Linguistic Risk-Taking: A Bridge Between the Classroom and the Outside World

This article describes an initiative launched at a Canadian bilingual university in order to encourage L2 French and English learners take ‘linguistic risks’: authentic, autonomous communicative acts where are pushed out of their linguistic comfort zone. The was operationalized through the development Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport, which contains 74 risks that students can across campus everyday life. An analysis interviews with participating teachers (n=6) learner self-report data from completed passports (n=410) examines how integrated into classroom passport items were perceived by as particularly high-risk. A cyclical process risk-taking within broad Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) framework is described viewed learner-selected tasks dynamic affective slant; be used connect learning real-life use vice versa. illustrate help TBLT practitioners generate ideas on narrow gap between real-world. concludes list practical implications suggestions for adapting other institutional contexts.