The CATESOL Journal

Content-based instruction (CBI) is a curricular option that enables second language learners to develop their language skills when the primary pedagogical focus is course content rather than linguistic analysis. In such a case, the course remains, ostensibly, a language class. But it is also possible to help students develop their language skills within the context of an academic subject–area course that they are already taking. This paper reports on a project to assist students in learning academic course content while at the same time engaging them in class activities that promote the development of their language skills. In a business English course taught in the San Diego Community College District, a task-based approach was implemented on a pilot basis as a means of providing international students with opportunities to acquire academic knowledge via a series of tasks designed to improve their target language skills. Such a task-based model allows students not only to meet their content-area needs but also to increase their second language proficiency through learner-centered, content-centered, and meaning-based instruction in a collaborative setting.