Content Based Instruction Global Standards for Education Office

Content Based Instruction Global Standards for Education Office of Overseas Programming & Training Support (OPATS)

“Fish are always the last creatures to notice water, and teachers (and typically good students) are among the last to notice what English language features & academic cultural models may be brand new and challenging to their students. --Catherine Snow Cultural Models: models of the world widely shared by members of a society. People are socialized into them and take them largely for granted. Cultural models play an important role in our understanding of the world and our behavior in it.

ANALYZING Lesson Content This is a writing activity for native English speaking students. What are the underlying assumptions (cultural models) and prior knowledge that any student needs in order to successfully carry out the activity? 3

Possible Cultural Model or Literacy Elements in “You Talked Me Into It” Why are opinions or persuasiveness important? Why pretend to be anyone, and how does a world famous chef think/behave? Why would it be (or not be) difficult to persuade people to eat insects? What ARE the “rules for writing a paragraph? ” What makes “a strong closing sentence? ” 4

Which children will typically be better prepared with school language and school concepts? (especially if they are equally motivated) 1. The children of a university professor and an elementary school teacher. 2. The children of a husband wife who are subsistence farmers. In what ways? And why? Informal knowledge: what we learn through experience, common sense, folk wisdom. Formal knowledge: usually taught; happens “at school. ” More systematized and often more stylistically 5 consistent.

To find literacy problems, look for differences in cultural models 1. Look for differences in cultural models across cultures. 2. Look for gaps between how & why people do things in everyday life (informal knowledge) and how & why they are done in school (formal knowledge). 3. Look for what the text/lesson assumes students know that they might NOT already know (that is, students do have a different cultural model or perhaps no other cultural model for this text/lesson)?

DELIVERING Content Based Instruction 7

Highlight Language I. Look for specific types of language: Sub-technical vocabulary The language we use to explain technical concepts, or talk about or explain academic or professional matters in general—not for a specific field; the “connective tissue” that holds technical concepts together. 8

Examples of sub-technical vocabulary • to be related to • namely • relevant • contradictory Handout: Coxhead’s Academic Word List (a handy list of academic sub-technical vocabulary) 9

Math and Sciences provide good examples of sub-technical vocabulary MATH: “how much money did Sam start with” signals an addition problem; “how much money did Sam have left” signals a subtraction problem. CHEMISTRY: attract vs. repel; react, precipitate, combine, to form BIOLOGY cause, function, reproduce, transfer, convert 10

Identify academic and high frequency language easily: WORDSIFT = http: //www. wordsift. com/ 11

WORDSIFT: Frequent Words from a lesson on “Volume” 12

WORDSIFT: Academic Word List (AWL) 13

WORDSIFT: Science Word List 14

Highlight Language Pay attention to the technical meaning of words as they change in specific contexts. 15

Examples of Technical Meaning for Common Words COMPUTING Path Virus Terminal To scroll To boot Window Execute Memory LANGUAGE TEACHING Acquire Fossilization Demonstrative Closed question Aspect (tense &…) Stress Register Particle

Make Content Accessible Help learners ‘experience’ content of lesson (use the language and content to engage in a task) Use alternative channels to reinforce the language (e. g. , visual, audio, kinesthetic, tactile) 17

Analyze for literacy & language Work in groups, one group per handout. Analyze the texts to determine: What literacy (underlying concepts or cultural models) does the author assume students will know that YOUR ESL students might not know? 1. 2 a. What vocabulary would you need to review with students to help them understand the technical concepts? b. What grammatical or stylistic structures might be difficult for students? 3. What activities can you use to help learners connect with 18

Icebergs and Glaciers Journey to the Center of the Earth Volcanoes Volume 19

Let’s Review the Steps in CBI 1. Speak slowly and clearly, without slang, jargon, or cultural references. 2. Use alternative channels to reinforce oral language (writing, visuals, realia, demonstration) 3. Help learners “experience” lesson content through tasks/practice. 4. Explicitly teach differences in cultural models. 5. Explicitly state & practice school norms. 6. Frequently 7. Focus check for comprehension. on sub-technical vocabulary and English structures that 20