Action-oriented approaches: being at the heart of the action

Abstract

What is it? An action-oriented approach views “users and learners of a language primarily as ‘social agents’, i.e. members of society who have tasks (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action. While acts of speech occur within language activities, these activities form part of a wider social context, which alone is able to give them their full meaning” (Council of Europe, 2001, p. 9). As ‘social agents’, learners fully engage in meaningful real-life situations to which they learn to respond in a wholly cognitive and emotional manner, mobilizing their unique linguistic and sociocultural repertoires. Here, the notion of ‘task’ goes beyond the mere notion of a communicative activity to encompass the realization of projects or problems to be solved rooted in reality, socially, and culturally situated, through a set of targeted and concerted ‘social’ actions, ‘not exclusively language-related’, to achieve a clearly defined objective. Whether within the community in a community-based approach, or in the classroom, itself perceived as a mini-society with a social dimension (Puren, 2009), learners engage and collaborate with peers and others as they mobilize and acquire prior and new skills, knowledge, values, and know-how to solve real-life problems. Communication is not the goal, it is the means, along with critical thinking, self-reflection, creativity, and adaptability, to achieve the task...

Teaching in a French Immersion Setting: A Review of the Who, the What and the How

“…Teachers are no longer educators who simply follow and apply a set of strict rules designed by experts; they are expected to draw on principles and techniques to prepare activities and design learning that is adapted to the needs of learners thus promoting the ultimate goal of students gaining the ability to use language meaningfully and accurately in specific real-life situations. She purports that the action-oriented approach emphasizes the importance of authenticity in language exchanges as identified in the above discussion of authentic input and output, allowing learners to engage in meaningful real-life situations and conversations (Germain-Rutherford, 2021). Language tasks under this approach primarily focus on meaning, while guiding students towards accurate language use.…”

“…The teacher's role is crucial in supporting language fluency and guiding students towards precise language use (Bourgoin & Le Bouthillier, 2021). By having the learners play active roles in the language learning process, the action-oriented approach creates an environment within the FI classroom that supports the development of lifelong learning skills, such as critical and creative thinking, resilience, and autonomy (Germain-Rutherford, 2021). "The action-oriented task seeks to break down the walls of the classroom and connects it with the outside world" (Piccardo, 2014: p. 28).…”

“…According to Germain-Rutherford (2021), "communication is not the goal but the means to achieve the task" (p. 92). If learners are actively and authentically engaged in tasks requiring them to solve real-life problems in French, their knowledge retention and content understanding are simultaneously being enhanced (Germain-Rutherford, 2021).…”

Uygulamadaki Boşluğa, Öğretim Programı Penceresinden Bir Bakış: 2018 İlkokul ve Ortaokul İngilizce Öğretim Programının İncelenmesi

“…To promote these predetermined functional uses of language, the use of communicative language teaching approach (CLT) which is often associated with reconstructivist thinking is emphasized (Dendrinos, 1992 as cited in Kamhuber, 2010). It is worthy to note at this point that among the lines, a few references to action-oriented approach are also made in which, beyond communication, language is seen as action and learners are raised as social agents primarily through projects and tasks (Germain-Rutherford, 2021). This vague use of the terms in the explication of the methodology of the curriculum has been found problematic by some scholars like Acar (2021) with the claim that contrary to what the curriculum asserts it is indeed communicative-oriented rather than action-oriented.…”

Enhancing Innovative Pedagogy in Teaching English as an International Language for Indonesian Learners

“…It means that teaching design based on innovation aims to produce the teaching process in assisting students' progress and success. Germain-Rutherford (2021) said the innovative pedagogy used in ELT helps students and the teacher in conducting the achievement of learning outcomes. As a result, the teaching plan prepared is expected to answer the need for what to do.…”