This study examines the nature of small-group discussion and explores how it fosters oral academic discourse socialization ina TESOL postgraduate course. The participants included four native-English speaking and six non-native English Speakingpostgraduate students at a state university in the U.S. The findings revealed that small-group discussions provided a context inwhich students were gradually socialized into the discipline-specific discourse and the practices of an ESL/EFL professional. Thefeature of discourse socialization in small-group discussion was expressed through the participants’ identity-construction, criticalthinking, and making intertextual connections. Both NES and NNES participants, experienced and inexperienced alike, were ableto draw on their unique perspectives and expertise to solve the problems presented in discussion prompts. Pedagogical implicationson incorporating small-group discussions to facilitate oral academic discourse socialization are also discussed. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.