II. Sustained Content Teaching
·
Are you a math teacher who has ESL
students in your class?
·
Do you find yourself wondering if you
could improve your teaching to better accommodate the ESL students in your
social studies/world issues/ physics/computers class?
Content-Based
Instruction is a way of integrating skills. This method has students practise in a highly integrated fashion
all the language skills while participating in activities or tasks that focus
on content in areas such as science, math, social studies (Brinton, Snow and
Wesche, 1989). Basically, content-based
instruction focuses on students working on their English Second Language skills
while learning another subject.
The standards movement in North America has directly
impacted on the curriculum and methodology of ESL programs. Second language learners, as well as
mainstream students, will now be required to learn provincially-prescribed
content curriculum and often demonstrate this knowledge through performance on
standardised tests.
In addition, Teaching English as a Second/Other Language
(TESOL) ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students has focused attention on the
learning needs of ESL students by bridging the gap between the traditional ESL
curriculum and the development of academic proficiencies. Although these mandates will have a positive
impact on the education of ESL students, they will present instructional
challenges to ESL and mainstream professionals who work with ESL learners.
If you are an ESL teacher, you will find your role expanding
to act as a resource for mainstream or content-area teachers. You might
familiarise content area teachers with some basic tenets of second language
learning. You will also be a valuable
resource by guiding the adaptation of their content area curriculum to
facilitate language learning for their ESL students.
If you are a content area teacher, the following areas
should be addressed in adapting your curriculum:
1. What
advance preparation is necessary
before instruction?
2. What
teaching techniques best serve
second language learners?
3. What
learning strategies do ESL students
need to develop?
4. How
can teachers accurately monitor the
comprehension of English language learners?
5. How
can a classroom be more effectively
organised for content instruction?
6. How
can teachers design realistic assessment
for ESL students to match their developing comprehension?