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Dear SLWIS Colleagues,
Welcome to the first SLW News for 2020. In
this letter, I will review what the Second Language Writing Interest
Section (SLWIS) has accomplished since the last issue of the News and preview some of the activities we will be
doing in the coming year as well.
SLWIS continues to be one of TESOL’s largest communities of
practice, with 1,058 members as of this writing. Our MyTESOL
group fosters lively discussions of issues related to second
language writing, and members regularly send out calls for proposals to
special issues, book projects, and other conferences connected to
teaching and researching writing.
In September, SLWIS hosted another webinar, “Supporting English
Learners with Disabilities in Writing,” presented by Caroline
Torres of Kap‘iolani Community College (Hawai‘i). Dr. Torres described
various disabilities students might have and then provided concrete
examples of how teachers can work with their students to build on their
strengths and support their writing development. Approximately 20 people
participated in the live webinar, and more than 250 have accessed the
free recording on the TESOL YouTube
channel. The SLWIS Steering Committee is still discussing
possible topics for a spring webinar. Join our MyTESOL group or follow
our Facebook page
(@TESOLSLWIS) for announcements about upcoming activities,
including webinars.
SLWIS’s book club is back in action, too, with a new format.
Our new book is University of Michigan Press’s volume Changing
Practices in L2 Writing: Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay,
edited by SLWIS former chair Nigel Caplan and SLWIS member Ann M. Johns.
As I write this letter, we are preparing for our second live discussion
with the authors of the first three chapters, to be held 19 March. Our
first discussion in January gave club members the opportunity to chat
with the book’s editors about their vision for the book and general
ideas about academic writing. Over the next few months, we will host
additional discussions with other chapter authors, allowing book club
members to interact with them and with each other. We intend these
sessions to be less formal than a webinar and to allow book club members
to connect the reading to their own lives. We also have a new host for
the book club discussion list. If you’d like to participate in online
discussions, sign up here or on
the book club Facebook
group.
We were looking forward to seeing SLWIS members at the TESOL International
Convention in Denver (31 March–3 April). With the conference
canceled, however, the SLWIS steering committee will be thinking about
ways to bring our planned sessions to our membership in alternative
formats. Building on the topic of our Fall 2019 webinar, we organized an
academic session panel on the topic “Diversity in L2 Writing: Creating
Inclusive Pedagogical and Administrative Approaches” that brings
together scholars whose work addresses different forms of diversity
present in writing classrooms. In this session, panelists discuss
research and practical applications for creating equitable spaces for
English learners with disabilities, refugee students, and international
students in writing classes and institutions. We may coordinate a
webinar in the near future so the presenters can share their ideas with
you.
Our interest section (IS) leaders and the leaders of other ISs
also coordinated engaging InterSection panels that we hope to bring to
members during the coming year or at the 2021 convention. Stay tuned for
announcements, and when possible, join us for live webinars so you can
interact with the presenters, share your ideas, and extend the
discussion. All sessions will be recorded for those who are not able to
join at the time of the live presentation.
My term as chair of the SLWIS ends with the scheduled
Convention. I would like to thank the steering committee members, who
have contributed so much to the success of our activities, especially
Past Chair Tanita Saenkhum and Chair-Elect Aylin Relyea; Secretary Özge
Yol; and Steering Committee Members Sarah Henderson Lee, Estela Ene,
Megan Siczek, Veronika Maliborska, Julie Riddlebarger, M. Sidury
Christiansen, and Henry Caballero. In addition, I am grateful for the
outstanding, professional work accomplished by our newsletter editor
Lena Shvidko (and former editor Ilka Kostka). Stay tuned for the results
of our elections for chair-elect and steering committee.
I hope you enjoy the newsletter!
All the best,
Betsy Gilliland (Chair, 2019–2020) |
