Objetivos de Contenido e Idioma Claros para Clases de Instrucción Basada en Contenido

Abstract

When planning a lesson for Content-based Instruction (CBI), scholars recommend to include both content and language objectives. Somehow, there is a tacit assumption that CBI teachers already know how to write clear and integrated objectives. Nevertheless, some well-known researchers have claimed that this is a fallacious assumption. Writing clear and integrated content and language objectives for CBI does not happen automatically. Therefore, teachers find themselves wondering: Where should I consult for finding the content and language objectives for my lessons? What language should my lesson focus on? What are the elements of my content and language objectives? Is there a formula for writing content and language objectives? To mention a few. Based on the available literature and without the intention of being exhaustive, this work aimed at providing the answers to these few of the many questions teachers commonly ask when writing their objectives for CBI lessons. To attain this goal, the researchers consulted the limited literature available in this respect. The literature review revealed that writing clear and integrated content and language objectives for CBI is an intricate process. Objectives written for content or language lessons as separated subjects are diametrically different from the ones written for CBI. It also evidenced the urgent necessity of a guide for CBI teachers to write their objectives. Based on these results, the authors proposed a guide for writing clear and integrated content and language objectives for CBI lesson plans. This proposal aims at helping those pre-service and in-service novice teachers who are initiating this journey in CBI.