Krashen sent a paper to Tina over the weekend. It discusses Circling but applies to any focus on form in our language classrooms:
Circling: Are we just doing ALM (audio-lingual method)?
Yes, at its worst. This happens when (1) there is a targeted structure; (2) the questions are obviously intended just to supply more exposure; (3) students are expected to produce beyond their competence. But circling done when there is no targeted structure, when the questions are truly interesting, and “forced speech” is not demanded, is a powerful means of providing comprehensible input. When it is done right, students are not aware it is happening, and focus only on the message.
The first TPRS classes I attended, taught by Jason Fritze and Linda Li, used lots of circling, but I wasn’t aware of it, because the stories they were creating (and asking) were so interesting.
Jason Fritze noted in one of his presentations in Turkey (2015) that the essence of TPRS is not circling. The essense is compelling stories. Circling is [ed. note: read “should be”] a device for comfirming compehension and pushing the story along.