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Dear SPLIS colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we bring to you another issue ofAs We Speak, our SPLIS Newsletter. The articles
portrayed in this issue offer a myriad of practical suggestions and
valuable information for ESL and EFL teachers. I hope you enjoy it and
share it with your colleagues.
First and foremost, I would like to thank all the SPLIS members
who submitted proposals for the TESOL 2020 Annual Convention in Denver,
Colorado, and also express my gratitude to those who are reviewing such
proposals. The Annual Convention is the premier professional
development event for English language teachers and could not be as
amazing as it is without your contributions, support, and presence.
Since TESOL 2019 in Atlanta, our leadership team has been
working in collaboration with other interest section leaders to recruit
experts in our field for our SPLIS-hosted sessions at the 2020 Annual
Convention. Although this work is ongoing, we are ready to share some
important news regarding some of our featured presentations for the 2020
Annual Convention in Denver:
- SPLIS Academic Session: This session will
feature three researchers who will offer their insights regarding
materials for effective pronunciation instruction based on their own
research and experiences teaching ESL learners for decades. Two of these
researchers have recently published pronunciation instruction
textbooks. You do not want to miss this session!
- SPLIS-ITAIS Intersection Session: In this
session, a panel of experts will share assessment procedures,
guidelines, and rubrics used at two American universities to assess the
English oral proficiency of prospective international teaching
assistants (ITAs). They will also discuss the features that seem to
impact ITAs’ comprehensibility, ITAs’ perceptions of the testing
experience, and program services to assist ITAs.
- ITAIS-SPLIS Intersection Session: This
session will showcase effective practices and online formative
assessment tools for one-on-one pronunciation feedback to ITAs. A panel
of experts will discuss research on consultation efficacy and provide
suggestions for assessing, teaching, and guiding individualized
pronunciation instruction.
- PreK12 IS-SPLIS Intersection Session: This
session will bring together three experts on ESL speaking/oral
activities. The experts will provide practical suggestions for
developing, teaching, and assessing speaking skills in PreK-12
classrooms.
SPLIS can not only be a primary organizer for one intersection
session, but also secondary to many intersection sessions. We have
worked and continue to work hard on coordinating secondary intersection
sessions with other IS leaders in order to feature more presentations at
the annual convention that may be of interest to our membership. Mark
your calendars for TESOL 2020 in Denver! We hope to see you all
there.
Wishing you all health, happiness and success,
Veronica G. Sardegna
SPLIS Past-Chair | 
