College and University Reading circles for improving advanced (B2/C1 CEFR) conversation skills more

Tue, Aug 8, 17:00-17:35 Asia/Tokyo

Although many textbooks to practice conversation are available on the market, many that are based on themes may not appeal to, or may not be suitable to students in different cultural contexts. Reading Circles, an activity in which learners read a story and then discuss it according to clearly defined roles, can be an alternative to develop higher-level conversational skills such as expressing an opinion, agreeing or disagreeing, and summarizing a text. A Reading Circle can be based on any text, but graded readers are easy to use and control for level of difficulty. This presentation covers selection of stories, roles in a Reading Circle, how to conduct them, and shares student feedback from a class of advanced learners at a public university in Japan.