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Dear SPLIS members,
It is my great honor to write you as this year’s SPLIS chair.
First of all, I would like to welcome our new SPLIS leaders—Sinem Sonaat
as Chair-Elect, Sezgi Acar as Secretary, and Matthias Maunsell as
Coeditor. They joined our team at the 2019 TESOL Convention in Atlanta. I
would also like to welcome back several SPLIS leaders who will be
serving for another year—Veronica Sardegna as Past Chair, Suzanne Franks
as Coeditor, Nancy Elliott as Member-at-Large, and Holly Hubbard as
Community Manager. And, finally, I would like to express my appreciation
to SPLIS leaders whose terms have ended—Hilal Ergul as Secretary and
Shantaya Rao as Coeditor. Our SPLIS leaders are volunteers who dedicate
their time and energy to support our interest section in meeting goals
related to speech, pronunciation and listening. Working together as a
team, our leaders provide the pulse for SPLIS, which is one of TESOL’s
most vibrant interest sections.
I am especially excited that this year’s first issue of our
SPLIS Newsletter is being published in August. At SPLIS’s March business
meeting, we discussed the importance of having this newsletter
available to members at the start of the northern hemisphere’s academic
year. While in Atlanta, our Coeditors started working toward this
target. They attended SPLIS-related presentations and invited presenters
to submit articles. They also reached out to other colleagues. As you
read this Newsletter, I’m sure you will agree with me that Suzanne’s and
Matthias’ efforts have definitely paid off.
However, one of our main reasons for publishing this newsletter
in August is that of reaching out to graduate students. The future of
all organizations, including TESOL, relies on a steady increase of new
members, young professionals eager to learn and become involved. Many
professionals initially join TESOL while in college and thus are still
eligible for accessible student membership rates. Another student
benefit provided by TESOL is the possibility of presenting at the annual
Master’s Student Forum and Doctoral Research Forum. The next forums
will take place on March 31, just before the start of TESOL’s 2020
Convention. Interested students should follow instructions on the TESOL
website and also seek guidance from their professors. Our SPLIS
leadership strongly encourages all graduate students to take advantage
of these forums and submit their presentation proposals by the September 16, 2019, deadline.
It is always a pleasure to meet fellow SPLISers in person at
the annual TESOL conventions. Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet current
and potential SPLISers virtually through TESOL’s online platforms. Our
SPLIS Newsletters foster such communication and also provide continuous
professional development, which is of utmost importance for members
unable to attend the TESOL conventions.
To that end, I look forward to hearing from you on myTESOL and
wish you the very best in your SPLIS-related activities.
Susan
SPLIS Chair, 2019-20 |
