Improvisation activities in online language courses

Abstract

This report describes a semester-long project in which two university language instructors applied a variety of improvisation activities in their online classes in the spring of 2021 to facilitate active engagement, foster social community, and heighten oral fluency in the synchronous online learning environment. The authors describe the exercises, as well as their approaches, observations, and recommendations, and reflect on their possible impact on the aforementioned aspects. They show that engagement and community can be promoted through improvisation activities, despite the two-dimensional online experience.

Keywords

• performative practices
• language learning
• activity
• community-building
• fluency