SPLIS Newsletter - March 2014 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
Leadership Updates
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
•  LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
Articles
•  ENGAGING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS THROUGH VOICETHREAD ACTIVITIES
Reviews
•  PATHWAYS SPEAKING AND LISTENING SERIES BOOK REVIEW
ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY
•  WHAT IS THE SPLIS?
•  CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Leadership Updates

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Tamara Jones, British School of Brussels, Belgium

Hello Fellow SPLISers!

As we look forward to another TESOL convention, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since Mike Burri handed over the shiny gold doll chair that represents the responsibilities of SPLIS leadership to me in Dallas. What a year it’s been!

This year, as you may be aware, we have continued to strengthen our ties with IATEFL’s Pronunciation Special Interest Group through a couple of jointly sponsored webinars. On January 29, SPLIS member Char Heitman delivered a fantastic presentation, “15 Content-Based Activities for Incorporating Pronunciation Instruction Across the Curriculum.” We attempted to follow up with a fielded discussion; however, it wasn’t as successful as we had hoped due to the unwieldy nature of the platform we used. Lessons have been learned, and we now look forward to Pron SIG’s speaker, Luke Harding, on May 14. As with Char’s webinar, Luke’s presentation will be open to everyone and available live and as a recording. Stay tuned for more details!

Before we come to that, though, we have the TESOL annual convention in Portland to look forward to. I am very excited about attending the SPLIS presentations and can’t wait to be informed and inspired, as I always am by TESOL professionals. As well, this year, SPLIS is involved in several interesting InterSections:

• “Exploring Priorities and Possibilities for Integrating Pronunciation Into ESP Lessons,” Thursday, 3–4:45 pm, Room B116 (SPLIS-ESPIS)
• “Classroom Pragmatics: Research and Best Practices for Avoiding Potential Pitfalls,” Friday 3–4:45, Room A105 (ITA-SPLIS-NNEST)
• “Social Interaction and ELT Across Settings,” Saturday 11:30 am–1:15 pm, Room PB251 (ALIS-SPLIS)

Every year, I marvel at just how knowledgeable our members seem to be and how generous they are with that knowledge. Regardless of the fact that I have taught pronunciation for more years than I care to count, I never fail to learn something new at TESOL and return to my teaching reinvigorated and full of new ideas. After seeing the SPLIS offerings for 2014, I am sure we can expect much of the same.

Something else I look forward to at TESOL is a chance to meet colleagues when I do my time at the SPLIS information table. I enjoy this time because it gives me an hour during the whirlwind of sessions and meetings to breathe. All you have to do to be a great SPLIS representative is smile at passers-by, hand out our SPLIS freebies (feathers, kazoos, rubber bands, and this year book marks containing key SPLIS session information) and chat with visitors. You don’t have to know a lot about SPLIS or be a Steering Committee member; if you have an enthusiasm for speaking, pronunciation, or listening and want to enjoy an hour of friendly conversation, consider adding your name to Mary’s list by emailing her at mdiaz@broward.edu.

Finally, I wanted to invite each of you to attend the SPLIS Open Meeting on Thursday evening from 6:45 to 8 pm in Room C122. This is a great opportunity to network with the movers and shakers in our field. (I always get a little starstruck when I realize I am sitting among some of the SPLIS legends!) It’s also a good chance to learn how to become more involved in SPLIS and TESOL. And you won’t want to miss the excitement of that magic moment when I will hand over that shiny SPLIS chair to Veronica Sargegna!

See you in Portland or online!
Tamara Jones
SPLIS Chair