


































Frontiers of Contemporary Education 
ISSN 2690-3520 (Print) ISSN 2690-3539 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 2, 2023 

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6 
 

Original Paper 

The Action-Oriented Approach to the Teaching-Learning of 

English in Côte D‟Ivoire: Contribution to the Development of 

Learners‟ Entrepreneurial Culture 

Yésonguiédjo YÉO
1
 

1
 Department of English, Université Felix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan-Côte d‟Ivoire  

 

Received: April 26, 2023        Accepted: May 19, 2023         Online Published: June 2, 2023 

doi:10.22158/fce.v4n2p6               URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/fce.v4n2p6 

 

Abstract 

This paper theoretically analyses the contribution of Action-oriented Approach to teaching and 

learning English regarding learners’ appropriation of entrepreneurial culture. The aim is to finally 

suggest the adoption of that approach in the teaching and learning of English in Côte d’Ivoire given 

the country’s strong desire to promote entrepreneurial culture. The paper seeks to answer the 

following questions: What are the principles of the Action-oriented approach? How does this approach 

set field for the appropriation of entrepreneurial culture? The analysis starts with the review of actions 

taken by Ivorian authorities to promote entrepreneurial culture since its independence. It then focuses 

on the characteristic features of entrepreneurial culture, and the principles of Action-oriented 

Approach before moving to the implication of Action-oriented Approach in the appropriation of 

entrepreneurial competence. The conclusions revealed three core entrepreneurial skills that could be 

appropriated by English language learners following an Action-oriented Approach. First, adopting an 

Action-oriented Approach to English language teaching-learning ensures the development of 

risk-taking and decision-making skills by the learner. Second, the Action-oriented Approach to English 

language teaching and learning facilitates the development of learners’ capacity to innovate. Third and 

final, teaching English from an action-oriented perspective helps develop learners’ ability to identify 

business opportunities and make use of them to manufacture a concrete product.  

Keywords 

Action-oriented-Approach, entrepreneurship, culture, entrepreneurial culture 

 

 

 



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1. Introduction 

Like many other countries around the world, Côte d‟Ivoire is currently facing a real challenge relating 

to the socio-professional integration of its graduates. The state authorities find this issue both complex 

and a priority for their various governance programs. They generally justify this situation with the 

various economic, political, and health crises that have shaken the country for several decades, the 

demographic growth, the inability of the job market to absorb the successive waves of graduates, and 

the inadequacy of the training to the requirements of this job market. 

A comparative study of the number of candidates for the various civil service competitions held by the 

Ivorian Ministry in charge of Public Service and the number of places available clearly evidences that, 

for some time now, the state of Côte d‟Ivoire has been struggling to absorb its graduates. The episode 

of the jobless Doctorate holders since 2021 is quite an illustration of this situation. 

Faced with this undeniable reality, the state‟s response is to increasingly invite these graduates to turn 

to entrepreneurship. This state discourse is followed by “initiatives aimed at setting up training 

modules in entrepreneurship with a view to promoting entrepreneurial culture […] among young 

people” (Bamba et al., 2021, p. 2). 

The orientation towards entrepreneurship in Côte d‟Ivoire has also fueled and continues to inspire the 

organization of several symposiums, conferences, and other scientific meetings. In parallel to these 

meetings, research on entrepreneurship in Côte d‟Ivoire, although still in its early stages, has also been 

the subject of studies that respectively focus on the entrepreneurial perception of young students in 

Côte d‟Ivoire (Bamba et al.), the impact of education on entrepreneurial intention (Benié, 2012; Brou, 

2016; Hillarion & Yéo, 2017; Sonzai, 2017; Achi & Bony, 2018), female entrepreneurship (Ouattara, 

2007; Dali, 2014), and entrepreneurial support (Soro, 2018). 

Two trends emerge from their works. First, despite the efforts made through the implementation of 

numerous initiatives, young Ivorian graduates seem to be little oriented toward business creation and 

self-employment. This is transparent in the scarcity of new businesses created by Ivorian 

graduates-creators. Second, education and training programs alone cannot sufficiently promote the 

development of entrepreneurial skills and competence (Potter, 2008; OECD, 2012). Moreover, the 

educational system in Côte d‟Ivoire rejects the entrepreneurial spirit (Bamba et al., Op.cit. p. 2).  

Therefore, the Ivorian educational system needs to be reviewed in such a way that it can offer effective 

and efficient opportunities for the development of entrepreneurial skills and competencies. Indeed, 

education has the responsibility of rethinking itself in order to serve as a means for its appropriation. 

Moreover, given that the explicit teaching of entrepreneurship does not seem to be producing the 

expected results so far, it appears necessary to adopt a pedagogy that can lead to its inductive 

appropriation. This implies that any teaching-learning process in Côte d‟Ivoire must have a dual 

objective: the appropriation of knowledge in the concerned discipline and the development of 

entrepreneurial skills and competencies. 

