ITAIS:

I hope this October issue of our ITA Interest Section newsletter finds you well. As this is the busiest time of year for many of us with new students, assessment of ITAs, and running of our classes, it’s easy to become very focused on what is happening in our home institutions.

This newsletter aims to start discussions on topics that you may be encountering this fall. We start with letters from our chair, Liz Tummons, and our chair-elect, Elizabeth Gillstrom. Liz Tummons’ letter is best described as a call to action for all of us to become stronger contributors to each other through the ITAIS. Elizabeth Gillstrom’s introduces the topic of the ITA academic session for TESOL 2016. The articles for this newsletter include suggestions if you’ve been asked to expand your programs to work with postdocs, a teaching tip for how to help students become more aware of body language, a teaching tip for helping students provide authentic feedback to each other, and a review of a software that targets pronunciation skills. This newsletter is intended as a starting point for conversations either in the comments section under the articles or on the ITA email lists.

As always, here’s a friendly reminder that submissions to the ITAIS Newsletter are welcome and appreciated. The due date for our February newsletter (for release preconference) is 15 January 2016.

Enjoy your semesters!

Sarah Emory

ITA-IS Newsletter Editor