Action-based and intercultural approach in foreign language teaching: classroom implementation and impact on learning

Abstract

There are many resources allowing language teachers to make informed decisions about their educational practices. The CEFR and the Western-Swiss curriculum (PER) provide guidelines for the implementation of an action-oriented and task-based approach in the classroom. More specifically, language activities aim to provide learners with the linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic tools necessary to communicate in the target language and to carry out various tasks in different cultural contexts. Communicative competence defined as such is also known as intercultural competence (IC). This paper discusses the nature of IC and then describes how eight teachers implemented the approach in German and English classes. Findings have allowed us to identify six key components for teaching intercultural competence.