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【摘 要】 在这个信息爆炸的时代，当前中职英语教学不管在内容还是方式都是滞后的。传统的英语教学都是有“书”可依的，但是一套教材无论如何新鲜都新不过我们每天通过各种媒体接触到真实的英语材料。用这些真实而又现成的材料来进行大学英语教学，不仅具有强烈的时代气息，能吸引学生的求知兴趣，而更重要的通过这些材料的学习学生既掌握了语言，又扩大了知识面，其它各方面的能力也能得到了锻炼。本文主要探讨的就是针对中职学生所设计的一种没有固定材料，而是以真实材料，内容为本（content-based instruction），并结合各种以网络为基础（web-based）的现代化教学媒体的新型英语教学模式。文中对其实施论述了理论基础并提供了一个参考性的教学设计模型，此外文章还探讨了这种教学模式的可行性，教学中的教师和学生的角色以及如何评价学生等。
【关键词】 content-based instruction web-based technology English teaching
1. The vital point in today’s English teaching at vocational schools
It is an obvious fact that today’s English teaching at vocational schools is of little success. The inefficiency of that， as I view it， lies in the matter of textbooks and teaching method. Many textbooks used in the class were written five or even ten years ago， the contents of which are so outdated that no students feel like reading them. Besides， the teacher-centered learning environment is still dominant in most of the classroom. Although we talk about student-centered teaching model a great deal in the past ten years， the situation remains almost the same as far as vocational school education is concerned. Then how can we change the situation？ First we must take students’ demands into consideration. Vocational school students are young， energetic and free-spirited. They like anything new and fashionable. And above of all they thirst for knowledge. When they enter vocational school they expect teachers who are supposedly knowledgeable to guide them to the information treasury （not only about their major but other fields as well） and share ideas with them. In this regard， if we go on using the old materials and talk about the old topic， no way on earth can we draw students’ interest to English learning and realize student-centered teaching model. Therefore， content-based instruction should be the perfect approach and solution to this teaching and learning dilemma.
2. What is content-based instruction （CBI）？
CBI is not a method that is brand new and entirely different from the old ones， rather it incorporates the best of many previous methods. It is effective because it integrates language and content. With CBI， courses are based on subject matter that drives the language teaching. And when students learn contextualized language， they tend to acquire it faster and retain it longer.
3. The feature of CBI—authentic input：
One of the key features of CBI is the use of authentic ‘input’—in other words， ‘real’ reading and/or listening material magazine and newspaper articles poems， short stories， brochures， excerpts from textbooks written for native speakers of English， radio interviews， lectures and advertisements. 4. The advantages of CBI：
（1） One benefit of authentic input is that students learn strategies to deal with material from the ‘real’ world instead of material unnaturally controlled and， most of the time outdated for language learners. Language is language； it changes. In the information era few textbooks can match the updated material suitable for teaching and learning a language. And besides， an interesting fact is that an article often appeals more to readers when it appears anywhere except in a textbook.
（2） Another advantage is that authentic input exposes them to even more language than they would otherwise encounter in a non-CBI class. As a result， they may pick up vocabulary， expressions， and grammar without even realizing that they are acquiring them.
（3） A third benefit is that students focus on the content and become so absorbed by it that they become less self-conscious about their own language production； they relax and feel more comfortable actually speaking English.
5. How CBI integrates new technology in English teaching
Perhaps for the first time since the computer made its debut， compelling applications have been integrated into the educational system and have produced significant changes in it. Now with the advent of the Web， the applications are more remarkable. According to a recent survey lessons integrating the Internet or other technology into the existing curriculum will：
·provide for more student-centered learning，
·engage students in critical thinking，
·allow for cross-curricular integration，
·easily incorporate into the performance-based classroom，
·require students to apply essential skills in the context of meaningful learning experiences， and
·Provide opportunities to assess and evaluate student work.
Those resulting aspects， in fact， are exactly what we have been longing to achieve in an English class. To aid readers’ understanding and present a clear view of how web-based technology assists a CBI class， a model lesson based on the topic of “Global Warming” is demonstrated in the following section.
