Content-based instruction in an english oral communication course at the University of Costa Rica

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research study carried out with a group of second-year English students at the School of Modern Languages at the University of Costa Rica. The purpose of this investigation was a) to find out if the recycling of content through the use of a variety of authentic informational sources (readings, videos, brochures, newspapers, movies, lectures, etc.) contributes to the improvement of the students' oral production skills, b) to identify which tasks best promote the oral participation of the students, c) to determine how to integrate the teaching of pronunciation into everyday classroom activities and d) to determine which linguistic aspects have to be reinforced to improve the students' accuracy and fluency in oral production tasks. It is widely recognized by teachers that language is most effectively learned in context. Key words: CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI)/ AUTHENTIC SOURCES/ ORAL PRODUCTION SKILLS/ TASKS/ IMPROVE/ ResumenRegardless of the methodology used, teachers agree that contextualization of language items is a characteristic of good language classes; however, the controversy has centered around the role content should play in language teaching, and how content can best be integrated into the language classroom. Some methodologists claim that contextualizing language lessons is not enough. They suggest authentic written and oral texts --texts which are not created for language teaching purposes --as a starting point of every lesson. These texts provide samples of the structures, functions, and discourse features that native speakers use.Teachers can then focus on particular language forms and functions found in those readings in order not to leave aside the linguistic aspect of language learning. (Brinton et al., 1989 pp.1-2) This is what content-based instruction is about. Content-based foreign language instruction (CBI) encourages students to learn a language by actually using the language as a real means of communication. How is this achieved? "By shifting the focus of instruction from the learning of language per se to the learning of language through the study of subject matter" (Stryker and Leaver, 1997, p. 5 The professors teaching LM-1230 -Oral Communication I during the first semester of 2004 decided to implement CBI in order to achieve the course's main objective: to develop the students' oral communication skills. We reworded the objectives in order to fit the new methodology. Thus our general goal was to improve the students' oral communication and study skills through exposure to content from a variety of informational sources. In addition, the students learned to use the phonetic alphabet as a tool to improve their pronunciation.The specific objectives were 1) to accelerate the students' growth in oral proficiency, 2) to show understanding of the topics studied in class 3) to use appropriate language and pronunciation, intonation and stress when talking about the topics assigned 4) to use different conversation management strategies and 5)...