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Dear SPLISers,
As some of you may remember, I was Speech, Pronunciation, and
Listening Interest Section (SPLIS) chair in 2014. When past chair Beth
Sheppard asked me on 3 February 2018, if I could replace Jacob
Rutherford in his position as chair, I fully embraced this opportunity
to serve SPLIS again. I love our vibrant and diverse community and was
delighted to hear that I could be instrumental again in enhancing and
maximizing our collective learning. Thank you, Beth, for trusting me in
leading SPLIS in the coming year!
I continue the work of three of our outgoing leaders. I want to
express my gratitude to Beth Sheppard for her service these past 3
years. Her enthusiasm has been contagious. I also want to thank Jacob
Rutherford for his work last year. In addition to selecting the SPLIS
sessions for our 2018 annual convention, he worked with English for
Specific Purposes IS leaders to bring to the convention program a
promising InterSection session entitled “Responding to Challenges of
Teaching Pronunciation in Varied ESP Contexts.” Many thanks also go to
our incoming chair, Shantaya Rao, for her service and for organizing our
SPLIS academic session, which features panelist experts Nemtchinova,
Reed, and Siegel talking about “Effective Listening Instruction for L2
Learners: Research and Strategies.” You can find information about all
the SPLIS sessions for the annual convention, their times, and locations
in this newsletter issue and in our online library. As Beth explains in
her letter, I came to be the new SPLIS chair after both Jacob and
Shantaya decided to no longer volunteer for SPLIS. SPLIS needed a former
leader to replace them as it would be easier for a former leader to
take over the chair’s responsibilities at the annual convention, ensure a
smooth transition into the new setup, and provide training
opportunities for incoming leaders. I am thrilled to embark on this
role.
Volunteer work is a big part of TESOL interest sections. I
would like to thank all our other SPLIS volunteers—Nancy Elliot
(member-at-large), Hilal Ergül (secretary), Suzanne Franks (newsletter
editor), and Susan Spezzini (community manager)—for their commitment to
excellence and dedication to SPLIS. All of them are continuing their
service to SPLIS after the annual convention. Because Susan Spezzini was
elected incoming SPLIS chair for 2018–2019, Holly Hubbard will replace
her as community manager. We are all strongly committed to organizing
activities, supporting our community discussions and events, and keeping
our members informed throughout the year. We can’t wait to share with
you our plans for 2018–2019 at the Open Meeting (28 March 2018) in
Chicago. We hope to see you all there. If you want to volunteer your
time to SPLIS or have ideas for activities or events that we can do
throughout the year, do not hesitate to contact us. There is always room
for more volunteers, activities, and events.
SPLIS would not be as strong as it is without our members’
contributions. It is because of our members’ willingness to share their
research findings and teaching practices that we have such a great line
up of sessions (23 total!) for the 2018 TESOL International Convention
& English Language Expo and a very active online community. I
would like to thank them all as well. Our goal is to continue increasing
SPLIS presence. Please invite new members to SPLIS, volunteer your
time, and share and discuss your work with our membership through our
SPLIS newsletter and online community discussions and at the annual
convention. Also, consider attending the International Teaching
Assistants IS academic session in Chicago, where I will share my own
research findings on the assessment of pronunciation skills with
copresenters Pamela Pollock, Derina Samuel, and Jing Wei.
Last but not the least, I would like to take this opportunity
to inform you that the annual convention will have a new organizational
system for concurrent sessions in 2019 and thereafter, which brings with
it new leadership positions. IS leaders will continue to plan and
develop academic and InterSection sessions, but new leadership positions
have been developed to organize the other sessions into strands at the
convention. These new leaders will recruit qualified reviewers and
facilitate the proposal selection process for the convention. If you are
interested in volunteering for this kind of work, please consider
becoming the new strand coordinator for the speaking, listening, and
pronunciation strand. SPLIS committee members Beth Sheppard, Susan
Spezzini, and Shantaya Rao recently submitted a transition plan to TESOL
as the organization moves into this new system. As soon as we hear back
from TESOL, I will share the outcomes of this plan with our
members.
To conclude, I hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter and
find useful tips and ideas to incorporate into your practice. Our SPLIS
newsletter is a great venue to disseminate your work. Our members from
all over the world are eager to learn about innovative practices and new
findings. Consider becoming an agent of change and share your
work.
My best wishes for a 2018 full of networking and learning opportunities,
Veronica G. Sardegna, PhD
Visiting Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
SPLIS Chair |
