Dear SPLIS members,

I am honored to be your SPLIS chair-elect for 2011-2012. Perusing the newsletter archive on the TESOL Web site, I was impressed by the rich history of SPLIS and the many professionals who have dedicated so much of their time to making SPLIS the thriving and exciting interest section it is today. I would like to thank all of the previous chairs and steering committees for their commitment and hard work. You certainly have set the bar high, and I am truly looking forward to the challenge of maintaining the high standards of SPLIS; facilitating discussions on a variety of speaking, pronunciation, and listening-related matters; nurturing the collegial environment of our IS; and, of course, representing SPLIS and the voices of our membership at the coming TESOL conventions.

Looking ahead, we are anticipating an excellent Academic Session at the 2012 TESOL Convention. John Murphy, Janet Goodwin, Donna Brinton, Gary Carkin, and Bill Acton have graciously agreed to provide their perspectives on how pronunciation instruction could be integrated effectively into a variety of different teaching and learning contexts. I hope many of you will capitalize on the opportunity to hear from these leaders in our field and attend a session that will surely provide us with new and critical insights into pronunciation pedagogy.

The summer has passed and many of us are in the thick of a busy semester. I wish you all the best for the coming months, and I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know you at the TESOL convention in Philadelphia.

Best wishes,

Michael

Michael Burri is the program coordinator of the International Student Entry Program at British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, Canada. Michael’s professional interests include pronunciation pedagogy, teacher-based assessment, curriculum design, and teacher development.