Synchronous Interaction

Sharing ideas, opinions and other information in real time — both inside and outside the classroom — is a mainstay of communicative language courses, and a primary component in building community.

In many L2 classrooms, talking is meant to approximate real conversation, involving personal information (“How are you doing?” “How was the weekend?”), opinions (“Did you like ...?”), creativity and personal perspectives. At its best, it helps remote students feel that they are “together” as a group, and is a vital ingredient in the alchemy that renders the technology connecting them transparent.

These ideas for synchronous interaction — inside and outside the classroom — are collected from across Princeton's language departments:

In class:

With the instructor:

pre-class chat time with open-ended topics (with Zoom accessible before the class officially begins)
personal questions to students during Zoom Breakout Room sessions
whole-class tasks that elicit (appropriate) personal information or opinions

With other students:

activities that call for a chain of questions from student to student
content-related discussion, either “free-form” or structured in some way, e.g., requiring that students address previously made comments
open-ended conversation in pairs (Zoom Breakout Rooms)
assigned questions in pairs (Zoom Breakout Rooms)
information-gap tasks in pairs (Zoom Breakout Rooms)

Outside of class:

With the instructor:

tutoring: answering students’ questions, and providing opportunities for L2 practice
open-ended conversation
directed conversation on a course-related topic: “What was your reaction to …?”
email / Chat (in the L2), back and forth in real time, on the same topics one could bring up in a Zoom meeting

With other students:

open discussion of course-related topics, following the syllabus
discussion questions focusing on a text / film / YouTube video
taking sides in a debate on a syllabus-related topic
engaging in an information-gap activity (puzzle / fill-in-the-blank / etc.) with information provided previously by the instructor
taking each other on “virtual tours” of their current locale
study sessions, reviewing material for quizzes or tests
OR: group conversations using an app such as Spatial Chat, which allows groups of students using personal avatars to move in and out of conversations with each other in a virtual space.