1The point of intersection between formal learning – which is institutional, structured, and intentional (Mangenot, 2011) – and informal learning, embedded in everyday experiences and occurrences “outside the curricula of educational institutions” (Schugurensky, 2000), has attracted growing interest in language didactics (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008; Silva et Brougère, 2016; Babault et al., 2022).
2This article explores how mediation, as presented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages’ Companion Volume (CEFR-CV, CoE, 2020), can bridge formal and informal practices to foster learners’ sense of control and agency. Drawing on examples from different English-teaching contexts (Economics and Management, British civilisation, grammar), we illustrate how mediation-based tasks can reduce the gap between formal and informal knowledge, as well as foster learner empowerment by aligning personal and institutional goals (Luechauer & Shulman, 1993), ultimately strengthening a sense of ownership over the learning content.
3Mediation is defined as the act of reducing “the gap between two poles […] in tension with each other.” This “tension” should be understood positively, as “moving in the direction of” (Coste & Cavalli, 2015, p. 12), and may arise from unfamiliarity between individuals or individuals and knowledge (p. 27). More broadly, as a linguistic activity, it involves “(re)processing an existing text,” a competence that “[occupies] an important place in the normal linguistic functioning of our societies” (CEFR Section 2.1.3, in CoE, 2020, p. 32).
4Before the CECR-CV, mediation “tended to be reduced to interpretation and translation” (North & Piccardo, 2016, p. 5). However, the updated framework expands this notion by accounting for evolving communication modes, particularly written interaction, which has “become one of the most frequent activities of our everyday lives due to the mass introduction of information and communication technologies” (p. 6). Mediation now encompasses not only cross-linguistic processes but also those across modes of communication or emotions, and experiences. Such tasks recognise these elements as valuable resources, positioning students as knowledgeable mediators. Learners often possess expertise rooted in personal experience, which makes them ideally placed to mediate unfamiliar concepts to peers who are “less capable” (Piccardo & North, 2019, p. 236) regarding others’ experiences. This recognition can be empowering, as it acknowledges students’ unique contributions and promotes ownership of their learning.
5The CEFR-CV underlines the relationship between mediation and empowerment by defining learners as “social agents” (Piccardo & North, 2019, p.24) and by placing mediation and agency at its core (p. 85). It focuses on personal knowledge, sharing of information, and engaging with creative texts. Tasks that invite learners to connect texts from their informal learning practices to new content support them in “making things happen” (Bandura, 2001, p. 2).
6Alsop and Heinsohn (2005) define empowerment as the expansion of agency and the institutional opportunity to act on what one values. In this sense, tasks that give students the opportunity to contribute meaningfully can enhance their sense of agency. Empowerment also requires teachers to offer genuine choices and recognise students as “responsible agents” (Sen, 1985), “making them feel valued for being themselves” (Broom, 2015, p. 83) and respecting their interests and abilities (p. 85). We argue that setting tasks allowing learners to choose and draw on what is meaningful to them can enhance feelings of competence and perceived impact on the course’s direction.
7This connection between mediation and empowerment should ideally influence task design. A framework developed by Fierro Porto and Schofield (2022) applied to an online English course for Economics and Management undergraduates illustrates how mediation-focused design can support learner agency. Tasks integrate resources such as extracts from profession-based fiction (Petit, 1999) to align with students’ informal practices identified through a survey at the start of the academic year. Students are also invited to choose their own complementary resources and share their productions in an online forum, echoing their digital habits and reinforcing their sense of ownership.
8As Piccardo and North (2019) observe, informal interactions often involve engagement with media, as they suggest that “reading a good book or seeing a good film tends to lead to talking about it” (p. 234). Therefore, although tasks use profession-based fiction as a starting point, they need not be “limited to texts used in class” and should involve learners independently researching topics and sharing findings (p. 234), reinforcing their role as mediators. Fierro Porto and Schofield (2022) describe this as giving students “carte blanche,” allowing them to “own and influence what they study” (Larsen-Freeman et al., 2021, p. 7). The course’s scenarios encourage learners to apply personal experiences and informal knowledge to clarify concepts and illustrate arguments, effectively engaging in mediation strategies.
9The framework also foregrounds ethical dilemmas in professional contexts as a way to “reduce the gap” (Coste & Cavalli, 2015, p. 12) between specialised language and learners’ real-world knowledge. Fiction set in the workplace, complemented by student-selected resources, allows convergence between learners’ limited professional experience and reflection on their future in the field, since reacting to the challenges faced by fictional workers can help learners to reflect on their future roles and thus imagine themselves navigating “challenges and opportunities in life beyond the classroom” (Larsen-Freeman et al., 2021, p. 26).
