Study Circle for Teaching Oral Skills to Adult English Language Learners

This study circle is a follow up to the full-day Teaching Oral Skills workshop and consists of two sessions. The purpose of the study circle is to help participants become familiar with existing research on the process of oral skills and to explore the pedagogical implications of this research in their own classrooms. Participants will read two CAELA articles about oral skills and adult ESOL students. With the articles and study circles as guides, participants will

• Reflect on their current use of oral skills strategies;
• Identify oral skills strategies implicitly and explicitly stated in the articles;
• Implement at least one new research– or theory-based strategy in their teaching; and
• Reflect on the impact that study circle participation has had on their thinking and practice.

Through a series of reflection and application questions, participants will also discover how uses of the Virginia ESOL Content Standards, specifically the oral skills section, can strengthen classroom oral skills activities.

Participation is limited to 12 participants, and they need to have completed a full-day Oral Skills workshop at any time prior to registering for this study circle.

Audience: ESOL Teachers of all language levels
Duration: 5 hours divided into 2 sessions of 2.5 hours each