6. A model CBI class for vocational school students
（1） Set up an email program in the name of the class. It can be accessed by the teacher and students as a communication tool at the same time. The email box （I define it as SHARECLASS） is somewhat like a collection box and a terminal station where materials are sent， stored and changed. （2） Select a topic. This can be decided by both teachers and students in accord with mutual interests and understanding. It is better if the topic is one of the hottest ones and can be taught by using web-based technology. Once a topic as chosen our journey begins.
（3） The teacher shows several segments of a TV program about global warming without the sound and has the students guess what it is all about.
（4） Make a list of the words and expressions from their guesses. Students may come up with such words as environmental protection， pollution， endangered species or some Chinese words when they understand the program well but happen not to know how to express in English. The guessing and the list can serve as a preparation for the second time listening and will be of much help.
（5） Show the whole program， this time with the sound， and discuss what the students have understood—by asking some leading questions， the students will， as a group， likely understand nearly everything—and whether their guesses were right or wrong.
（6） Once students have discussed what they have seen， play the program again， this time giving them a copy of the transcription （usually done by the teacher before-hand） with some words missing. Have the students fill in the missing words while they listen to the program again. These activities， from Step 3 to Step 6， can be varied with others， such as having students watch some clips of a movie and then asking them to act out in their own words what they have just seen.
（7） The teacher analyzes some difficult points that can hardly be understood by most of the students.
（8） Make out another list of the words and expressions from the listening materials based on the previous one. By comparison students easily pick up the English expressions on this topic.
（9） With the help of the list students discuss what global warming is （also with the assistance of the teacher） and the characteristics of global warming，
（10） Students create their personal image of the future world if the global warming effect goes on. With the help of multimedia software， they are required to draw a picture of the future world with several words as the caption. After a picture has been created it is saved and sent to SHARECLASS.
（11） Every student gives a 3-5 minutes presentation to the class as he shows his personal image through the large-view screen. They should give evidence to prove why the world would turn out to be like that. （12） They critique each other’s picture or image， arguing about the possibilities and impossibilities.
（13） Students are grouped and assigned to study the cases of global warming and environmental protection in different countries （such as America， Japan， Germany etc）
（14） The teacher recommends some websites and has students search information that they need.
（15） Members belong to the same group work as a team and decide on who is responsible for certain aspect so as to get a general view of the subject.
（16） Every student does his own research by visiting some websites and downloads at least one article or anything like posters or advertisements on global warming. Then he should go through the downloaded text carefully， trying to figure out the language points （vocabulary， grammar and sentence structure） that seem difficult to him and interfere in his understanding of the material. After that he has the text modified by writing down what he has learned as reference notes and then has it printed out with his name on it. The modified text is sent to SHARECLASS.
（17） Everyone brings his collection to the classroom.
（18） Every group presents what they have discovered after their research. They in turn stand in front of the class answering questions raised by their fellow students like “what is the current situation of global warming in that country？ How do they deal with it？ Are they efficient？ Anything worth recommending？
（19） After the “press conference” the material are passed around the class and each student is supposed to read as much as he can on the basis of general understanding. If they happen to come across some difficult points， they may read the reference notes， and if those still cannot help， they can turn to the “resource” student for help or consult the teacher.
（20） Every student writes an essay on a computer about his views on how to deal with the global warming problem in our country and email it to CLASSSHARE. If possible it is much better that they can exchange their views with a foreigner in chat-rooms.
The teacher corrects the essays and picks out the best ones and has them saved in SHARECLASS.
（21） Students read their corrected essays as well as the best ones and compare them to their own writing.
（22） The teacher collects all the materials used in class， modifies them and makes a courseware out of it and saves it in CLASSSHARE so that students will be able to review it anytime they want. 7. Three main aspects about a CBI class
The aforementioned steps serve only as a model for a CBI lesson. It is not fixed and can be carried out in various ways， yet in the implementation of any CBI class three aspects must not be neglected because they are the cores of this teaching mode.
