"Water Cycle"
A Content-based Instruction Demo Class
A content-based instruction (CBI) class exposes second language (L2) learners to the target language at the content register. It affords an abundant supply of topics for meaning negotiation as learners dive deep into the subject matter. Evidence of learners' progress in four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) as well as in the subject matter becomes explicit as classroom communication yields positive learning outcome (for example, presentations, scientific models, and other educational products).
For L2 learners, cognitive development and language learning go hand in hand. However, the nonlinear development of both competences entails an adaptive learning experience wherein teachers respond to learners' needs of no matter language or content in a timely manner by micro-adjusting the enactment of lesson plans to achieve the objectives.
Bearing in mind that developing academic and language competences simultaneously may be overwhelming in terms of cognitive load, I reconciled my content and language objectives by specifying desired skill acquisition in similar cognitive domains, an attempt to decrease the cognitive load during class for less burnout and for better learning results. Multimodal tools—texts, gifs, comics, videos, songs, and even real objects—inspired my instruction design in a way that the technological affordances became the solid ground for creative pedagogical practices informed by adult learning theories.
Material Preparation—Homemade Playdough
Class Presentation
Output activity
—Creating Four Main Stages of Water Cycle
