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Dear SPLIS members,
All of us are learning to adjust to a new normal for our
personal and professional lives due to COVID-19. We can surely agree
that this is an unprecedented time, one of uncertainty and anxiety. Yet,
perhaps this can also be a time for working together even more
collaboratively than before, especially in support of TESOL.
I would like to start by expressing our appreciation to the
professionals who accepted our board’s invitation to deliver the SPLIS
academic session and the SPLIS-supported intersection sessions. Listed
below are descriptions of these sessions which, hopefully, we might
still have an opportunity to attend through a virtual modality and/or at
a future TESOL convention.
SPLIS Academic Session
Our thanks to Wayne Dickerson, Lucy Pickering, and Veronica Sardegna
Materials and Strategies for Teaching
Intonation to ESL/EFL Learners
Intonation plays a critical role in successful interaction.
Yet, it is often neglected in instruction due to lack of materials or
knowledge of pedagogical approaches. This presentation equips teachers
with information about effective teaching models, research-based
materials, and pronunciation learning strategies for teaching intonation
successfully in the ESL/EFL classroom.
SPLIS/ITA-IS Intersection Session
Our thanks to Rebecca Oreto, Sue Ingels, and Suzanne Franks
Pronunciation Assessment Guidelines and
Best Practices in ITA Programs
A panel of experts shares assessment procedures, guidelines,
and rubrics used at two American universities to assess the English oral
proficiency of prospective international teaching assistants (ITAs).
They also discuss the features that seem to impact ITAs'
comprehensibility, ITAs’ perceptions of the testing experience, and
program services to assist ITAs.
ITA-IS/SPLIS Intersection Session
Our thanks to Belinda Braunstein, Marsha Chan, Susan Gaer, and Veronica Sardegna
Effective Practices for 1-on-1
Pronunciation Feedback to ITAs
Do you hold one-on-one consultations as a complement to a
course for ITAs? This panel discusses research on consultation efficacy
and provides suggestions for assessing, teaching, and guiding
pronunciation improvement in one-on-one instruction. Presenters also
share online formative assessment tools with a comparison chart aligning
online tools with targeted skills.
EEIS/SPLIS Intersection Session
Our thanks to Kelly Hill, Susan Spezzini, Mariah Weber, Jessica Burchett, Pamela Rose
Enhancing Oral Language in PreK-8
English learners develop two languages simultaneously; however,
due to the focus on reading and writing, oral language is often
overlooked. Underdeveloped oral language has negative implications for
literacy success. Guided research informing instruction, connected to
strategies and techniques to address oral assessment, instruction, and
intervention will be shared.
On behalf of our SPLIS members, I would also like to thank our
SPLIS board. During this past year, SPLISers have been served by Sinem
Sonaat (Chair-Elect), Veronica Sardegna (Past Chair), Sezgi Acar
(Secretary), Nancy Elliott (Member-at-Large), Holly Hubbard (Community
Manager), Suzanne Franks and Matthias Maunsell (Co-Editors). These
volunteers have dedicated their time and expertise to SPLIS and have
been instrumental with upholding our well-earned reputation of being one
of TESOL’s most vibrant interest sections.
I would especially like to give a shout-out to our newsletter
editors, Suzanne and Matthias. They met our board’s goal of having the
SPLIS newsletter’s semi-annual issues published in August 2019 and March
2020. Suzanne served as the main editor for the August issue, and
Matthias has done so for this March issue. As co-editors, they began
working on these issues while still at the 2019 TESOL convention. Their
tireless effort was instrumental in meeting our publication deadlines.
They started by identifying SPLIS-related presentations in Atlanta that
seemed newsworthy for publication. They then divided their efforts, with
each co-editor attending half of the selected sessions. After the
convention, Suzanne and Matthias stayed in contact with the presenters
whose sessions they had attended and encouraged them to convert their
presentations into newsletter articles. Unfortunately, this year our
newsletter co-editors will not be able to attend your SPLIS sessions in
person. I strongly encourage you to take the initiative of emailing them
and requesting their guidance in preparing an article based on the
presentation that you were supposed to present in Denver.
And finally, I would like to share that TESOL will be providing
an online forum for our annual SPLIS business meeting during the week
planned for the annual convention. We invite you to join us. If we have
not yet shared the specific time and date via the myTESOL community by
the time you read this newsletter, we will soon be doing so.
In closing, I encourage everyone to demonstrate resilience and
compassion as we learn to live and work within our new normal. To move
forward day by day, we must model courage, patience, and kindness for
each other and for our respective students—from early childhood to
adults and from preschool to graduate school. We also need to
demonstrate our care for TESOL. We are indeed fortunate to have a
professional organization like TESOL with leaders and staff dedicated to
serving the diverse needs of teachers, researchers, and students.
However, given the cancelation of the 2020 convention, TESOL is stripped
of its major funding source and yet still faces convention-related
expenses. TESOL now needs everyone’s support. So, please consider
contributing to the TESOL Resilience and Recovery Fund.
Stay well and continue helping each other and our students, but from a healthy distance.
Susan Spezzini
SPLIS Chair, 2019-20 | 
