SPLIS Newsletter - August 2019 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
LEADERSHIP UPDATES
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
•  LETTER FROM THE PAST-CHAIR
ARTICLES
•  RECONCEPTUALIZING L2 LISTENING COMPREHENSION: A FOCUS ON FIVE CONSCIOUS-RAISING BOTTOM-UP STRATEGIES
•  THREE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT STRENGTHEN ENGLISH LEARNERS' BOTTOM-UP LISTENING SKILLS
•  TEACHING FOR INTELLIGIBILITY: A FRAMEWORK
•  PREPARING PATHWAY STUDENTS FOR ACADEMIC DISCOURSE: STRUCTURED GROUP SHARE PROJECTS
ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY
•  MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
•  MESSAGE FROM THE COEDITOR
•  ACCENTS 2019

LETTER FROM THE PAST-CHAIR

Veronica G. Sardegna, Duquesne University, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Dear SPLIS colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that we bring to you another issue ofAs We Speak, our SPLIS Newsletter. The articles portrayed in this issue offer a myriad of practical suggestions and valuable information for ESL and EFL teachers. I hope you enjoy it and share it with your colleagues.

First and foremost, I would like to thank all the SPLIS members who submitted proposals for the TESOL 2020 Annual Convention in Denver, Colorado, and also express my gratitude to those who are reviewing such proposals. The Annual Convention is the premier professional development event for English language teachers and could not be as amazing as it is without your contributions, support, and presence.

Since TESOL 2019 in Atlanta, our leadership team has been working in collaboration with other interest section leaders to recruit experts in our field for our SPLIS-hosted sessions at the 2020 Annual Convention. Although this work is ongoing, we are ready to share some important news regarding some of our featured presentations for the 2020 Annual Convention in Denver:

- SPLIS Academic Session: This session will feature three researchers who will offer their insights regarding materials for effective pronunciation instruction based on their own research and experiences teaching ESL learners for decades. Two of these researchers have recently published pronunciation instruction textbooks. You do not want to miss this session!

- SPLIS-ITAIS Intersection Session: In this session, a panel of experts will share assessment procedures, guidelines, and rubrics used at two American universities to assess the English oral proficiency of prospective international teaching assistants (ITAs). They will also discuss the features that seem to impact ITAs’ comprehensibility, ITAs’ perceptions of the testing experience, and program services to assist ITAs.

- ITAIS-SPLIS Intersection Session: This session will showcase effective practices and online formative assessment tools for one-on-one pronunciation feedback to ITAs. A panel of experts will discuss research on consultation efficacy and provide suggestions for assessing, teaching, and guiding individualized pronunciation instruction.

- PreK12 IS-SPLIS Intersection Session: This session will bring together three experts on ESL speaking/oral activities. The experts will provide practical suggestions for developing, teaching, and assessing speaking skills in PreK-12 classrooms.

SPLIS can not only be a primary organizer for one intersection session, but also secondary to many intersection sessions. We have worked and continue to work hard on coordinating secondary intersection sessions with other IS leaders in order to feature more presentations at the annual convention that may be of interest to our membership. Mark your calendars for TESOL 2020 in Denver! We hope to see you all there.

Wishing you all health, happiness and success,

Veronica G. Sardegna

SPLIS Past-Chair