 



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Unfortunately, studies combining the development of entrepreneurial culture and the acquisition of 

second/foreign languages in the Ivorian context are almost non-existent until now although they are 

inspired by the aforementioned objectives. The teaching-learning of English in Côte d‟Ivoire is 

invested, at the very least, with the same finality. Henceforth, it is a question of adopting approaches to 

teaching English that promote an inductive appropriation of the entrepreneurial culture by Ivorian 

graduates. 

In this perspective, the Action-oriented Approach to teaching-learning English will be examined in 

order to have more insight into its contribution to the appropriation of the said entrepreneurial culture 

by the learners. The questions this paper intends to answer are as follows: What are the principles of 

the Action-oriented?  How does this approach set field for the appropriation of entrepreneurial 

culture? 

 

2. Method 

This study, though a theoretical analysis of the question raised, follows a qualitative research strategy. 

It separately analyses the concepts of entrepreneurial culture and Action-oriented Approach in language 

teaching-learning so as to uncover the underlying principles, values, attitudes and aptitudes of each. 

The analysis therefore contrasts the characteristics of these two concepts in view of figuring out how 

the implementation of the second in language teaching and learning could contribute to the 

development of the first. 

However, the paper first reviews the different actions taken by Ivorian authorities to promote 

entrepreneurial culture starting from its independence until now. In so doing, the following four main 

parts constitute its overall structure: Entrepreneurship education in Côte d‟Ivoire, the conceptual 

framework, the link between entrepreneurial culture and Action-oriented Approach, and the discussion. 

 

3. Entrepreneurship Education in Côte d’Ivoire 

Côte d‟Ivoire has been committed to promoting entrepreneurship long before its independence. This 

commitment was manifested by the taking and implementation of several initiatives that Bamba et al 

(Op. cit.) listed in their study. Thus, since 1953, the state of Côte d‟Ivoire has been trying to create 

institutions responsible for encouraging employment in all its components. To this end, the Côte 

d‟Ivoire Labor Directorate [Office de la Main d‟Œuvre de Côte d‟Ivoire] (OMOCI), created in 1953 

and later reformed, was replaced by the Agency for Employment Studies and Promotion [Agence 

d‟études et de promotion de l‟emploi] (AGEPE) in 1993. Similarly, from 1978 to 1991, a pilot 

training-apprenticeship project developed and conducted by the former National Office for Vocational 

Training [Office Nationale de la Formation Professionnelle] (ONFP) led, in 1996, to the Program for 

the Absorption of Out-of-School or Drop-out Youth [Programme d‟Absorption des Jeunes Déscolarisés 

ou Décrochés] (PAJD). In addition, the Apprenticeship Training Redeployment Project [Projet de 

Redéploiement de la Formation par Apprentissage] (PRFA) was created in 1996 and entrusted to the 



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National Agency for Vocational Training [Agence Nationale de la Formation Professionnelle] 

(AGEFOP), with the objective of adapting vocational training to the needs of businesses. 

In 2003, in an attempt to make entrepreneurship a reality, the state of Côte d‟Ivoire created the National 

Solidarity Fund [Fonds National de Solidarité] (FNS) with the aim to support youth entrepreneurship 

by financing so-called viable projects. More recently, the Youth Employment Agency [Agence Emploi 

Jeunes] and the Côte d‟Ivoire SME Agency [Agence Côte d‟Ivoire PME] have been set up. Each of 

these initiatives aims to fight unemployment through the development of youth entrepreneurship. 

The creation of the employment initiatives mentioned above was followed by the implementation of 

entrepreneurship training modules aimed at promoting entrepreneurial culture, which Philippart (2016) 

refers to as the „entrepreneurial education ecosystem‟, among young people. As Bamba et al. put it, 

these initiatives have certainly been numerous, but young graduates in Côte d‟Ivoire do not seem to be 

oriented toward business creation and self-employment. Rather, these actions seem to have been aimed 

at explicitly teaching entrepreneurship. However, Potter (2008) and OECD (2012), in their conclusions, 

purport that education and training programs alone cannot sufficiently promote the development of 

entrepreneurial skills and competencies. 

 

4. Conceptual Framework  

This section discusses the concepts of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial culture, and the 

Action-oriented Approach and its pedagogical and didactic implications. 

4.1 Entrepreneurship 

Research on entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship-related questions unanimously admit its polysemic 

nature, making it a difficult concept to fully define in a singular study such as ours. However, several 

of its definitions are inspired by the economist Joseph Schumpeter. According to Schumpeter (1911), 

entrepreneurship is the “motor” of the economic and social dynamics of society because it consists of 

the independent development and implementation of ideas. From his perspective, entrepreneurship is 

likewise an “innovative power, which encompasses the creation of new products, production process, 

organizational structures, or alternative distribution channels” (Lindner, 2021, p. 10). 

