Transforming communicative tasks into mini-projects

Abstract

With the action-oriented approach first introduced by the CEFR (Common EuropeanFramework of Reference for Languages), the goal of language teaching witnessed a transition from thetransmission of information (exchange of information) in the classroom to acting together (social action)in and/or outside the classroom and hence from training successful communicators to training socialactors. The implementation of the action-oriented approach in language textbooks in the form of miniprojects, however, is an issue not addressed commonly in the ELT field. This study critically analyses thetasks named as ‘projects’ at the end of the first and eighth units of the English textbook ‘İngilizce 7’ usedin the secondary schools in Turkey to show that they do not reflect the characteristics of mini-projects asa form of the application of the action-oriented approach in language textbooks. Secondly, how thesetasks can be transformed into mini-projects is explained.