Greetings CALL-IS members and colleagues,

It has been a great year and I have thoroughly enjoyed serving as the chair of the interest section. We have accomplished a lot and I am looking forward to next year, when Roger Drury and Chris Sauer will step in as the new co-chairs. They have done a lot of work organizing our Academic Session and InterSections for the 2013 convention in Dallas. For more information about those sessions, please see their letter in this issue of On-CALL. In case you can’t make it to the convention, these sessions will be webcast, and there is a link to the schedule in this issue, and on the CALL-IS website.

I would also like to thank all those who helped with reading proposals for the 2013 convention. We had a whopping 149 proposal submitted to the CALL-IS, with 146 reviewers. Many of those reviewers also read proposals for other Interest Sections, some reading as many as 60 proposals. I have listed the names of the proposal readers below. I apologize if I have missed anyone. If you are interested in reading proposals for the 2014 convention, don’t hesitate to contact me or the new co-chairs for further information.

Khalid Al-Seghayer, Alton Cole, Amanda Howard, Amany Haroun AlKhayat, Yaxinia Castro Madrid, Ana Lado, Andreea Fodor, Silvija Andernovics, Alison Camacho, Udambor Bumandalai, Beth Wiens, Dawn Bikowski, Buthaina AlOthman, Linda Butler, Cate Almon, Carla Arena, Cate Crosby, Christopher Hastings, Claudio Fleury Sasse, Carrie McDermott, Todd Cooper, Colin Dalton, Denise De Felice, Derya Bozdogan, D Frazee, Deborah Healey, Diane Ogden, Gabriel Diaz Maggioli, Debra Lee, Dilin Liu, Alan Lytle, Dudley Reynolds, Dafne Gonzalez, Eak Prasad Duwadi, Edo Forsythe, Philip Hubbard, Hebe Wong, Elisabeth Cummings, Elisabeth Chan, Fauzia Shamim, Farrah Taylor Giroux, Fiona Memmott, George Bellas, Sandra De Rezende, Goh Kawai, Veronica Gonzalez, Giselle Pempedjian, Jeong-Bin Hannah Park, Rachel Herman, HollyAnn Freso-Moore, Hedy McGarrell, Robert Freeman, Johanna Katchen, Jennifer Brown, Jin Kyeong Jung, Jessie Moore, Jacqueline Nenchin, JoAnn Miller, Jodi Tommerdahl, Chiou-hui Chou, John Madden, Jeff Mattison, Julie Schuilwerve, Joanna Waluk, Hung-Hsuan Kao, Karin deJonge-Kannan, Katie Manchester Ha, Gail Kellersberger, Ke Xu, Ferit Kilickaya, Kathleen Reynolds, Lili Bruess, Lida Baker, Yin Lam Lee, Leila Mara Bedaque, Lilian Mina, Lisa Leopold, Louise A. Motin, Lora Yasen, Marjorie Naylor Pitts, Mitaka Yoneda, Marjorie Allen, Mark Picus, Mary Hillis, R. Michael Medley, Mercedes Viola, Martha Iancu, Chi-Fang Chang, Min Jung Jee, Miralynn Malupa-Kim, Rahma, Maureen Templeman, Mutahar Al-Murtadha, Nellie Deutsch, Neslihan Onder, Nina Liakos, Navin Kumar, Nola Radford, Nancy Pederson, Patricia Juza, Paul Abraham, Philip Less, Tommy Morgan, Peggy Lindse, Sarah Mantegna, Peggy Street, Paige Ware, Rene Caputo, Rania Khalil, Rehab Rajab, Roger Gee, Rhonda Miller, Robert Kelso, Robert Tafenrer, Susan Romick, Rebecca Price, Christine Sabieh, Sandy Wagner, Sarah, Stephanie Buechele, Elke Schneider, Faisal Al-Shamali, Sharon Bippus, Eunjeong Choi, Seong-Yoon Kang, Stephanie Lehrer, Susanne McLaughlin, Susan Kelly, Steven Sharp, Suzan Stamper, Stella Hadjistassou, Sufian Abu-Rmaileh, Susan Barone, Susan Gaer, Sara Bradfeldt-Waring, Tatiana Babenko, Thomas Dougherty, Tobie Hoffman, Toby Emert, Toni Hull, Vania Rodriguez, Valdine Bjornson, Vicki Holmes, Laurie Weaver, Kelly Wonder, Yuan Zhuang

If you are planning to come to the 2013 convention in Dallas, please make plans to stop by the Electronic Village. We have a great line-up of events this year, with many focusing on specific areas of technology, such as mobile technology in language learning. Our past chair, Dawn Bikowski, has worked hard along with our wonderful Electronic Village planning team to organize an excellent arrangement of sessions and workshops. You can find the link to the Electronic Village Program Book in this issue of the newsletter, and on the CALL-IS website. Be sure to let all your colleagues and friends attending the convention know about the Electronic Village. We have people every year who visit the Electronic Village for the first time and are amazed at the expertise and professionalism found there. Many of them mention that they have been coming to the convention for years, but have just discovered the Electronic Village, so please help get the word out about what goes on there.

Also, please make plans to attend the CALL-IS Open Meeting on Thursday, March 21, at 6:45 pm, in the Technology Showcase (Ballroom A2). The Open Meeting is a great way to learn more about the interest section and get involved. We are always looking for more volunteers to help with things like the newsletter, our CALL-IS community discussion board on the TESOL website, planning Electronic Village events, and so on. At the Open Meeting in Dallas, we will have some time to break into smaller groups focusing on these areas where we need more volunteers, and attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the section they are interested in and how they can help. It should be a wonderful networking opportunity and a great way to serve your colleagues and friends in the interest section and TESOL.

Finally, I especially want to thank our newsletter editor, Larry Udry. He has worked very hard this year and put out a record number of issues. I know that it takes a lot of time and a lot of teeth-pulling to get people to submit articles and columns for the newsletter. I would encourage any of our members who are interested in submitting articles to contact Larry. Publishing an article in the newsletter is a great way to serve the interest section and also develop professionally. It looks great on a CV or résumé as well.

It is going to be a great convention and a great year! I look forward to networking with many of you at the 2013 convention in Dallas. I also look forward to collaborating and meeting others on the community discussion board and our webcasts. It has been an honor serving you as the chair and working with such wonderful leadership in the interest section.

Sincerely,

Justin Shewell

Justin Shewell is a lecturer at the American English and Culture Program at Arizona State University. He has taught English in the United Arab Emirates, Korea, and the United States. He is also working on his PhD in educational technology at Arizona State University and hopes to graduate in May 2013. His professional interests include technology and language learning, materials and curriculum development, teacher training, and pronunciation pedagogy. When he is not working on his dissertation or serving in TESOL, he spends his time with his wife and five children.