Entrepreneurship for Lievens (2020) has a double meaning: strict and broad. In the strict sense, 

entrepreneurship is the act of creating wealth and/or employment by the creation, in whatever form, of 

an enterprise. In the broad sense, 

entrepreneurship is the ability to put an idea into practice, to set up a project, 

which can lead, among other things, to the creation of a company, but it can 

also lead to intrapreneurship (collective and organizational ability to 

encourage and support initiative-taking at all levels in a company) as well as 

to greater employability (ability to evolve autonomously within the labor 

market, so as to realize, in a sustainable way, through employment, the 

potential that one has within oneself...) (p. 2). (Note 1) [My translation] 



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In the second sense, the European Commission (2006, p. 4) argues that “entrepreneurship helps people 

in their everyday lives and workplaces to be aware of the context in which they work and to be able to 

seize opportunities” (Note 2) [My translation]. In the same line, Tounès (2003, p. 74), who states that 

entrepreneurship is  

a dynamic and complex process. It is the result of psychological, 

socio-cultural, political, and economic factors. It takes the form of attitudes, 

skills, perceptions, norms, intentions, and behaviors that manifest 

themselves in a given context. It can take various forms such as 

intrapreneurship, spin-offs, franchising, and subsidiary creation. However, 

starting a business is the most visible manifestation of entrepreneurship. It 

involves the realization of an opportunity, along with the inherent risks that 

come with it… (Note 3) [My translation] 

Entrepreneurship is best understood as the accomplishment of a series of actions that begin with the 

detection of a business opportunity leading to innovation and that materialize into an organization 

whose goal is to create value. It refers to the ability of an individual or group of individuals to 

transform ideas into action. In this respect, it generally involves the following functions or 

responsibilities: taking risks, making decisions, innovating, identifying business opportunities, and 

employing product drivers.  

4.1.1 Entrepreneurial Culture 

Studies on the concept of entrepreneurial culture always start from the understanding of the term 

culture in order to understand and operationalize it in the said studies. Unesco (1982) considers culture 

“as the set of distinctive, spiritual and material, and intellectual and affective traits that characterize a 

social group”. Rocher (1992, p. 101), quoting the British anthropologist Edward Burnett Taylor, 

defines culture as: “a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, and 

all other dispositions and habits acquired by man as a member of a society”. This last conception of 

culture seems to be more encompassing, especially as it emphasizes, at the same time, its individual 

and collective aspects. Put differently, the social group is understood by the membership of an 

individual to a more global cultural entity. From the perspective of Rocher, culture essentially aims to 

determine while constituting the reference of the action and the behavior of the individual taken 

separately and collectively.  

Based on this elucidation, entrepreneurial culture is generally accepted as a set of assets that make 

individuals and organizations (social groups or other communities) capable of adapting to the economic 

and social changes that emerge at the time of the organization‟s creation or at the time of its growth and 

development (Johannisson, 1984; Prabu, 2005; Pepin, 2009; Bensghir & Reghioui, 2015, among 

others). 

 

 



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It emerges from the preceding that the above-mentioned authors confine entrepreneurial culture to the 

unique context of the company. Their approach departs from Johannisson‟s (1984) as the latter had 

already freed the concept from this compartmentalization. Indeed, he did so by specifying that 

entrepreneurial culture values the personal characteristics associated with entrepreneurship, namely, 

individualism, marginality, the need for personal achievement, risk-taking, self-confidence, and social 

skills. In his words, the concept also values personal success while forgiving failure, encourages 

diversity and not uniformity, and encourages change and not stability. 

In Quebec, for example, the Ministry of Education, Recreation, and Sport  [ministère de l‟Éducation, 

du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) (2005) has adopted a definition of entrepreneurial culture that is not 

directly associated with business: “Entrepreneurial culture is made up of qualities and attitudes that 

express the will to undertake and to commit oneself fully to what one wants to do and to see through to 

completion: self-confidence, motivation, effort, a sense of responsibility, initiative, perseverance, 

solidarity, team spirit, resourcefulness, and determination (p. 11). (Note 4) [My translation] 

From the above, the entrepreneurial culture admits variables, characteristics, or dimensions that it is 

important to identify in order to be able to apply or identify them in a teaching-learning process. 

4.1.2 The Variables and Pedagogy of Entrepreneurial Culture 

In the literature, it is easy to see that there is no consensus on the number of variables of entrepreneurial 

culture, let alone on their identification. Bensghir and Reghioui (Op.cit, p. 68) give the reason in the 

following statement: “Attempting to standardize the characteristics and establish a single profile 

composed of a restrictive list of variables is, in our opinion, an aberration, especially since the 

characteristics of entrepreneurs are not uniform” (Note 5) [my translation].  

Although impossible to list exhaustively, entrepreneurial culture can, nevertheless, be recognized by a 

set of frequently cited variables that have in common the fact that they are transversal competencies. 

Copain (2003, cited in Bensghir and Reghioui, op. cit., p. 68) has carried out a synthesis to list them. 

