ALIS Newsletter - March 2022 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
LEADERSHIP UPDATES
•  LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR-ELECT
ARTICLES
•  TOWARDS A MORE INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM: AN INTERVIEW WITH THREE TRANSLANGUAGING SCHOLARS
•  GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MIXED-LEVEL CLASSES: USING A LOCAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
•  USING PHRASE FRAMES TO DEMONSTRATE WORKPLACE DECORUM AND FORMALITY: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF LEARNERS OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY
•  APPLIED LINGUISTICS INTEREST SECTION (ALIS)

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR-ELECT

Sun-Young Shin, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Dear members of the Applied Linguistics Interest Section,

I hope that all our ALIS members stay safe and healthy during this difficult time. The COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years has greatly changed the way we live and work. This unusual circumstance has also forced us to enact changes in English language teaching, learning, and research in all settings. Such drastic changes pose a challenge to many TESOL educators, but at the same time this renders opportunities to innovate TESOL practices in pedagogy and research. Amidst many challenges and opportunities that we are dealing with as TESOL teachers and researchers, I hope our ALIS community continues to be a valuable resource for professional development for all ALIS members, and I look forward to serving the ALIS community as chair-elect alongside the current chair Anna Joaquin.

Now as ALIS chair-elect, I’d like to take a brief moment to introduce myself to you.

I was born and raised in South Korea. I hold a B.A. in English language and literature from Korea University, an M.A. in English as a Second Language from University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics with a focus on language assessment from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I am currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Second Language at Indiana University. My main research interests lie in the field of language assessment, concentrating in particular on integrated language assessments, pragmatics assessment, standard setting, and classroom-based language assessment in interactive form. I have been invited for lectures and workshops on L2 assessment in various places throughout the world including Macau, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and the U.S.

As chair-elect, I have chosen the topic of development and validation of aviation and medical English assessments for the ALIS Academic Session at the TESOL 2022 convention. Panelists include Angela C. de M. Garcia, Jennifer Roberts, Brigita Seguis, and Jirada Wudthayagorn. They will share their latest research and future directions on the theory and practice of developing and validating Aviation and Medical English assessments within the wider field of English for Specific Purposes. Additionally, after the TESOL convention, I’m planning to schedule several webinars that would be of interest to ALIS members. So, please stay tuned for more information on speakers, dates, and times. I am thrilled to organize these events, which I believe can provide a valuable platform for TESOL educators and applied linguists alike to think about possible solutions for many English teaching/learning-related problems and challenges of the post-pandemic new normal.

If you have any ideas and suggestions to connect and engage our members or other IS groups more, please feel free to contact me at shin36@indiana.edu.

Thank you for this privilege to serve you, and I look forward to meeting you in person or virtually at TESOL 2022 and other upcoming events. Thank you for being a part of our ALIS family! I wish you and your loved ones the best for 2022.

Regards,

Sun-Young Shin