Mediation Tasks in Teaching Czech as a Second Language: A Classroom-Based Study

Abstract This classroom-based study explores how CEFR-aligned mediation tasks can be incorporated into an A2 Czech-as-a-second-language university course for Erasmus+ students. Drawing on plurilingual and action-oriented perspectives (Council of Europe, 2020; Piccardo & North, 2019), it examines task feasibility and learner engagement across three activities: text mediation, mediation of concepts, and crosslinguistic mediation. Data from a reflective teacher-researcher diary and post-task questionnaires (n = 9) suggest that all three tasks were manageable at A2 and were experienced as meaningful. Learners reported increased willingness to participate, greater confidence in interaction, and heightened awareness of how to draw on their plurilingual repertoires to support communication. The analysis also identified pedagogical affordances and constraints related to task design, classroom interaction, and learner support at the A2 level. The study shows that mediation tasks can legitimize learners’ full linguistic repertoires in classroom interaction even at lower proficiency levels and offers practice-oriented insights for mediation-focused teaching in early-stage L2 instruction.