Variations autour de la tâche dans l'enseignement / apprentissage des langues aujourd'hui

At a time when action- and task-based learning is sustained by the European Council, this paper explores which types of tasks are given to second language learners today and what aspects these tasks have in common. The paper analyses two recent issues of scientific journals and one collective book. The analysis shows that the majority of pedagogical scenarios described in these texts claim to adopt an action- and task-based approach. However, in reality the way they define a task does not always correspond to the definition given by the European Framework of Reference for Languages. The described tasks are exclusively dedicated to higher and professional education; they are mostly single tasks, but they can also be projects and simulations including several successive tasks. They generally correspond to the learners' (future) reality, with themes that are nevertheless sometimes a little bit less “pragmatic”, like artistic or (inter)cultural ones. Contrary to what one might have expected within an approach that gives responsibility to the learner and where public access to the learners' productions is valued, the pedagogical scenarios do not systematically integrate the use of the Internet