Integrating Language and Content Teaching through Collaborative Tasks

Abstract

In French immersion programs, it is important to integrate the teaching of language and content. One way in which this can be accomplished is through the use of tasks which, using content-relevant material, encourage students to focus on language form. In this paper, tasks which engage students in collaborative writing and therefore in talking about content and the language needed to express that content, are presented. I present examples of collaborative dialogues between students to show how such tasks provide opportunities for second language learning because, among other things, students may externalize their (sometimes partial) knowledge, allowing them to reflect on it, revise it, and apply it.