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Dear SLWIS Members,
I hope that this message finds you well and looking forward to
the 2015 TESOL
International Convention in Toronto. Our IS always has a
strong presence at the convention, offering a variety of events and
presentations of interest to our diverse membership. I encourage you to
take part in whatever you can, as active participation by all our
members helps strengthen our community and offers you opportunities to
get to know people with similar interests. In this last letter as the
chair of the SLWIS, I would like to talk a bit more about the convention
events and our plans for 2015, as well as recognize the contributions
of existing and new leaders in the organization.
As mentioned above, our IS continues to be one of the most
vibrant at TESOL. For the convention, we had a record number of
submissions and have a number of interesting special sessions that Silvia Pessoa, our chair-elect, has organized,
including InterSections with the EFL, Adult Education, and CALL Interest
Sections. The diversity of sessions, in both content and structure,
reflects the dynamic transdisciplinary nature of our field and will
continue to increase recognition of the important work we all do at
TESOL and beyond. You are encouraged to attend our Open Meeting on
Thursday night at 5 pm in Room 204 of the convention center. This will
be immediately followed by the Friends of Second Language Writing social
organized by Deborah Crusan, which is always a prime venue for
reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. To help you plan for the convention, the leadership team has compiled a
list of all the SLWIS
sessions and events.
Once again, SLWIS has chosen to have its own table in the
exhibit hall. We are only one of two ISs who pushed to have its own
table instead of only having representation a few hours at a shared
table during the convention. We believe that having a presence in the
exhibit hall throughout the convention is important, as the table
provides a way for people to connect with other IS members and for us to
recruit new members. However, in return for granting this space, TESOL
expects us to have the table staffed at all times during the exhibit
hall business hours: 9 am–6 pm Thursday and Friday and 9 am–2 pm
Saturday. Volunteering at the table is an important way that our members
help contribute to the IS and help us grow. We aim to have at least two
people at all times at the booth. Please sign up to help
out. This is the perfect place for networking, collaborating, or just
supporting the IS!
Our members regularly express interest in IS events beyond the
convention, because not everyone can always attend. With this in mind,
we’re trying a new way to engage membership this year and hope that it
can provide a way for more involvement year round. As I described in a
recent email to the IS, we’ll be hosting monthly discussions on topics
of interest to IS members. We’ll start these discussions with some
questions posed to the e-list, which will be accompanied by a live
discussion via TESOL’s teleconferencing service. We kicked this
off in February with a discussion around TESOL’s recently released
research agenda, and we were happy to welcome Dudley Reynolds, TESOL’s
president-elect and co-chair of the Research Agenda Task Force, to lead
the live discussion (see sidebar).
I would like to close by recognizing the contributions of
members as leaders in our IS and beyond. First, I’d like to congratulate
Dudley Reynolds on being elected the 2016–2017 president of TESOL. He
has long been an active member of the IS and we look forward to having a
friend of the IS leading the organization. Second, I’d like to
recognize the service of our outgoing chair, Gena Bennett, who has been
an important leader in the IS these past few years. Fortunately, our new
chair, Silvia Pessoa, and our recently elected incoming chair, Ryan
Miller, will provide strong leadership in coming years. We also have
some great new members joining the steering committee, including
Meredith Bricker as secretary and Hee-Seung Kang, Betsy Gilliland, and
Ilka Kostka as members-at-large. Finally, I would like to recognize the
service of our newsletter editor, Margi Wald, who is stepping down from
her position after years of excellent service. I would like to thank the
contributions of all these members, whose leadership is vital to
ensuring a strong IS. I hope that many others like them continue to step
up and play an important role in the IS in coming years.
I look forward to seeing you in Toronto!
Best,
Todd Ruecker
2014–2015 SLWIS Chair |
