The following example is based on ideas from Larsen-Freeman (2000). Here a tenth grade class in an international school in Taipei is studying both geography and English through CBI. The teacher asks the students in English what a globe is. Some students call out “world.” Others make a circle with their arms. The teacher then reaches under her desk and takes out a globe. She puts the global on her desk and asks the students what they know about it. Students reply to the teacher’s question enthusiastically as the teacher records their answers on the blackboard. When they have trouble explaining a concept, the teacher provides the missing language. Next, the teacher distributes a handout that she has prepared based on a video, “Understanding Globes.” The top of the handout is entitled “Some Vocabulary Need to Know.” Listed are some key geographical terms used in the video. The teacher asks the students to listen while she reads the ten words: degree, distance, equator, globe, hemisphere, imaginary, latitude, longitude, model, and parallel.
The teacher tells the students to read the passage on the handout. Students also need to fill in the blanks in the passage with the new vocabulary. After students are finished, the teacher shows them the video. As students watch the video, they fill in the remaining blanks with certain of the words that the teacher has read aloud.
The passage: A ____________ is a three-dimensional ____________ of the earth. Points of interest are located on a globe by using a system of ____________ lines. For instance, the equator is an imaginary line that divides the earth in half. Lines that are parallel to the equator are called lines of __________. Latitude is used to measure ___________ on the earth north and south of the equator… After the video is over, students are paired up to check their answers.
Next, the teacher calls attention to a particular verb pattern in the cloze passage: “are located,” “are called,” and “is used.” The teacher tells students that these are examples of the present passive, which they will study in this lesson and the following week. The teacher explains that the passive is used to defocus the agent or doer of an action.
And then, the teacher elucidates how latitude and longitude can be used to locate any place in the world. She gives students several examples. Students then utilize latitude and longitude co-ordinate to locate cities in other countries. By stating “The city is located at latitude 60° north and longitude 11° east,” the teacher integrates the present passive as well as the content focus at the same time. Hands go up. The teacher calls on one boy to come to the front of the classroom to find the city. He correctly points to Oslo, Norway on the globe. The teacher offers other examples.
Later, students are formed in small groups to play a guessing game. In small groups, they think of the names of six cities. They then locate the city on the globe and write down the latitude and longitude co-ordinates. Next, they read the co-ordinates out loud and see whether other students can guess the name of the city. The first group says “ This city is located at latitude 5° north and longitude 74° west.” After several misses by their classmates, group 4 gets the correct answer: “Bogotá.” Group 4 then give new co-ordinates to the class: “This city is located at 34° south latitude and 151° east longitude.” Group 6 raises their hands and call out loudly: “Sydney.”
For homework, students are given a map and a description of Australia. They have to read the description and then label the major cities as well as points of the interest on the map.