Just what we need, right? Another acronym!
CBLI stands for Content-Based Language Instruction, and, yes, it is one more acronym to add to our already crowded bowl of alphabet soup. However, this one just may change the way we look at educating our Emergent Bilingual students.
At first glance, CBLI may look like just another term for sheltered instruction. It certainly supports the same instructional practices that sheltered instruction does, such as the use of visuals, gestures, sentence frames, graphic organizers, ... and the list just keeps going! It also adheres to teaching language through the content areas and embedding opportunities for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. So, what sets it apart you may ask?
Content-Based Language Instruction takes the focus away from just English and looks at how educators can capitalize on the resources that our Emergent Bilingual students bring to the table, their culture and their first language. You see, unlike sheltered instruction, CBLI applies to all languages of instruction and adheres to an additive approach for our Emergent Bilingual students.
In addition to sheltered instruction practices, CBLI encourages the use of crosslinguistic connections and access to primary language resources to support learning. Hence, this signals a shift in a state that once referred to our students as Limited English Proficient students to a state that now views our students as Emergent Bilinguals. This most certainly is a welcomed game changer for those of us who see our selves as advocates for our students!
This article is part of our HAABE Newsletter. More information: http://haabe.org/newsletter.html
Ms. Katherine Anderson
HAABE Newsletter
@KateAndersonML
CBLI stands for Content-Based Language Instruction, and, yes, it is one more acronym to add to our already crowded bowl of alphabet soup. However, this one just may change the way we look at educating our Emergent Bilingual students.
At first glance, CBLI may look like just another term for sheltered instruction. It certainly supports the same instructional practices that sheltered instruction does, such as the use of visuals, gestures, sentence frames, graphic organizers, ... and the list just keeps going! It also adheres to teaching language through the content areas and embedding opportunities for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. So, what sets it apart you may ask?
Content-Based Language Instruction takes the focus away from just English and looks at how educators can capitalize on the resources that our Emergent Bilingual students bring to the table, their culture and their first language. You see, unlike sheltered instruction, CBLI applies to all languages of instruction and adheres to an additive approach for our Emergent Bilingual students.
In addition to sheltered instruction practices, CBLI encourages the use of crosslinguistic connections and access to primary language resources to support learning. Hence, this signals a shift in a state that once referred to our students as Limited English Proficient students to a state that now views our students as Emergent Bilinguals. This most certainly is a welcomed game changer for those of us who see our selves as advocates for our students!
This article is part of our HAABE Newsletter. More information: http://haabe.org/newsletter.html
Ms. Katherine Anderson
HAABE Newsletter
@KateAndersonML
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