It Takes Two to Tango: Boosting Students' Motivation through Discipline-Specific Language Learning

This paper describes programmatic and organizational synergies between language studies and partnering academic disciplines in Content-Based Instruction (CBI). The paper focuses on the benefits of a content-based approach to maximize language learning and learner agency in different disciplinary contexts. First, the paper explores collaboration with various stakeholders. Second, the paper describes ways to enhance learner agency through professional content. Third, the paper outlines criteria for selecting authentic materials, explains language scaffolding and provides examples of tasks used in CBI Spanish classes. Fourth, the paper highlights innovative ways to assess language through content in Spanish classes.