8. Teacher’s role
Traditionally， our role as a teacher has been， to a large extent， delivering content. Most of the time， reality has been organized into paragraphs， pages， chapters， and books. There is a reassuring expectation， shared by teachers as well as students， that at some point the chapters will have been covered， the relevant questions asked and answered. With CBI， of course， the questions are various and the book is not being written until their journey to the exploration on the subject matter begins. The data produced by students varies and is enriched from day to day， making the process of interpretation and analysis itself the focus of the class. In this case the teacher must accept the fact that he/she does not have all the answers. Sometimes this can be experiences as a perilous situation. But seen as an opportunity to grow and learn with our students， it illustrates the very principle of the CBI itself： we are not trying to lead our students into believing that， if they can memorize set phrases， words， endings， or get a high score on an examination， they will know any better about English. We lead them into a world where they can cultivate their abilities and enrich the way they perceive the world through recognizing a process， asking questions， reflecting， reasoning， and solving problems in the target language. Hence the role of the teacher is to accompany students through the journey， being one of their members， working together， trying to deal with the problems occurred， learning from and sharing ideas with each other. In many ways the teacher will learn at least as much as students as a result of the project. It will be an ideal learning experience expressed in an old Chinese saying “Teachers are not necessarily superior to their students； everyone can be a teacher as long as he knows something others do not know.”
9. Students’ role
Students are the leading characters and play a major part in a CBI class. They act as both a learner and a teacher at the same time. The activities involved in the whole process cultivate students’ multi-abilities. First they search the information they are assigned to get. In this step students should be able to possess the skills of skimming and researching in order to single out the specific information they need from a large amount of material. Next they have to read and make analyses （reading and analytical abilities）， trying to get rid of the difficult points by doing other researches （to consult a dictionary， a grammar book， or anything available to solve the problems）. After that they need the capacity of modifying materials. They add or omit some messages they think are necessary and contribute reference notes to the difficult points. Finally they share the information with their fellow students. In this step they are supposed to make good use of communication skills to raise and answer questions. Moreover they must also have the teaching ability， namely how to explain and convey an idea， to make their materials understandable to their fellow students. Being a role as a teacher， students are more likely to discover things they have not noticed before. And the teaching experience serves as the most rewarding and pleasant prize for their efforts because at that very moment they feel rather like a professor， teaching their peers and actually “showing off”. Hence the feeling encourages them to work even harder to meet the inquiries of their counterparts， after all everybody likes being important. 10. How to assess students
The issue of assessment is， of course， necessary. In this case it is particularly difficult to deal with because the students’ work situates itself within a new medium （web-based technology）， within a now learning environment （collaborative and not individual， process oriented and not result-oriented） and within a new information-oriented syllabus （as opposed to a purely linguistic one）. These shifts clearly demand a new evaluation system. Our goals are to widen students’ horizon and cultivate their ability， which cannot be evaluated properly with traditional English test papers， of which the main focus is linguistic points. In this regard it is better for teachers to create an authentic， performance-based assessment model. Teachers grade students on the base of their daily performance. Throughout the entire course， the communication phase and the essays they hand in provide the greatest opportunities to assess the student’s understanding of the information， the language points and their critical thinking. In this case one of the most common ways of indicating levels for learning proficiency is to use a 1—5 ranking of lowest to highest， 1=poor， 2=fair， 3=good， 4=very good， 5=outstanding.
11. Conclusion
Much has been discussed recently on English teaching at vocational school. Someone says that it is a total failure， which to some extent， is reasonable to say so， for after ten-year English learning， most of them have difficulties coping with real communication and basic academic tasks， such as delivering classroom presentations or writing compositions. Where are the problems？ What do we teach？ and What do we learn？ Reforms and progress have been seen in English teaching in primary and secondary schools， and now it is vocational schools’ turn. CBI， in this regard， provides not only a new teaching and learning model for vocational school English， but most of all， also a notion of reform as well. Our students must be educated in a way for real abilities. They will live， learn， and work within an increasingly complex and information-rich society. For them， English will demand effective communication， critical thinking， creative problem solving， and lifelong learning， therefore， the reform of teaching is a must so as to prepare them to function effectively in this future world.
