Designing CBELT Classes by IntegratingSubject Classes in the Mother Tongue

Abstract

This study intends to demonstrate ways of teaching the same concept both in the subject classes in the mother tongue and CBELT classes and to ascertain teachers' opinions about implementing this approach in their practices. Four principles were established as a basic structure for developing this type of integration. In order to formulate these four principles, the attitudes of teachers and learners toward English lessons, Halliwell's (2002) fourth way of using CBELT, and the theory of CBI and SLA (Second Language Acquisition) were used. Four lesson plans, two for mother tongue and the other two for CBELT classes, were designed on the basis of these four principles. For this study, three surveys were conducted with 53 teachers and 517 primary school learners. 9-hour workshop was given to these teachers. In this workshop, they learned about this approach, practiced using it, and shared their perceptions. The result was that most of them displayed a very positive reaction and attitudes toward it. They emphasized their concern about the need for text material and for systematic collaboration between subject classes in the mother tongue and CBELT classes.