Vocational orientation – A supportive approach to teaching L2 English in upper secondary school vocational programmes

Abstract

This study investigates how upper secondary school English teachers experience using the vocational orientation (VO) approach when teaching English as a second/foreign language (L2) in vocational study programmes. It combines interviews with 10 L2 English teachers in Norway and supplementary classroom observations. The analysis shows that the teachers use VO to facilitate adaptive L2 English teaching by drawing on student interests, promoting subject relevance and scaffolding learning. Impediments to successful VO use include teacher collaboration issues, students’ vocational commitment and the availability of learning material. The informants find that VO supports student learning and increases their engagement with L2 English, which is evidence for the importance of understanding and reducing the challenges to the VO approach.