of important language skills, learning strategies, and task options for language practice and content exploration. Second planners need to ascertain the extent to which the curriculum is institutionally predetermined or shaped by teacher and/or students. Planners need to determine the number of theme units to be explored and designate the amount of time devoted to each theme unit.

A Six-T’s Approach to Content-Based Instruction

Steps for Implementing a Six-T’s Approach

Step 1: Establishing the content to be used through theme determination, text selection and topic designation.Step 2: Selecting possible threads that emerge from final theme, text and topic designations. Step 3: Making decisions about the sequencing of content (themes, topic, and texts) and the length of theme units. Step 4: Consideration of the extent of teacher involvement, knowledge of thematic content and willingness to learn additional information with students. Step 5: Specification of core objectives for each theme unit in terms of language, content and strategy learning. Step 6: Initial design of tasks to carry out the content and language goals of each theme unit. Step 7: Initial determination of transitions across topics and across tasks. Step 8: Fine-tuning of theme units while they are being implemented changing according to students’ interests and ongoing input.

Reference:Snow, M. A., & Brinton, D. (Eds.). (1997). Chapter 6 A Six-T’s Approach to Content-Based Instruction. The content-based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content. (pp. 78-94). Pearson PTR.