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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
TESOL’s International Teaching Assistants Interest Section
serves TESOL members who are interested in a range of issues associated
with nonnative-English-speaking teaching assistants. These issues
include course design, testing programs, materials and test design and
selection, the nature of and standards for spoken English discourse, and
the culture of classroom communication in North America.
GOALS
- Encourage the sharing of expertise and specialized knowledge among ITA practitioners.
- Promote research into the spoken discourse of ITAs and the nature of classroom communication.
- Foster communication between researchers and practitioners.
HISTORY
ITAIS was first established with interim status at TESOL ’92
and subsequently granted full status in October 1993.
The formation of ITAIS recognizes the contribution ITA
specialists make to TESOL through service to the profession and to the
organization. For over a decade prior to the founding of ITAIS, ITA
issues had been the topic of preconvention institutes, papers, and
workshops at TESOL meetings, but not all specialists, especially
newcomers, had a reliable means of networking or contributing to or
learning from these discussions on ITA concerns.
The ITAIS makes it possible for ITA TESOL members to meet one
another; share concerns, research, and ideas; and develop a strong basis
for research on and pedagogy for ITAs. The IS selects sessions and
sponsors a range of convention activities, including a preconvention
institute, academic sessions, and discussion groups. ITAIS also aims to
explore how the insights and experience of its members can be shared
with members of ISs with common concerns, thus more broadly benefiting
TESOL.
All information taken from the TESOL
ITAIS Web page. | 
