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Dear SPLIS Members and Readers,
It has been almost a year since we started to teach and collaborate in an online setting. Although we have had many challenges trying to adjust to the new normal, we have done a good job of keeping our SPLIS group engaged and have maintained regular activities. So far, we have organized multiple webinars focusing on both pronunciation and listening (please see the letter from Catherine Showalter, our chair-elect, for more information about the webinars).
As you know, TESOL had the very first virtual conference last year, and it will be a virtual convention in 2021 (24-27 March) as well. SPLIS will have its academic session presentation and intersection presentation with ITAIS (International Teaching Assistants Interest Section). The academic presentation will be given on “Materials and Strategies for Teaching Intonation to ESL/EFL Learners” by Drs. John Levis, Lucy Pickering, and Veronica Sardegna. The intersection presentation will address “Pronunciation Assessment Guidelines and Best Practices in ITA Programs” and be presented by Drs. Rebecca Oreto, Sue Ingels, and Suzanne Franks. Both presentations will be recorded in advance and shared on the virtual convention website. The intersection presentation will also have a live question and answer session. As we get closer to the conference, you will get e-mails about how to gain access to these presentations. I would like to thank all of our presenters for representing SPLIS at the virtual conference.
I would like to acknowledge one of our past-chairs, Veronica Sardegna, who received the D. Scott Enright TESOL Interest Section Service Award for her outstanding service to SPLIS in the last couple of years. Veronica Sardegna was the chair of SPLIS on two separate occasions. Many previous SPLIS committee members wrote support letters to nominate Veronica Sardegna for the Scott Enright award and we are very happy and proud that she won it! Congratulations to Dr. Sardegna on behalf of everyone in the SPLIS community. We appreciate everything she did for SPLIS.
In this letter, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the SPLIS steering committee members for working hard and keeping our group informed and engaged. I would like to thank Catherine Showalter, our chair-elect, for helping me develop ideas and fulfilling the goals of keeping SPLIS active in this tough year. I also would like to thank Shannon McCrocklin and Matthias Maunsell for putting their time and best effort into bringing two issues to SPLIS members this year and starting interviews with experienced scholars and practitioners in speech, pronunciation, and listening. I would like to extend my thanks to Pelin Irgin, our community manager, for keeping everyone updated about SPLIS events. I also thank all steering committee members of 2020-2021 for keeping our group engaged.
Finally, I would like to thank the webinar presenters this year for expanding our knowledge in speech pronunciation and listening areas: Okim Kang, Ron Thomson, Meghan Moran, Mark Hancock, Jane Setter, Suzanne Graham, Shannon McCrocklin, Idee Edalatishams, Graeme Couper, Ines Martin, Solene Inceoglu, Paul Gruba and Ruslan Suvorov. And for those of you who could not attend the webinars but would like learn more about them, please remember that interest section webinars are recorded and shared on TESOL International Association’s YouTube channel.
On behalf of the SPLIS steering committee, I would like to thank all SPLIS members and fellows for attending the webinars and/or following us on our community page and on Facebook.
Stay safe and happy!
Sinem Sonsaat-Hegelheimer
SPLIS Chair, 2020-2021 |