These take into account:  

self-confidence, creativity, imagination, innovation, communication, 

loquacity, perseverance, tenacity, opportunism, enthusiasm, optimism, 

independence, energy, practical knowledge, risk-taking, vision, sense of 

responsibility, curiosity, management and organizational skills, leadership, 

initiative, self-actualization, negotiation, intelligence, use of resources, 

ambiguity, uncertainty, passion, commitment, flexibility, ambiguity, 

uncertainty, boldness, motivation, aggressiveness, speed of learning and 

understanding, originality, knowledge of one‟s strengths and weaknesses, 

ambition, decision making, control, pressure, critical thinking, judgment, 

synthesis, strategist, achievement, and analytical ability (Note 6) [My 

translation].  

 



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Given the diversity of variables in entrepreneurial culture, Gibb (1992) postulates that the adoption of 

specific pedagogical methods is a prerequisite for their effective and efficient appropriation. Thus, such 

pedagogy should follow his entrepreneurial model of learning supported by the following principles: 

reciprocal learning from each other (not just the teacher), learning by doing, learning through 

interpersonal exchange and debate/discussion, learning through guided discovery, learning from the 

reactions of many different people, learning in a flexible and informal environment, learning under 

pressure to achieve goals, learning by borrowing from others, learning by trial and error and 

problem-based learning (guided discovery). 

Many other research works, although less explicit than Gibb‟s (1992), have also subsequently shown 

the need for new models of entrepreneurship education that emphasize experimentation, action, or 

teaching by doing. Thus, Cronin (2007) analyzes the fact that the Action-oriented Approach is the most 

appropriate pedagogy for teaching entrepreneurship, as it is related to the holistic nature of the 

discipline. The latter, according to his logic, implies “an action-oriented teaching style that encourages 

learning through experimentation, problem-solving, and creativity on a project basis” (Note 7) [our 

translation] (p. 165). Speaking in the same vein, Kirby et al. (2006) also advocated a pedagogy that 

fosters the development of qualities such as creativity, persuasion, critical thinking, leadership, and 

problem-solving. They also recognized, with Shepherd and Douglas (1996), that an individual can only 

really learn if she/he is confronted with an environment as close as possible to reality. 

As a result, project-based pedagogy, by simultaneously playing on different registers: knowledge, 

experience, skills, attitudes, and personality, seems particularly suited to entrepreneurship (Lavoisier, 

Op.cit, p. 165). Our study will be based on the pedagogical principles of Gibb‟s 1992 model, especially 

since it appears to be not only more detailed but also more appropriate in the context of appropriation 

of entrepreneurial culture in language teaching and learning.  

4.2 The Action-oriented Approach 

4.2.1 Historical Background and Theoretical Function 

The Action-oriented Approach is a new approach that has emerged in foreign language didactics since 

the 2000s; Nevertheless, its theoretical foundations date back to the works of Dewey at the end of the 

19
th

 century, Piaget (1923), and the pedagogue Célestin Freinet (1924). Their philosophies of education 

all supported a pedagogy oriented toward action through project completion. However, the fundamental 

definition of the Action-oriented Approach comes from the Council of Europe‟s 2001 Common 

European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). According to this framework,  

“The perspective favored here is, very generally, also action-oriented in 

that it considers above all the user and the learner of a language as social 

actors having to accomplish tasks (which are not only linguistic) in 

circumstances and a given environment, within a particular field of action. 

If speech acts are carried out in linguistic activities, these activities are 

themselves inscribed within actions in a social context, which, alone, give 



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them their full meaning. There is a task insofar as the action is the work of 

one (or more) subject(s) who strategically mobilize(s) the skills they have 

at their disposal with a view to achieving a specific result” (Note 8) (p. 15). 

[My translation] 

In the light of this fundamental definition, the Action-oriented Approach integrates social coaction into 

language learning. The didactic innovation it brings advocates the use of communication, interaction, 

and coaction in order to refocus the language objective on the natural environment. In other words, 

communication and action are preferred to simple transmissive language learning in the classroom. 

Thus, the philosophy of this approach is the training of a social actor in the language classroom instead 

of a simple user of the language. Bourguignon (2006, p. 64) purposely specifies that it is a question of  

Preparing learners to use the language in unexpected situations. Doing so, 

the cognitive strategies developed should not only serve the learning of the 

language on a vertical axis (consisting in approaching structured texts in an 

increasingly complex way) but also serve the action on a horizontal axis, 

i.e., to enable him/her to approach increasingly complex situations (more 

or less familiar context, more or less stereotyped interlocutors, more or less 

targeted objective of the action...) (Note 9) [My translation] 

In the context of the Action-oriented Approach, foreign language communication is no longer limited 

to “the written or oral expression of intelligible one-way information content. Rather, it is about 

promoting communicative action that puts different speakers in perspective with their own background 

within socially and culturally meaningful interactions” (Note 10) [My translation] (Bagnoli et al., 2010, 

p. 2). The use of language in the Action-oriented Approach, thus, takes on a civic dimension and all the 

more so because, beyond its manifest content inherent to the stimulus-response paradigm, there is also 

an intentionality of the actors in presence who illustrate themselves for their own but together in the act 

of speech and in all the amplitude allowed by each communication situation. This demonstrates 

“the performativity of language, which, in an institutionalized setting such 

as the classroom, takes place in the realization of joint projects (macro & 

micro tasks) supported by different actions in which each player has the 

opportunity to interact and value divergent social points of view” (p. 2) 

(Note 11). 

