Investigating the Vocational Orientation (VO) Approach. A Qualitative Study of VO as a Didactic Approach to Teaching and Learning English in Upper Secondary Vocational Education in Norway

Abstract

This article-based thesis investigates the vocational orientation (VO) approach to the teaching and learning of L2 English in Norwegian upper secondary vocational programmes. More specifically, it investigates how, on the one hand, teachers view, understand and make use of VO teaching, and on the other hand, how students interpret and respond to the VO approach. It also investigates classroom practices. Article 1 reports on English teachers’ views on and experiences with VO teaching. Article 2 investigates vocational students’ views of factors in the learning environment that influence their engagement in L2 English lessons. Article 3 utilises classroom observations to examine the vocabulary instruction that occurs as part of VO teaching. The findings show that VO can have a favourable impact on English teaching and learning in vocational study programmes. It also demonstrates how VO functions as a didactic approach to stimulate vocational students’ engagement with-in this case-English language learning. The thesis concludes that VO can make a substantial contribution to student engagement but warns against prioritising students’ perceptions of relevance at the expense of a relevant learning outcome. Furthermore, it serves as a reminder that VO teaching requires the same thoughtful consideration and planning as any other type of teaching to be successful.