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Sidury Christiansen
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Svetlana Koltovskaia
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Dear members of SLWIS,
We are thrilled to present the May 2023 issue of the SLW News, which contains exciting news and updates.
Firstly, we express our gratitude to Estela Ene, who served as the chair of the SLWIS for the 2022-2023 term. We appreciate her hard work and various initiatives during her tenure and invite you to read her outgoing chair letter reflecting on the past year's achievements and challenges. She highlights the membership growth, improved access from EFL contexts, and changes initiated by TESOL organization post-COVID. She also mentions the academic sessions, collaborations, and social events organized throughout the year, and her commitment to staying connected and supporting the incoming chair and the community.
Secondly, we extend our thanks to Elena Taylor, who has dedicated her time and effort as the editor of the SLW News over the past few years. Her work has been greatly appreciated, and we hold her expertise in high regard. We will be looking forward to her valuable insights, tips, and other contributions to include in future newsletters.
Thirdly, we welcome our new chair, Sidury Christiansen, who is not only the chair of the SLWIS but also a second year co-editor of the SLW News. We are excited to work with her and invite you to read her incoming chair letter, inwhich she shares her vision for advancing scholarship and pedagogy in second language writing, fostering collaboration, providing a platform for showcasing members' work, and encouraging active participation.
This issue also features an interview with Lubie Grujicic-Alatriste, an SLW expert whose research areas include writing and composition studies, genre analysis, classroom techniques for teaching writing, and second language acquisition. In her interview, Dr. Grujicic-Alatriste discusses her interest in genre analysis and genre-based instruction in higher education, as well as her influences and challenges in the field of SLW.
Additionally, the issue includes an article by Megan Siczek whose research interests include L2 writing, academic discourse socialization, and the internationalization of higher education. Her article examines the relevance of critical language awareness (CLA) pedagogy in graduate-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts. We invite you to read her article as it provides examples of CLA-inspired assignments and highlights how they promote diverse perspectives, empower students, and enhance communication skills.
Finally, we would like to provide updates on the editorial team for the 2023-2024 term, consisting of Svetlana Koltovskaia, Sidury Christiansen, and Michael Mauricio (introduction in the next issue). In the previous semester, we established a three-member co-editor team. Elena Taylor and Sidury Christiansen were the initial editors, and Svetlana joined them. From now on, the editors will rotate on a yearly basis. This means that Elena is rotating off and Michael is joining for this term. Sidury Christiansen's tenure as a co-editor will conclude in March 2024, and a new co-editor will be appointed. The subsequent year, Svetlana Koltosvskaia will step down, leaving Michael Mauricio and two incoming co-editors. This cycle will continue with the addition of new editors in the subsequent years. Additionally, our newsletter will still be released twice a year in November and May, but we have made some changes to its format. Please check out our call for submissions to see our updates!
Lastly, we strongly encourage all members of our SLW community to share their voices by contributing teaching tips and strategies, conference debriefs, research findings, or any other interesting contributions. If you have something valuable to contribute, please reach out to the editors of the SLW News!
Warm regards,
Sidury Christiansen
Svetlana Koltovskaia
Sidury Christiansen is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a Fulbright Scholar and English Language Specialist. Her research centers around issues of digital literacies, sociolinguistics, and transnationality in online spaces. Her publications have appeared in the journals such as Written Communication and TESOL Quarterly. She promotes technology for the enhancement of teaching and learning, especially of second language writing.
Svetlana Koltovskaia is an Assistant Professor of English and Director of the ESL Academy at Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her research centers around L2 writing, computer-assisted language learning, and L2 assessment. She had her works published in journals like Assessing Writing, ReCall, JALT CALL, and TESL-EJ. |
