Another convention brings in new leaders for the Applied Linguistics Interest Section. Below you will find the list of leadership positions, who the leaders are, and what they do. If you have questions about what we do, or you are interested in becoming a leader in the future, please feel free to contact us directly.

ALIS Current President

Dilin Liu is professor and coordinator of applied linguistics in the English Department at the University of Alabama. His main research interests include corpus-based description and teaching of lexis and grammar or lexicogrammar. His job as the chair of the ALIS entails, among other things, organizing next year’s review of the convention proposals submitted to our IS, working with the leaders of another interest section or two to organize InterSections (sessions on topics that are of special interest to the two sections involved), and conducting the IS annual open (business) meeting.

ALIS Outgoing President

Howard Williams has served twice as chair (2006-08, 2009-11). He teaches in the Applied Linguistics and TESOL programs at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. His main interests are pragmatics, linguistic theory, and pedagogical grammar. As past chair, Howard takes part in the mentoring of the chair-elect and the vetting of convention proposals and heads the nominating committee for the next election for chair.

 ALIS Incoming President

Kara Hunter, ALIS chair-elect, is currently an MA student at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona in the English and Foreign Languages Department. As chair-elect, Kara is responsible for taking part in TESOL convention proposal vetting and attending IS business meetings, but her main responsibility is coordinating the ALIS Academic Session for the TESOL convention. Kara’s research interests include social responsibility and the sociolinguistic implications of English teaching related to power, equity, and justice in the classroom. Kara is also the executive director for C.A.S.A., a nonprofit that advocates for children and youth living in the foster care system.

ALIS Forum Coeditors

Olga Griswold is assistant professor and coordinator for the program in Composition for Multilingual Speakers at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. Her research interests include the analysis of classroom discourse, L2 acquisition and use, and academic literacy among Generation 1.5 English users. She teaches courses in language acquisition, pedagogical grammar, and freshman composition. As a coeditor of ALIS Forum, she, along with Jana Moore, coordinates the production and publication of this community’s biannual newsletter.

Jana Moore is a lecturer at Ferris Women’s University in Yokohama, Japan. Her research interests include the analysis of group work, classroom discourse, and depth of processing. Jana also serves as a reviewer for the TESOL Journal. As a coeditor of ALIS Forum, she, along with Olga Griswold, coordinates the production and publication of this community’s biannual newsletter.

Community Manager

Scott Phillabaum received his doctorate in applied linguistics from UCLA and is currently an assistant professor in the MA TESOL program at San Jose State University. He has previously served the ALIS in two capacities: first as coeditor of the ALIS Forum and later as interest section chair. At present, Scott serves the ALIS as the community manager. As community manager, Scott is responsible for approving e-mail postings to the community list, updating news items, facilitating discussions, and maintaining the IS calendar.