The “Learning Out Loud” (LOL) project faced these two challenges by creating and sharing teaching materials and training activities (online short training courses) that will promote the professional skills of language teachers working with adult students. In detail, the project will create, and make available on its website (by its conclusion) the following contents. 1. A series of short Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the themes of “Humor, Comedy and Improvisation Theater for Adult Educators.” These MOOCs will train Adult Educators on how to use theater-based techniques in the classroom to increase active student motivation, engagement, participation, and fun. 2. A series of short Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the themes of “Positive Education, Inclusion and Well-being in Adult Education.” These MOOCs will train Adult Educators on how to provide an inclusive and safe environment for learning to their adult language learners. 3. A “LOL Blueprint” for training courses explaining to Adult Educators how to integrate Humor, Comedy and Improvisation Theater, and Positive Education into their teaching practice and strategies. 4. A final “Project Learning Out Loud (LOL) Handbook”.
Multilingualism and high-quality education for adult learners are fundamental targets for EU countries and institutions. Yet, in 2016, only 20% of the EU adult working-age population with a tertiary level of education reported they knew at least one foreign language at a proficient level. One of the reasons for this limited proficiency is the fact that the challenges faced by Adult Language Learners (ALLs) are different from those encountered by younger learners. Indeed, not only ALLs require immediate value and relevance from their studies, but the motivation is also more easily obtained when lessons are fun and rewarding. Moreover, ALLs have varied and multifaceted backgrounds. Hence, a common challenge for teaching a language to ALLs is creating an inclusive, safe, and supportive environment that fully engages everyone in the classroom.