[1] Robert J. Blake. Brave New Digital Classroom： Technology and Foreign Language Learning （英语） [M]. Georgetown University Press， 2013.
[2] 哈默（英）. 朗文英语教学实践（第4版）[M]. 北京：人民邮电出版社，2011.
[3] Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Technology-Enhanced Intercultural Projects
Jen Jun Chen， National Sun Yat-sen University； Shu Ching Yang， National Sun Yat-sen University Language
【关键词】 content-based instruction web-based technology English teaching
1. The vital point in today’s English teaching at vocational schools
It is an obvious fact that today’s English teaching at vocational schools is of little success. The inefficiency of that， as I view it， lies in the matter of textbooks and teaching method. Many textbooks used in the class were written five or even ten years ago， the contents of which are so outdated that no students feel like reading them. Besides， the teacher-centered learning environment is still dominant in most of the classroom. Although we talk about student-centered teaching model a great deal in the past ten years， the situation remains almost the same as far as vocational school education is concerned. Then how can we change the situation？ First we must take students’ demands into consideration. Vocational school students are young， energetic and free-spirited. They like anything new and fashionable. And above of all they thirst for knowledge. When they enter vocational school they expect teachers who are supposedly knowledgeable to guide them to the information treasury （not only about their major but other fields as well） and share ideas with them. In this regard， if we go on using the old materials and talk about the old topic， no way on earth can we draw students’ interest to English learning and realize student-centered teaching model. Therefore， content-based instruction should be the perfect approach and solution to this teaching and learning dilemma.
2. What is content-based instruction （CBI）？
CBI is not a method that is brand new and entirely different from the old ones， rather it incorporates the best of many previous methods. It is effective because it integrates language and content. With CBI， courses are based on subject matter that drives the language teaching. And when students learn contextualized language， they tend to acquire it faster and retain it longer.
3. The feature of CBI—authentic input：
One of the key features of CBI is the use of authentic ‘input’—in other words， ‘real’ reading and/or listening material magazine and newspaper articles poems， short stories， brochures， excerpts from textbooks written for native speakers of English， radio interviews， lectures and advertisements. 4. The advantages of CBI：
（1） One benefit of authentic input is that students learn strategies to deal with material from the ‘real’ world instead of material unnaturally controlled and， most of the time outdated for language learners. Language is language； it changes. In the information era few textbooks can match the updated material suitable for teaching and learning a language. And besides， an interesting fact is that an article often appeals more to readers when it appears anywhere except in a textbook.
（2） Another advantage is that authentic input exposes them to even more language than they would otherwise encounter in a non-CBI class. As a result， they may pick up vocabulary， expressions， and grammar without even realizing that they are acquiring them.
（3） A third benefit is that students focus on the content and become so absorbed by it that they become less self-conscious about their own language production； they relax and feel more comfortable actually speaking English.
5. How CBI integrates new technology in English teaching
Perhaps for the first time since the computer made its debut， compelling applications have been integrated into the educational system and have produced significant changes in it. Now with the advent of the Web， the applications are more remarkable. According to a recent survey lessons integrating the Internet or other technology into the existing curriculum will：
·provide for more student-centered learning，
·engage students in critical thinking，
·allow for cross-curricular integration，
·easily incorporate into the performance-based classroom，
·require students to apply essential skills in the context of meaningful learning experiences， and
·Provide opportunities to assess and evaluate student work.
Those resulting aspects， in fact， are exactly what we have been longing to achieve in an English class. To aid readers’ understanding and present a clear view of how web-based technology assists a CBI class， a model lesson based on the topic of “Global Warming” is demonstrated in the following section.
6. A model CBI class for vocational school students
（1） Set up an email program in the name of the class. It can be accessed by the teacher and students as a communication tool at the same time. The email box （I define it as SHARECLASS） is somewhat like a collection box and a terminal station where materials are sent， stored and changed. （2） Select a topic. This can be decided by both teachers and students in accord with mutual interests and understanding. It is better if the topic is one of the hottest ones and can be taught by using web-based technology. Once a topic as chosen our journey begins.
