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The main differences between bilingual programs and regular FL lessons was outlined by Burmeister (2006), who compared regular FL teaching with intensive bilingual (immersion, IM) teaching in the elementary school context. In bilingual lessons, subject matter is taught using a foreign language. In regular FL lessons, the reverse is true: here, foreign language skills are taught with the help of subject matter. One could argue that the teaching materials for regular English lessons in elementary education also provide a variety of topics, e.g., units on animals, on the human body, or topics relating to cultural studies. The crucial difference between bilingual and regular FL programs, however, ​​is based on the objective and thus on the respective function of language and subject matter as the subject of learning.

Burmeister (2006) provided the following example: in regular FL teaching, the topic “animals” may have been chosen because it reflects the interests of elementary school children and is therefore motivating. Additionally, the topic may already constitute the following unit in the textbook and/or perhaps it may just fit the topic taught in science (which is conducted in the majority language, in this case: German). However, the main reason for choosing this topic is that it provides linguistic input to train listening, speaking, reading or possibly writing skills in the FL. The topic thus acts as a vehicle for deliberately exercising and circulating selected linguistic structures and vocabulary. In contrast, the topic of “animals” would be chosen in the bilingual classroom because it is included as a topic in the curriculum for the subject “science” for grade 1. This topic, therefore, is genuinely based on the curriculum of a non-language subject, and the learners’ involvement with its content in the FL is authentic. The L2 acts as a vehicle to transport content; and the selection of linguistic means arises directly from the respective topic (Burmeister, 2006).

In addition, dealing with topics in the non-language subject area goes beyond what is usually provided in regular FL teaching in terms of complexity and methodology. To illustrate the linguistic and cognitive challenges that the FL learners in the IM classroom face, Burmeister (2006) points to the curricular requirements for the subject “science” (which is taught in German in mainstream classes) for elementary schools in Schleswig-Holstein: the lessons in the subject “science” are aimed at developing “real life knowledge” and the initiation of “functional classification systems”, and the children at the end of grade 4 should be able “to draw conclusions”, “to think comprehensively”, “to jointly plan, execute and evaluate”, “to conduct research independently”, “to develop time concepts” and “to recognize and evaluate”, to mention just a few key competences (e.g., Ministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, 1997: 93). In the IM classroom, the children learn and apply these complex skills in the FL (and not in the majority language with which most of the children are more acquainted). Thus, bilingual teaching is not just about vocabulary learning but about conceptual learning, and combines learning concepts and their linguistic expressions (e.g., Bonnet, Breidbach & Hallet, 2003).

In sum, in language-driven (i.e., regular EFL) programs, content is used to learn the FL, i.e., FL learning is the priority, content learning is incidental, the language objectives are determined by the FL curriculum (i.e., English-as-a-subject), and students are evaluated on language skills/proficiency. In content-driven (bilingual) programs, the focus is on content being taught in the FL, i.e., content learning has priority, FL learning is secondary. Content objectives are determined by the curriculum of the specific subject (e.g., science), the teachers must select language objectives, and students are evaluated on content mastery (see Met, 1999: no page).