The key word in this approach becomes the collective project, through which the class performs actions, 

not simulations. 

 

 

 

 

 



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4.2.2 Pedagogical and Didactic Principles 

The educational website Bienenseigner.com (Note 12) lists four (04) main principles on which the 

Action-oriented Approach is based.  

The first principle states that learning is a non-linear process that manifests itself in unpredictable ways. 

This implies that the learner is considered and treated as a “social agent, meaning someone who exerts 

agency, or more simply put, acts with intentionality to accomplish tasks within a social context” 

(Bandura, 2001). 

The second refers to directed participation. In other words, the learning process must combine social 

interaction and cognitive and reflective work in the classroom for the achievement of a concrete and 

specific learning objective. Thus, offering learners the opportunity to develop new skills through choice 

and need. 

The third requires that the learner be conceived and treated as a whole person. The teacher, therefore, 

listens to and respects the learners as full speakers and agents of their own educational destiny. Actions 

are initiated by the learners themselves rather than ordered by the teacher or the system. This stimulates 

their motivation and autonomy in learning. 

The fourth and last principle states that the learner is an active person who does not just memorize facts 

by heart or receive information, but who also engages in constructing knowledge. Therefore, his 

experience can infer from the educational process, which requires his full inclusion, that is, his personal 

social, intellectual, and cultural inclusion, in order to ensure that she/he takes advantage of a social action 

for his own benefit and that of the society.  

In the words of Puren (2004), the four principles listed above make project-based learning or 

problem-solving the ideal framework for the implementation of the Action-oriented Approach. To 

illustrate his point, Puren relies on the following definition:  

Project-based learning is, therefore, a systematic process of knowledge 

acquisition and transfer during which the learner anticipates, plans, and 

carries out, within a given time, alone or with peers and under the 

supervision of a teacher, an observable activity that results, in an 

educational context, in an assessable finished product (Note 13). (p. 6). 

The following characteristics determine the task or project in the context of the Action-oriented 

Approach: learners see themselves as social agents acting in real, authentic, and meaningful learning 

situations, the action (i.e., the task or project) has a specific goal with a real-life application, there is a 

final product or artifact, learners process authentic, real-life texts, and experiences, there are conditions 

and constraints, there is collaboration, learners draw from all their resources and develop them, and 

learners make choices, think, and act strategically. (Bienenseigner.com 2023, p. 2). 

 

 

 



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It becomes clear that the Action-oriented Approach brings about a major change in the 

teaching-learning of languages in general and English in particular. From now on, English learning 

moves from a linear process focused mainly on linguistic structures to a process organized around the 

completion of real-life collaborative tasks or projects whose main objective is not the development of 

communicative competence in English. In the dynamics of the Action-oriented Approach, learners do 

not simply learn English but rather experience it as they engage in tasks or projects toward an 

assessable end product that is not limited to English language proficiency. 

Also, considering English language learners as “social agents” places them at the core of learning. This 

implies that the learner should be actively involved in the learning process and be allowed to use all 

their resources to accomplish the task or project. This also involves recognizing the social nature of 

language use, in which meaning is co-constructed, and the interaction that occurs between the social 

and individual dimensions in the learning process (Council of Europe, 2020). 

 

5. The Action-oriented Approach to English Language Teaching-Learning and the Development 

of Entrepreneurial Competence 

As mentioned earlier in this paper, Entrepreneurship is the completion of a series of actions starting 

with the detection of a business opportunity leading to innovation and which materializes into an 

organization whose goal is to create value. Thus, entrepreneurship refers to the ability of an individual 

or a group of individuals to transform ideas into action. In a nutshell, an individual is considered to 

have developed entrepreneurial competence when he or she is generally able to perform the following 

functions or responsibilities: take risks, make decisions, innovate, identify business opportunities, and 

employ product factors. 

It has equally been mentioned that, above all, the Action-oriented Approach considers the user and the 

learner of a language as social actors having to complete tasks (which are not only linguistic) in a given 

environment and circumstance, within a particular field of action. Therefore, we have specified that it is 

implemented through the realization of projects or real-life tasks or through project completion. 

The section below lists some of the skills or responsibilities of entrepreneurial culture and shows 

clearly how the Action-oriented Approach favors their development or appropriation in language 

teaching-learning. 

5.1 Adopting the Action-oriented Approach to English Language Teaching-learning: An Ideal 

Framework for Developing Risk-taking and Decision-Making 

In line with what has already been said above, the Action-oriented Approach to language 

teaching-learning involves learning through real-life tasks or projects. Applied to the teaching of 

English, the teacher conducts a needs analysis to come up with a list of tasks or projects that are 

targeted to real-life situations that the learners have to accomplish. In this way, the teacher ensures that 

these tasks or projects incorporate English language skills that learners use to interact in order to 

achieve an extralinguistic end product or meaningful artifact. 