（3） The teacher shows several segments of a TV program about global warming without the sound and has the students guess what it is all about.
（4） Make a list of the words and expressions from their guesses. Students may come up with such words as environmental protection， pollution， endangered species or some Chinese words when they understand the program well but happen not to know how to express in English. The guessing and the list can serve as a preparation for the second time listening and will be of much help.
（5） Show the whole program， this time with the sound， and discuss what the students have understood—by asking some leading questions， the students will， as a group， likely understand nearly everything—and whether their guesses were right or wrong.
（6） Once students have discussed what they have seen， play the program again， this time giving them a copy of the transcription （usually done by the teacher before-hand） with some words missing. Have the students fill in the missing words while they listen to the program again. These activities， from Step 3 to Step 6， can be varied with others， such as having students watch some clips of a movie and then asking them to act out in their own words what they have just seen.
（7） The teacher analyzes some difficult points that can hardly be understood by most of the students.
（8） Make out another list of the words and expressions from the listening materials based on the previous one. By comparison students easily pick up the English expressions on this topic.
（9） With the help of the list students discuss what global warming is （also with the assistance of the teacher） and the characteristics of global warming，
（10） Students create their personal image of the future world if the global warming effect goes on. With the help of multimedia software， they are required to draw a picture of the future world with several words as the caption. After a picture has been created it is saved and sent to SHARECLASS.
（11） Every student gives a 3-5 minutes presentation to the class as he shows his personal image through the large-view screen. They should give evidence to prove why the world would turn out to be like that. （12） They critique each other’s picture or image， arguing about the possibilities and impossibilities.
（13） Students are grouped and assigned to study the cases of global warming and environmental protection in different countries （such as America， Japan， Germany etc）
（14） The teacher recommends some websites and has students search information that they need.
（15） Members belong to the same group work as a team and decide on who is responsible for certain aspect so as to get a general view of the subject.
（16） Every student does his own research by visiting some websites and downloads at least one article or anything like posters or advertisements on global warming. Then he should go through the downloaded text carefully， trying to figure out the language points （vocabulary， grammar and sentence structure） that seem difficult to him and interfere in his understanding of the material. After that he has the text modified by writing down what he has learned as reference notes and then has it printed out with his name on it. The modified text is sent to SHARECLASS.
（17） Everyone brings his collection to the classroom.
（18） Every group presents what they have discovered after their research. They in turn stand in front of the class answering questions raised by their fellow students like “what is the current situation of global warming in that country？ How do they deal with it？ Are they efficient？ Anything worth recommending？
（19） After the “press conference” the material are passed around the class and each student is supposed to read as much as he can on the basis of general understanding. If they happen to come across some difficult points， they may read the reference notes， and if those still cannot help， they can turn to the “resource” student for help or consult the teacher.
（20） Every student writes an essay on a computer about his views on how to deal with the global warming problem in our country and email it to CLASSSHARE. If possible it is much better that they can exchange their views with a foreigner in chat-rooms.
The teacher corrects the essays and picks out the best ones and has them saved in SHARECLASS.
（21） Students read their corrected essays as well as the best ones and compare them to their own writing.
（22） The teacher collects all the materials used in class， modifies them and makes a courseware out of it and saves it in CLASSSHARE so that students will be able to review it anytime they want. 7. Three main aspects about a CBI class
The aforementioned steps serve only as a model for a CBI lesson. It is not fixed and can be carried out in various ways， yet in the implementation of any CBI class three aspects must not be neglected because they are the cores of this teaching mode.
