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Natalia Balyasnikova
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Patriann Smith
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Dear ICIS members,
How fast the time flies! Seems only yesterday our ICIS
community came together in Seattle, Washington, USA to celebrate all
things intercultural. Indeed, we had a lot to discuss: a quick look through the TESOL convention program book (PDF)
yields a wide range of intercultural communication hits, from
individual papers and panels to posters and roundtable discussions. What a wonderful testimony
to the value and urgency of the work we do!
While intellectually stimulating, the TESOL convention also
provided us with opportunities to meet old friends and make new
connections. That is why it was extremely encouraging to see new faces
at our annual open meeting and welcome new members to our community. We
also got a chance to meet the new leadership team and discuss the future
directions of our interest section. For a detailed introduction of the
new leadership team, please read Barbara Lapornik’s Meet the
Team feature.
One of the most pressing concerns that emerged at TESOL 2017
was the need to incorporate social justice work in teaching for
intercultural communication. Because of this, the feature articles in
this issue address the questions of social justice and multiplicity of
perspectives in research and practice. Our first author, Yecid Ortega,
shares some hands-on activities useful for the development of students’
understanding of social justice. Our second author, Lucy Yang, shares
her reflections on why intercultural communication should move beyond a
tokenistic view of culture toward a social justice–focused practice.
As we go forward in 2018, we will continue publishing thematic
newsletters. Our future newsletters will focus on advocacy in
intercultural communication and intercultural communication online. If
you have any ideas for themes, topics, or types of articles you would
like to see in the newsletter, we are eager to hear from you!
Cheers!
Natalia and Patriann
ICIS Co-Editors 2017–2018
Follow us on Twitter
Natalia @_balyasnikova |
Patriann @Patriann_Smith
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Natalia Balyasnikova is a doctoral candidate in
language and literacy education at the University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada. Natalia writes about her life as a graduate student
and a newcomer to Canada in her blog.
Patriann Smith (PhD) is an assistant professor of
language, diversity and literacy studies at Texas Tech University who
relies on tenets of intercultural communication in her cross-cultural
work to better understand how immigrant teachers to the United States
address their ideologies about nonstandardized languages and how these
ideologies affect literacy instruction. The intersections of Patriann’s
research can be better understood by taking a look at her recently
released coedited Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural
Approaches to Language and Literacy
Development. | 