10These tasks make abstract concepts more accessible, show learners that they already possess relevant and – perhaps unrecognised – knowledge, validate experiences beyond the professional sphere, and encourage personal identification with task values (Frymier et al., 1996 in Pan, 2022, p. 3). As in Webb’s mediated-learning activities, students are prompted to “provide reasons,” “focus on particular issues,” and consider “alternative perspectives” (2009, p. 16 in Piccardo & North, 2019, p. 237), fostering a “feeling of ownership” and a “sense of control” (Larsen-Freeman et al., 2021, p. 26) over their contributions. Open-ended tasks with no predetermined answers align with recommendations to support agency, as they are said to “allow students to apply skills such as critical thinking” (p. 9).
11The two following examples of student productions from the Economics course designed using this framework aim to show how integrating personal practices into formal contexts can empower students to take ownership of resources while addressing real-world issues related to future careers. Assessment in this course prioritised participation, creativity, risk-taking, and the relevance of ideas over formal correctness. In line with Bourguignon (2009), the ability to use language effectively in context was prioritised over linguistic accuracy, and followed Mangenot’s (2017) view which highlights tolerance for deviations from the norm in computer-mediated communication. No specific resource type was preferred, as what mattered most was the relevance of the content used to illustrate formal arguments, whilst being linked to personal experience and informal practices. Essentially, students were marked according to mediation descriptors, and whether they linked new concepts to previous knowledge – summarised or paraphrased – relayed information, or reacted to both course and self-selected creative texts.
12In this task, students were asked to reflect on whether being scammed is easier or harder today compared to two decades ago, in light of the Internet’s role in enabling or curbing fraud. They also had to consider whether public awareness of scams has improved or whether risks have increased. Students were positioned as mediators of knowledge, encouraged to share personal experiences with online fraud, scams, or involvement with multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, and could choose their own angle, with no expected outcome. The task prompted explanations of “new information by making comparisons, by describing how it relates to something the recipient already knows,” such as “previous material” or “background knowledge of the world” (CoE, 2020, p. 126). As this question stemmed from extracts of the profession-based fiction used, students could “relate events in a story […] to similar events he/she has experienced or heard about” (p. 116), “explain how something works by providing examples which draw upon people’s everyday experiences” (p. 128), “make concepts or subjects in his/her fields of interest more accessible by giving concrete examples” (p. 129), and collate “information and arguments from different sources” (p. 110).
- 1 Figures 1a and 1b are anonymised student productions formatted by the author for the purpose of the (...)
13In the following production (Figure 1a)1, the student realised that Amway operated as an MLM company after peers shared their experiences, leading her to identify Amway products at home and uncover a family member’s involvement in the company. This sparked informal conversations with her relatives and provided insight into the topic within a non-academic context.
Figure 1a. Student production, including personal experience
14While these discussions likely occurred in a language other than English, the student re-expressed specialised concepts encountered in the classroom through interpersonal interaction, which she then reexplained and summarised in the foreign language, drawing connections between specialised knowledge and lived experience, and associating new terms with her “everyday experiences” (CoE, 2020, p. 128) and broader knowledge of “the world” (Longuet & Springer, 2021, p. 142). By doing so, she effectively engaged in mediation aligned with CEFR-CV criteria. We argue that tasks like these can allow students to feel competent engaging with complex topics in less abstract ways, and as a chosen act, which could have an impact on “less capable” (Piccardo & North, 2019, p. 236) peers’ understanding of disciplinary knowledge in the foreign language.
15In the second task, students were asked to illustrate types of lies from research in psychology, using self-selected examples, guiding them to reduce the gap between the specialised topic of communication techniques and their informal practices. This task reflected the course’s broader focus on ethics in professional communication, specifically on strategies that neutralise immoral behaviour (Sykes & Matza, 1957) and how truth can be subtly concealed through language.
- 2 Cherry, M. (Executive Producer). (2004, October 3). Desperate Housewives [Broadcast]. Cherry Produc (...)
16One student (Figure 1b) chose a scene from Desperate Housewives2, showing a lie in a sales setting, making a direct link between informal media and the studied professional field, and even recommending the show to peers, which, we suggest, could have an impact on others’ informal practices.
