Improvisations

Improvisations work best if learners are given roles and situations and asked to react immediately. They can be introduced very briefly with a 'warm up' activity or prop to set the scene. Improvisations help learners to:

• use whatever language they have available to communicate
• develop 'thinking on your feet' skills while gaining confidence in coping with unexpected situations
• get practice in initiating communication spontaneously
• focus on getting the message across, rather than just repeating prepared dialogues
• use their imagination
• imagine themselves using the language in real-life situations
• be creative with language.

Classroom management

• In a whole class, put learners in a circle with another inner circle of learners facing them.
• After each spontaneous dialogue/situation, learners sitting in the outer circle move one place to face a new partner.
• Then call out new roles or situations and say 'action'.
• Keep to a non-judgemental director role and do not intervene to correct language or discuss content.
• Give feedback at the end. Allow learners to feel free during the improvisation phase.

Ways to introduce improvisations

• Use a song  that learners have just listened to, covered recently in class, or one that is very familiar to them. For example: She's leaving home, by The Beatles. Give pairs roles (the girl, the mother/father, the boyfriend) and give situations to try out (the night before she left, the parents talking after finding her leaving note, the boyfriend asking her to run away, the telephone call home one week later).
• Use a variety of pictures or photos of people speaking to each other in different scenes. Focus on a theme, such as all pictures of people in different parts of an airport or social situations, and pass the pictures around. If there is a variety of interactions going on in the photo/picture, assign roles so that learners form a 'tableau' and then they imagine the conversations the people are having and act them out.
• Use a cartoon with no written dialogue. Learners take on the roles of the different characters and mimic the behaviour and imagine the conversation taking place.
• Use a video with the sound off. Select scenes from a favourite show or film, e.g. Friends. Learners are assigned roles and act out what they think is taking place.
• Use a piece of realia (a real object) as a prop to spark conversation, e.g. a train timetable, some English currency and a list of exchange rates, a hat or outfit, a musical instrument, a mobile phone, a menu, etc. Learners must incorporate these objects as part of their invented dialogue.
• With younger learners, you can use a drama prop such as a pair of finger puppets or face masks, or anything that makes them assume a new personality. You can build up these resources over time and keep them in a dressing-up box for future use.