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Learners in this perspective work in groups and by negotiating in the English language to solve any 

problems or situations that stand in the way of achieving the final product. Doing so, they judge the 

primacy of the meaning of the task or project and call upon their own resources for the completion of the 

task/project. The completion of the task/project is prioritized at their convenience. Also, the 

implementation of the task/project as well as their own performance is evaluated in terms of results. 

Project-based or task-based learning, therefore, requires the learner to make decisions and take risks in 

order to achieve the intended goal. Such risk-taking and decision-making begin with the individual or 

collective organization of the task before extending to its completion and then to the presentation of the 

final product. 

Indeed, here, since the learner is not in a context that favors memorization and mechanical repetition of 

meaning or language inputs imposed by the teacher, he or she is forced to decide on the linguistic 

structures that will enable him/her to convey the desired meaning. This also has to do with risk-taking 

on his part to the extent that the concerned structures may prove inappropriate. However, this 

risk-taking is salutary, especially since it contributes either to the consolidation of these structures, 

insofar as they are appropriate, or to the search for and discovery of those appropriate in the event that 

the former is not. 

In addition to taking risks and making decisions, the Action-oriented Approach as implemented 

through project or task/problem-solving pedagogy confers a certain autonomy to the learner in the 

English learning process. She/he, therefore, initiates her/his language learning actions with full 

autonomy, responsibility, and knowledge of her/his strengths and weaknesses, which are all key values 

of entrepreneurial competence. 

5.2 Adopting the Action-oriented Approach to English Language Teaching-learning: An Approach 

That Allows the Development of Learners’ Capacity for Innovation 

The previous section briefly presented the didactic and pedagogical practices of the Action-oriented 

Approach to English language learning. This section follows the same logic and will, therefore, 

highlight the development of the capacity for innovation offered by the Action-oriented Approach. 

English language learners in the context of the Action-oriented Approach are expected to process 

authentic, real-life texts and experiences in order to achieve a product that is not solely related to English 

language proficiency. To do so, not only do they draw from all of their prior linguistic and 

extra-linguistic resources, but they also target the ultimate goal of developing them, and this is where 

their capacity for innovation comes into play. In other words, the completion of the project or task does 

not imply a simple repetition of these previous resources but their use and evaluation in view of new 

constructions. 

For example, a project for an English course for tourism students consisting in elaborating and presenting 

in plenary a guide to convince and guide English-speaking tourists to visit their village would not be 

realized by tacitly reusing an existing guide. The students, in this case, would exploit or adapt existing 

guides to develop a new one that fits the specificities of the task assigned to them. Innovation here, as in 



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entrepreneurship, consists in using existing products, i.e., identifying their strengths and weaknesses, to 

produce new ones that respond to precise or specific needs.  

Clearly, learning English from an action-oriented perspective, through its project-based and task-solving 

pedagogy, facilitates the development of learners‟ ability to innovate. Besides, such pedagogy allows the 

learner to develop entrepreneurial values such as a sense of responsibility, curiosity, management and 

organizational skills, critical thinking, and judgment. The particularity of such a task lies in its 

alignment with the principles of the entrepreneurial learning model supported by Gibb (1992) and 

developed above. 

5.3 Teaching English from an Action-oriented Perspective: A Pedagogy to Develop Learners’ Ability to 

Identify Business Opportunities and Use Product Factors 

One of the key values of entrepreneurial competence or culture is the ability to identify business 

opportunities in order to maximize them, i.e., to use product factors. It is possible to develop this value 

in the context of project-based pedagogy as advocated by the Action-oriented Approach. Indeed, when 

given a task or a project, learners of English first analyze it in order to determine or identify the 

possibilities of its realization by them. They examine the conditions and constraints of the task/project, 

draw on all their resources to make choices, and think and act strategically. Once this critical thinking 

exercise is conducted on the task or project, learners call upon and use linguistic and extra-linguistic 

resources to perform the task.  

In the above example, as the tourism students analyze the instruction to understand it, seek to identify 

the specific actions to be carried out for designing the guide as well as the various information to be 

inserted in it, and analyze other guides for inspiration, they are in the process of identifying the 

feasibility of the project, which, in entrepreneurship, corresponds to the ability to identify the business 

opportunity. The same way as in entrepreneurship, after identifying the business opportunity, one 

proceeds to maximize it. In English language learning, after analyzing the feasibility of the project, the 

students proceed to its completion in an effort to come up with the final product. They use the factors 

or the various resources at their disposal to achieve the design of the product, which is the tourist guide 

in this case. 

From the above, teaching English from an action-oriented perspective is a real means to develop 

learners‟ ability to identify real-life business opportunities and use the resources at their disposal to 

produce a final product. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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6. Discussion 

Faced with the challenge of socio-professional integration of their graduates, education systems 

worldwide, particularly those in underdeveloped and developing countries, are under great pressure that 

requires the development of innovative teaching processes that can enable learners to acquire and 

develop the skills needed to engage in real-life activities. 

