Dear Readers,

In this issue, we celebrate a milestone of one of SPLIS’s most remarkable advocates in a tribute to Judy Gilbert. To the readers who know her well, my hope is that you will once again feel thankful as you remember Judy’s contributions to SPLIS. To readers who have not had the privilege of knowing her, my hope is that you will delight in learning about a key figure, really, a hero, in our field. Most of all, may we all be inspired by Judy Gilbert’s dynamism, tirelessness, professional contributions, and more.

The remaining three articles also spoke to me vividly as a teacher and supervisor of pronunciation and ITA courses. Both Rebecca Oreto and Carlo Cinaglia illuminate common conversational routines and describe how to apply what we know about these common conversation sequences through practical in- and out-of-class learning experiences. Finally, I suspect that all ESL teachers, especially those who teach oral communication, long to convince their students that learning a language is a process and that a language-learning silver bullet doesn’t exist. Alison McGregor and Sarah Strigler expertly describe step by step a process-based approach to pronunciation instruction.

We hope you will find this newsletter informative, practical, and inspiring. See you in Atlanta!

Suzanne Franks
SPLIS Newsletter Editor