James P. Lantolf is a Distinguished Professor, Beijing Language and Culture University, Greer Professor in Applied Linguistics, Emeritus Pennsylvania State University

This presentation focuses on explaining the principles of developmental education as they apply to the second language classroom in the framework referred to as Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI). I will first outline the principles as they are derived from the sociocultural theory of psychology proposed by L. S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. According to these principles high quality instruction must be based on well-organized conceptual knowledge, which for language teaching implies that meaning must be foregrounded over structure. The aim of C-BLI is to provide and help learners internalize the knowledge they need to be able to create the meanings they wish to communicate through the target language. How this is achieved will be explained in the presentation. We will then briefly consider several example studies that illustrate how the approach can be implemented. These studies address aspects of English, Spanish, French, and Chinese as foreign languages. Finally, the implications of C-BLI for teacher education will be addressed.