8. Teacher’s role
Traditionally， our role as a teacher has been， to a large extent， delivering content. Most of the time， reality has been organized into paragraphs， pages， chapters， and books. There is a reassuring expectation， shared by teachers as well as students， that at some point the chapters will have been covered， the relevant questions asked and answered. With CBI， of course， the questions are various and the book is not being written until their journey to the exploration on the subject matter begins. The data produced by students varies and is enriched from day to day， making the process of interpretation and analysis itself the focus of the class. In this case the teacher must accept the fact that he/she does not have all the answers. Sometimes this can be experiences as a perilous situation. But seen as an opportunity to grow and learn with our students， it illustrates the very principle of the CBI itself： we are not trying to lead our students into believing that， if they can memorize set phrases， words， endings， or get a high score on an examination， they will know any better about English. We lead them into a world where they can cultivate their abilities and enrich the way they perceive the world through recognizing a process， asking questions， reflecting， reasoning， and solving problems in the target language. Hence the role of the teacher is to accompany students through the journey， being one of their members， working together， trying to deal with the problems occurred， learning from and sharing ideas with each other. In many ways the teacher will learn at least as much as students as a result of the project. It will be an ideal learning experience expressed in an old Chinese saying “Teachers are not necessarily superior to their students； everyone can be a teacher as long as he knows something others do not know.”
9. Students’ role
Students are the leading characters and play a major part in a CBI class. They act as both a learner and a teacher at the same time. The activities involved in the whole process cultivate students’ multi-abilities. First they search the information they are assigned to get. In this step students should be able to possess the skills of skimming and researching in order to single out the specific information they need from a large amount of material. Next they have to read and make analyses （reading and analytical abilities）， trying to get rid of the difficult points by doing other researches （to consult a dictionary， a grammar book， or anything available to solve the problems）. After that they need the capacity of modifying materials. They add or omit some messages they think are necessary and contribute reference notes to the difficult points. Finally they share the information with their fellow students. In this step they are supposed to make good use of communication skills to raise and answer questions. Moreover they must also have the teaching ability， namely how to explain and convey an idea， to make their materials understandable to their fellow students. Being a role as a teacher， students are more likely to discover things they have not noticed before. And the teaching experience serves as the most rewarding and pleasant prize for their efforts because at that very moment they feel rather like a professor， teaching their peers and actually “showing off”. Hence the feeling encourages them to work even harder to meet the inquiries of their counterparts， after all everybody likes being important. 10. How to assess students
The issue of assessment is， of course， necessary. In this case it is particularly difficult to deal with because the students’ work situates itself within a new medium （web-based technology）， within a now learning environment （collaborative and not individual， process oriented and not result-oriented） and within a new information-oriented syllabus （as opposed to a purely linguistic one）. These shifts clearly demand a new evaluation system. Our goals are to widen students’ horizon and cultivate their ability， which cannot be evaluated properly with traditional English test papers， of which the main focus is linguistic points. In this regard it is better for teachers to create an authentic， performance-based assessment model. Teachers grade students on the base of their daily performance. Throughout the entire course， the communication phase and the essays they hand in provide the greatest opportunities to assess the student’s understanding of the information， the language points and their critical thinking. In this case one of the most common ways of indicating levels for learning proficiency is to use a 1—5 ranking of lowest to highest， 1=poor， 2=fair， 3=good， 4=very good， 5=outstanding.
11. Conclusion
Much has been discussed recently on English teaching at vocational school. Someone says that it is a total failure， which to some extent， is reasonable to say so， for after ten-year English learning， most of them have difficulties coping with real communication and basic academic tasks， such as delivering classroom presentations or writing compositions. Where are the problems？ What do we teach？ and What do we learn？ Reforms and progress have been seen in English teaching in primary and secondary schools， and now it is vocational schools’ turn. CBI， in this regard， provides not only a new teaching and learning model for vocational school English， but most of all， also a notion of reform as well. Our students must be educated in a way for real abilities. They will live， learn， and work within an increasingly complex and information-rich society. For them， English will demand effective communication， critical thinking， creative problem solving， and lifelong learning， therefore， the reform of teaching is a must so as to prepare them to function effectively in this future world.
[1] Robert J. Blake. Brave New Digital Classroom： Technology and Foreign Language Learning （英语） [M]. Georgetown University Press， 2013.
[2] 哈默（英）. 朗文英语教学实践（第4版）[M]. 北京：人民邮电出版社，2011.
[3] Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Technology-Enhanced Intercultural Projects
Jen Jun Chen， National Sun Yat-sen University； Shu Ching Yang， National Sun Yat-sen University Language