Shantaya Rao, Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland, USA

Dear SPLIS Members,

It has been my pleasure to serve as co-editor of the newsletter for the last year. One of the most exciting aspects of my experience as co-editor has been to be a part of a community of experts who are passionate about teaching speaking, pronunciation, and listening to students around the world and finding novel and engaging ways to help them improve. As a member of SPLIS, I am most passionate about and fascinated with the interaction of listening, pronunciation, and speaking. Through my own language learning process, I have learned that listening helps to embed “chunks” of language in the auditory brain. If I can hear it, I have a greater chance of producing it. As a language student, I always focused on listening when in conversation and tried to mimic the sound, intonation, and/or rhythm (along with “chunks” of the language) spoken by the interlocutor. When my students ask me how to improve their oral skills, I always emphasize listening. I explain that if they can hear the pronunciation or “chunks” of words, they can use them in their responses, and repeating this process over time will help them improve. I hope that the articles in this publication provide you with new ideas to help students improve in speaking, pronunciation, and listening. SPLIS always welcomes new tips and ideas for improving instruction!

Shantaya Rao|
SPLIS Newsletter Co-Editor