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Dear ALISers,
First things first. A big thanks to Natalia and Heather for
putting together another compelling issue of AL
Forum. And thank you to the contributing authors for sharing
your research with our readership! Articles in the newsletter not only
help us stay current, they spread and generate new ideas for research
and for teaching across our community.
I do have a few updates to report. The election for the
position of Applied Linguistics Interest Section (ALIS) chair-elect was
held in June. In a remarkable twist, our two candidates got the exact
same number of votes. While we have traditionally had one person in this
role, we welcome Bahiyyih Hardacre of California State University, Los
Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) and Polina Vinogradova of American University
(Washington, DC) to serve as co-chair-elects. We are lucky to have two
accomplished educators and researchers join the ALIS leadership team. I
know they are already at work planning the ALIS academic session for
TESOL 2020 in Denver.
Speaking of Denver, ALIS is participating in two InterSection
panels. As the primary IS, we are collaborating with the Social
Responsibility IS (SRIS) to bring together a diverse panel around the
topic of social justice in TESOL. In the second InterSection, we are
again partnering with SRIS, as well as the Teacher Education IS, on a
session to discuss critical theory and critical pedagogy. I will be sure
to share more details on these two panels in the next
newsletter.
After much discussion on the possibility of a series of
webinars with authors of popular TESOL Quarterly
articles, ALIS is taking the first steps to kick things off. The idea is
to bring theory and practice closer together by encouraging researchers
to tell the stories of their studies. Through a webinar format,
audience members will have the opportunity to pose direct questions to
authors as well as to share relevant experiences in the classroom. We
anticipate that this interaction will be a rewarding experience for all
involved. Once the date for our inaugural webinar is set, I will share
details on the event through the myTESOL digest.
For now, please enjoy the rest of the issue.
Best,
Ben |
