The community of learners values experience as the stimulus for growth and change. Learning comes from active response, evaluation of ideas and events, interactions with texts, discussion with others, and construction of knowledge. In a learning environment, students are given time to articulate and revise what they know. Teachers structure classrooms so that experiences address their as well as students' interests. They orchestrate experiences within or outside the classroom so that students can call upon these as sources of language use.
Language is the primary medium for teaching, growth, and change.
The learning event is a social interaction with language. By communicating, learners articulate and make of learning something that can be reflected upon, becoming conscious and critical about the change in their knowledge. Teachers and learners assume many roles, often shared, often overlapping, always interdependent and interactive. They respect each other in these roles. Teachers provide information and direction, respond thoughtfully to students' efforts, demonstrate appropriate actions and attitudes, and systematically observe students to assess their progress toward desired ends.