Rai is a Senior Instructor and Director of TESOL Programs in the Department of Linguistics. She is also an English language instructor in the International English Center. Prior to coming to the University of Colorado, Dr. Farrelly served as an Assistant Professor in the MA TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Program at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. She also worked as an Assistant Professor in the Applied Linguistics Department and MA TESOL Program at St. Michael’s College in Vermont.
She has offered courses on a range of topics, including language teaching methods, L2 teaching practicum, teaching L2 oral skills, teaching L2 reading and writing, foundations of linguistics, teaching adult emergent readers, and content-based instruction. Her professional interests include second language teacher education, reflective teaching, community engaged learning, and teaching refugee-background adults. In addition to delivering TESOL courses, she has taught English as an additional language in both academic and community-based settings. Her passion is teaching adult refugee-background students with interrupted formal education and emerging literacy. She serves on the board of directors as the Communications Director for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA).