Asma Merine
University of Salhi Ahmed, Algeria; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5885-5226
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36534/erlj.2025.02.03
Bibliographic citation: (ISSN 2657-9774) Educational Role of Language Journal. Volume 2025-2(14). THE ACTIVE DIMENSION OF LANGUAGE AND OF LINGUISTIC EDUCATION, pp. 55-72.
Abstract
In educational settings specialized in linguistic instruction, an assumption is made of a direct and clear relationship between the utterances of the teachers, the activities of the learners, and the setting of the instruction, particularly treating instruction as a case of mechanical input-output functioning where there are instructions delivered and there are actions generated without considering the possibility of alternate or multiple outcomes. Nonetheless, the actual scene in the classroom is often much more complicated: language and action seem to work harmoniously, and just as often, they seem completely disconnected, yielding misunderstanding, disaffection, and bizarre results. This paper puts forward a new model for understanding the relationship between language, action, and context in the context of language teaching. It seeks to understand the conditions under which the phenomena come into alignment, or misalignment, as well as the reasons why it happens. The paper applies various understandings from applied linguistics, the study of classroom discourse, sociocultural theory, and psycholinguistics to propose a number of distinct patterns of alignment and cooperation, as well as various degrees of misalignment (semantic, procedural, affective, and contextual). The model does not consider language to be merely an uncritical means of conveying messages; it considers it a social activity that is understood and performed within particular contexts of organization, culture, and discourse. The paper subsequently claims that there is a tangible teaching consequence of making these patterns visible. With language–action–context considerations, reframing tasks, instructions, feedback, and assessments enables educators and curriculum developers to better predict learners’ misunderstandings, reluctance to engage, or difficulties in shifting verbal instructions to purposeful action. The article closes by offering practical suggestions concerning task design, classroom interaction, and teacher training, and sets out future directions for empirical research aimed at evaluating and fine-tuning the model put forth. In so doing, the article attempts to encourage researchers and practitioners to go beyond the “if we say it, they will do it” approach to promoting a more sophisticated grasp of the way in which teaching is transformed into learning, achieved through the complex interplay of language, action, and context.
Keywords: alignment and misalignment, classroom discourse, language–action–context, linguistic education, psycholinguistics, sociocultural theory, task design, teacher education
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