In Côte d‟Ivoire, this urgency requires that the educational system, as a whole, be reviewed in order to 

offer an effective and efficient appropriation of entrepreneurial skills and competencies. The direct 

implication of such a reality is that from now on, any teaching-learning process will be invested with a 

double objective, namely the appropriation of knowledge of the discipline in question, on the one hand, 

and the development of entrepreneurial skills and competencies, on the other hand. 

The issue of entrepreneurial culture is, therefore, of national interest. Thus, the present study on the 

development of entrepreneurial competence through the teaching-learning of languages in general, and 

English in particular, is of the same interest and relevance. This relevance is perceptible at two levels. 

First, the dominant thought in Côte d‟Ivoire, when it comes to addressing the question of 

entrepreneurship, concentrates on scientific, technical, or professional fields. The fields of arts and 

literature are generally, wrongly from our point of view, considered as being purely speculative and, 

therefore, not really contributing to the challenge of entrepreneurship. The current study takes the 

opposite view of such dominant thinking by highlighting the significant contribution of the 

Action-oriented Approach to language teaching in general and English in particular, to the development 

of the skills and attitudes that make up entrepreneurial competence. We can, therefore, conclude that 

language teaching-learning can, like other disciplines already considered as the traditional channels of 

entrepreneurship, lead to the development of an entrepreneurial culture. It will just be a matter of 

adopting approaches that favor such action, namely, the Action-oriented Approach. 

Second, it is obvious that most educational policies and practices aimed at promoting entrepreneurial 

culture in Côte d‟Ivoire have so far opted for a purely deductive approach. This means that 

entrepreneurship in the Ivorian educational system is taught explicitly. Also noticeable is that such an 

approach has not yet achieved the desired objectives. Indeed, teaching entrepreneurship modules, even 

if they are well assimilated, does not guarantee that learners have actually managed to develop the 

practical skills and attitudes required for entrepreneurial competence. The advantage of adopting the 

Action-oriented Approach to language teaching, particularly English, is the development and 

appropriation of these values in an inductive way. Clearly, learners in the action-oriented perspective 

are engaged in real-life tasks or projects that require the mobilization of resources, skills, and attitudes 

that form the basis of entrepreneurial competence to achieve a final product that is not restricted to 

communication in English. Thus, instead of memorizing concepts or notions related to entrepreneurship, 

learners in the language classroom unconsciously appropriate the entrepreneurial mindset and culture. 

 

 



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Therefore, the reflection on the contribution of the Action-oriented Approach to English 

teaching-learning to the appropriation of the entrepreneurial culture is a good context to better 

understand how language teaching should be conceived.  Hence, this paper effectively responds to the 

current socio-professional realities in Côte d‟Ivoire.  

 

7. Conclusion 

It is commonly agreed that no major social change is possible without language. This implies that 

language always plays a core role in social life. In that light, the field of language teaching and learning 

should also play a crucial role in dealing with the challenges related to socio-professional integration of 

graduates faced with in underdeveloped and developing countries. That is, states‟ leaders in those 

counties resorting to entrepreneurship as the only way out, calls on language teaching-learning field to 

be vested with the double objective of appropriating the knowledge of the discipline in question and 

developing entrepreneurial skills and competencies. The Action-oriented Approach best responds to 

this requirement in language education as it leads to the appropriation of the three core entrepreneurial 

skills namely risk-taking and decision-making skills, the capacity to innovate and the ability to identify 

business opportunities and make use of them to manufacture a concrete product. Howbeit, empirical 

implementation of Action-oriented Approach would depict the worries and pitfalls that might occur 

during its implementation. Hence, further studies are needed to explore that path.  

 

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Notes 

Note 1. l‟entrepreneuriat est la capacité de concrétiser une idée, de se mettre en projet, ce qui peut 

mener, entre autres, à la création d‟une entreprise, mais cela peut mener également à l‟intrapreneuriat 

(capacité collective et organisationnelle pour encourager et accompagner la prise d‟initiatives, à tous 

niveaux dans une entreprise) ainsi qu‟à une plus grande employabilité (capacité d'évoluer de façon 

autonome à l'intérieur du marché du travail, de façon à réaliser, de manière durable, par l'emploi, le 

potentiel qu'on a en soi…) (p. 2). 

Note 2. L‟entrepreneuriat aide tout individu dans sa vie de tous les jours et sur son lieu de travail à être 

conscient du contexte dans lequel s‟inscrit son travail, et à être en mesure de saisir les occasions qui se 

présentent (Commission européenne, 2006, p. 4). 