Figure 1b. Student production quoting a television series
17By validating learners’ interests, these tasks can make specialised topics and communication-related processes more accessible. This not only enhances students’ perceived competence in addressing the topics (Schofield, 2023) but also encourages them to see their everyday activities as valuable learning experiences.
18In the Economics course used as an example here, students gravitate towards familiar resources, such as television shows, news or blog articles, that resemble those initially incorporated by the teacher. This may reflect a tendency to default to well-known formats but also points to a need to raise learners’ awareness of the value of other informal resources they already engage with outside the classroom.
19To address this, teachers can play a key role in introducing a wider variety of resources, and emphasize their relevance to the tasks’ communication goals and focus in terms of concepts. This includes showing learners how content such as social media posts, videos, or forum discussions can relate to, inform, and enrich the issues explored in class.
20The following examples are intended to offer suggestions to educators for incorporating informal resources into the language classroom. These illustrative ideas, rather than making up a comprehensive study, aim to highlight ways in which such resources might encourage critical reflection or pragmatic language use in different English-teaching contexts.
21TikTok3, for instance, presents significant potential for addressing professional and ethical dilemmas in a relatable format. Many videos cover topics like MLM schemes, workplace communication, gender roles in office dynamics, or conflict resolution. Relevant examples include series like “How do you professionally say…4” and “Work people tips5,” or individual posts such as “I will always address the woman first in the actual email6” or “My MLM story7.” These first-person narratives encourage student identification with creators, and support mediating a text activities involving opinion-sharing and reflection.
22Such videos can be used as listening comprehension materials or identifying key vocabulary related to workplace roles, hierarchies, or communication strategies. Students can also work on summarising and paraphrasing the videos or use them to spark broader discussions on workplace norms and issues, reusing specialised language in context. Such activities also build pragmatic and intercultural awareness, by focusing on tone, register, or politeness in professional scenarios.
23Reddit8 is also worth considering, especially as nearly half of its users are aged between 18 and 29 as of June 20249. Popular threads often address ethical dilemmas in professional contexts, providing an entry point for students with limited work experience to think critically about workplace behaviour and common issues. These posts can be used for paraphrasing tasks or other reading comprehension tasks requiring the identification of specialised vocabulary related to professional settings. Moreover, Reddit discussions also serve as authentic examples of online written communication and offer insight into the language used in these exchanges, including expressions of disagreement, politeness or assertiveness, and into interactive mediation activities such as building “on other people’s ideas,” linking them “into coherent lines of thinking” (CoE, 2020, p. 121), or “referring to the views of others” (p. 117), with the aim of “understanding others’ positions” (Piccardo & North, 2019, p. 235).
Figure 2. Suggestions for the use of Reddit discussions in Business English
24Lastly, such posts can serve as examples or inspiration for learners’ choices in their own contributions for class and encourage them to see everyday digital practices as valid spaces for language development. Using content from these different platforms in class can therefore increase learners’ awareness of learning opportunities within their informal sphere. In Figure 2 are some suggestions of Reddit threads which could be relevant for the Economics course described previously, as they cover similar topics of communication techniques, dishonesty, or scams.
- 10 Morgan, P., Daldry, S., Harries, A., Martin, P., & Mackie, S. (Executive Producers). (2016, Novembe (...)
- 11 Jay Foreman (Director). (2017, July 31). How do you become a Lord? [Video recording]. https://www.y (...)
- 12 Sashin, E., Monroe, M., Cogan, D., Garbus, L., Browning, B., Pysnik, C., Bardin, J., Chapple, M., (...)
- 13 Duchess of Sussex, M., Pysnik, C., Saidman, A., Holzman, E., & Hariton, L. (Executive Producers). ( (...)
- 14 Sussex, P. H. T. D. of. (2023). Spare (1st ed.). Bantam.
- 15 Falconer, B. J. (Executive Producer). (2018, December 21). Derry Girls [Broadcast]. Hat Trick Produ (...)
- 16 Spence, P., Hughes, G., Bondy, N., Gale, B., Strong, J., & Williams, J. (Executive Producers). (202 (...)
