study of the dialectic between the didactic contract and the milieu in the teaching and learning of English at the end of primary and the beginning of secondary education.

Abstract

In this article, we present the results of research which seek to bring to light the elements on which ten to eleven-year-old pupils rely to produce understandings in oral interactive situations that take place during English learning sessions. To do so, we examine several didactic episodes used to illustrate the way in which the didactic contract determines i) the teacher and pupils’ joint action, ii) the pupils’ relationships to their learning situations. These episodes show that the pupils’ responses are more often orientated by the teacher’s expectations than by the milieu they are confronted with. Thus, they bring to light the predominant role played by the didactic contract in situations of teaching and learning English as a second language.