Maintaining Discourse Competence in a Synchronous Online Discussion Board Activity

Moving to an online environment as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic necessitated a careful consideration about how the aims of a language course could be maintained despite the disruption to regular classes.This paper outlines how a synchronous online discussion board activity was used to maintain and develop the discourse competence of English language students at a university in Tokyo.It offers a three-point definition of discourse, explains why discourse competence is crucial to the development of a second language learner's ability, and analyzes an extract from an online discussion to find evidence of whether students were able to demonstrate a sound understanding of discourse.Finally, there is a brief description of how students perceived the activity and a conclusion that points to potential areas of further study.