 

 

 



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Note 3. Nous considérons l‟entrepreneuriat comme un processus dynamique et complexe. Il est le fruit 

de facteurs psychologiques, socioculturels, politiques et   économiques. Il prend la forme d‟attitudes, 

d‟aptitudes, de perceptions, de normes, d‟intentions et de comportements qui se manifestent dans un 

contexte donné. Il peut s‟exprimer sous diverses formes telles que l‟intrapreneuriat, l‟essaimage, la 

franchise ou la filialisation. Cependant, la création d‟entreprise constitue pour nous la manifestation la 

plus visible de l‟entrepreneuriat. Elle prend le sens de la concrétisation d‟une opportunité avec les 

risques y afférents. 

Note 4. La culture entrepreneuriale est constituée de qualités et d‟attitudes exprimant la volonté 

d‟entreprendre et de s‟engager pleinement dans ce que l‟on veut faire et mener à terme: la confiance en 

soi, la motivation, l‟effort, le sens des responsabilités, l‟initiative, la persévérance, la solidarité, l‟esprit 

d‟équipe, la débrouillardise et la détermination (p. 11). 

Note 5. Vouloir uniformiser les caractéristiques et établir un profil unique composé d‟une liste 

limitative de variables est, à notre avis aberrant. D‟autant plus que les caractéristiques que présentent 

les entrepreneurs ne sont pas uniformes. 

Note 6. la confiance en soi, la créativité, l‟imagination, l‟innovation, la communication, la loquacité, la 

persévérance, la ténacité, l‟opportunisme, l‟enthousiasme, l‟optimisme, l‟indépendance, l‟énergie, les 

connaissances pratiques, la prise de risque, la vision, le sens des responsabilités, la curiosité, le sens de 

la gestion et de l‟organisation, le leadership, la prise d‟initiative, l‟accomplissement de soi, la 

négociation, l‟intelligence, l‟utilisation des ressources, l‟ambiguïté, l‟incertitude, la passion, 

l‟engagement, la souplesse, la flexibilité, l‟ambiguïté, l‟incertitude, l‟audace, la motivation, 

l‟agressivité, la rapidité d‟apprentissage et de compréhension, l‟originalité, la connaissance de ses 

forces et de ses faiblesses, l‟ambition, la prise de décision, le contrôle, la pression, l‟esprit critique, le 

jugement, l‟esprit de synthèse, le stratège, la réalisation, la capacité d‟analyse. 

Note 7. Un style d‟enseignement orienté sur l‟action, qui encourage l‟apprentissage par 

l‟expérimentation, la résolution de problèmes, la créativité et ceci à partir d‟un projet (p. 165). 

Note 8. La perspective privilégiée ici est, très généralement aussi, de type actionnel en ce qu‟elle 

considère avant tout l‟usager et l‟apprenant d‟une langue comme des acteurs sociaux ayant à accomplir 

des tâches (qui ne sont pas seulement langagières) dans des circonstances et un environnement donné, à 

l‟intérieur d‟un domaine d‟action particulier. Si les actes de parole se réalisent dans des activités 

langagières, celles-ci s‟inscrivent elles-mêmes à l‟intérieur d‟actions en contexte social qui seules leur 

donnent leur pleine signification. Il y a tâche dans la mesure où l‟action est le fait d‟un (ou de plusieurs) 

sujet(s) qui y mobilise(nt) stratégiquement des compétences dont il(s) dispose(nt) en vue de parvenir à 

un résultat déterminé. 

Note 9. Préparer les apprenants à utiliser la langue dans des situations imprévues. Ainsi, les stratégies 

cognitives développées ne devront pas être uniquement au service de l‟apprentissage de la langue sur 

un axe vertical (consistant à aborder des textes structurés de manière toujours plus complexe) mais 

aussi au service de l‟action sur un axe horizontal, c‟est-à-dire pour lui permettre d‟aborder des 



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situations de plus en plus complexes (contexte plus ou moins familier, interlocuteurs plus ou moins 

stéréotypés, objectif de l‟action plus ou moins ciblé…). 

Note 10. L‟expression écrite ou orale de contenus informatifs intelligibles à sens unique. Il s‟agit plutôt 

de promouvoir un agir communicationnel mettant en perspective les différents locuteurs avec leurs 

propres bagages au sein d‟interactions socialement et culturellement significatives. (Bagnoli et al., 

2010, p. 2). 

Note 11. La performativité du langage et dans un cadre institutionnalisé comme la salle de classe, elle 

s‟opère dans la réalisation de projets en commun (macro & micro-tâches) étayés par différentes actions 

dans lesquelles chaque acteur a l‟occasion d‟interagir et de valoriser des points de vue sociaux 

divergents. 

Note 12. Bienenseigner.com is an educational website that aims to help teachers find effective methods, 

attractive and innovative tools, to teach well. Visit on 10/04/2023 at 10:51pm. 

Note 13. L‟apprentissage par projet est donc un processus systématique d'acquisition et de transfert de 

connaissances au cours duquel l‟apprenant anticipe, planifie et réalise, dans un temps déterminé, seul 

ou avec des pairs et sous la supervision d‟un enseignant, une activité observable qui aboutit, dans un 

contexte éducatif, à un produit fini évaluable. Proulx (2004). 

 

  