25When it comes to cultural topics, even when based on broad definitions of what the CEFR-CV calls creative texts, some may not easily elicit identification or personal response. While The Crown10, for instance, can be a valuable pedagogical tool, providing learners with rich input for oral comprehension, exposure to varied British accents, and insights into historical knowledge, other informal resources may encourage the kinds of mediation tasks described here more directly, especially if they facilitate identification and personal response. Students may struggle to relate to Queen Elizabeth II’s experiences in the same way they could envisage themselves as future bankers depicted in profession-based fiction or informal content about everyday workplace dynamics. Nevertheless, open-ended questions about values or ethics remain relevant across teaching contexts. By leveraging popularised content, teachers can make abstract issues seem more relatable and help students activate prior knowledge on topics they may initially consider unfamiliar. For instance, debates on the morality and legitimacy of institutions like the House of Lords can be introduced via accessible creators like Jay Foreman from the Politics Unboringed11 channel. British institutions can be made more relatable through the lens of shared cultural references, such as the Royal Family’s presence in mainstream media resources. These include Netflix series Harry & Meghan12 or With Love, Meghan13, Harry Sussex’s memoir Spare14, or those covering media speculation around Kate Middleton and celebrity appearances at the Queen’s lying-in-state. Dramatised fiction based on real events can also provide strong foundations for mediation tasks focused on morality and personal response. Derry Girls15, which depicts teenagers during the Northern Ireland conflict, or a dramatisation of the Post Office Scandal16, may resonate more with students’ lives than series depicting the Royal Family directly. The involvement of familiar actors, such as Nicola Coughlan, can spark further interest and foster a sense of competence in students when engaging with these resources.
- 17 Niko Omilana (Director). (2021, June 2). How I Won The London Mayor Election [Video recording]. htt (...)
26We suggest that if educators consistently refer to a wide array of creative texts, students would be more likely to follow suit and see their own media habits as valid learning tools. As just one example to support this suggestion, in a British civilisation course during which the aforementioned resources had been used as classroom materials, one learner spontaneously brought up YouTube influencer Niko Omilana’s video “How I Won The London Mayor Election17” as part of a discussion on the UK electoral system. This suggests that fostering an environment in which relatable content is presented as being relevant to course content can lead learners to choose to bring them up spontaneously, thus fostering agency, and contributing to learner empowerment.
- 18 Studio Lambert Scotland, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (Executive Producer). (2023, Februa (...)
- 19 Perkins, S., & Denkinson, K. (Hosts). Carrie Jade Does Not Exist [Audio podcast]. Acast. https://sh (...)
- 20 Knowles, B. (2008). If I Were a Boy [Audio recording]. Columbia Records.
27Even in form-focused courses like grammar, informal resources can be meaningfully integrated. Though character or event identification is less relevant, such media can still support language awareness. Suggestions to illustrate this include an excerpt from reality series The Traitors18 being used to illustrate unusual reflexive pronoun usage (e.g. “I’m voting for yourself”) in an undergraduate grammar class. A clip from the podcast Carrie Jade Does Not Exist19 showed unconventional use of the past perfect (“His name had been Liam and they got engaged”). In the same course, during a discussion on conditional forms, one student spontaneously referenced Beyoncé’s lyrics, “If I were a boy20”, unprompted, as an example of hypothetical language.
28Although these examples are merely descriptive occurrences, they suggest that validating students’ informal practices could heighten their awareness of prior knowledge stemming from their own activities and make them more willing to share these insights in class, when a learning environment in which they feel competent, and these practices feel valued, is being fostered. As Larsen-Freeman et al. (2021) note, “students who find personal relevance in what they are learning are more likely to perceive and act on affordances for the development of their agency in their learning contexts” (p. 19). In turn, students who find personal meaning in what they learn in class may be more attentive to language use during informal practices.
- 21 Our suggested translation for: « Il peut sembler paradoxal de vouloir reconnaître l’apprentissage i (...)
29This article has illustrated how mediation, as defined in the CEFR-CV, can provide a framework for empowering learners to embrace the blurred line between what is perceived as formal or informal knowledge. While it may seem “paradoxical to want to recognise informal learning at the risk of distorting its very essence21” (Rivens-Mompean, 2022, §36), empowerment begins with educators acting as mediators by validating learners’ prior knowledge and incorporating informal resources into the curriculum. Such an approach can help students to see informal media as offering genuine learning potential, encouraging them to seek and share affordances in class, becoming mediators themselves. When student perspectives are valued, even concepts seemingly distant from their immediate experience can be presented in ways that make them feel competent in their contributions, and even discussions on morality or legitimacy can gain traction when grounded in relatable content. Our examples suggest that this integration is feasible across varied teaching contexts, including form-focused courses, provided that activities remain open and allow some “degree of uncertainty” (Larsen-Freeman et al., 2021, p. 26). In this sense, valuing everyday practices can enrich formal instruction, enabling learners to feel competent, recognised, and empowered as mediators in their own learning.