Letter From the Chair
Sarah Emory, The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Hello to all of you working in the ITA field,
I was able to see many of you at the annual TESOL International Convention and Expo in Tampa in March as well as online during ITA Working Group meetings over this past year. Recently, our ITAIS Steering Committee met to discuss plans for this year. As always, we hope you were able to submit proposals to the annual TESOL Convention and English Language Expo. The conference is always more useful and exciting for our group when there are many sessions focused on international teaching assistant and graduate student-focused topics.
At the conference this past March, we had about ten ITA-focused sessions, and they promoted engaging conversations that we were able to continue in our ITA Working Group sessions. I helped organize our academic session, Shifting Approaches to ITA Programming: Planning for the Future. I want to again thank our panelists, Pamela Pollock, Maria Mendoza, Quisi Zhang, and Suzanne Franks for sharing how they are updating and positioning their programs and branding or rebranding materials to reflect changes in graduate education. They have made their materials viewable, including the worksheet, their powerpoints, and the survey they shared in advance of the session. Within this newsletter, Pamela Pollock has summarized her role in the academic session for those who were unable to attend. II’d also like to thank Laurie Frazier, one of our Members-at-large for arranging the Intersection with the Program Administration Interest Section, Modifying Assessment Policies to Promote Equity in ITA Programs. The speakers, Laurie Frazier, Jennifer Brondell, Hoomana Nathan Horton, and Derina Samuel discussed their approaches to ITA testing and the ways they promote equity in the screening and assessment of the students they serve.
Beyond the conference, our new Co-Community Events Managers, Mike O’Niell ([email protected]) and Eva Miszoglad ([email protected]), are in the process of planning webinars for fall and early spring. If you have specific suggestions for speakers or topics, please reach out to them to share your ideas. We’ve also had a few recent working groups. If you’re new to the ITAIS, the ITA Working Group is a member-driven approach to exploring issues by setting up a Zoom meeting and identifying a specific topic or goal to discuss with others. Our recent groups have looked at different competency frameworks, which may inform our work with international graduate students, and two separate sessions that looked at pronunciation resources and apps. If there’s a topic you’re excited to discuss with others, consider reaching out in the message boards or via our email listserv to set a time for your topic. Our group’s collaborative spirit and support of each other are one some of the best things about our interest section.
Last, the new mytesol site has updated their communities and launched an app! If you were part of the ITA community in the past, but have not re-joined since the website transition, please be sure to join us directly through the TESOL website.
We’re currently planning for next year’s TESOL conference, but would love to hear from you and connect in a working group session this year. Remember, anyone can host an ITA working group. If you’re unsure about how to set yourself up as host, please reach out to me!
Enjoy this newsletter, and I hope we get the chance to connect during this year!
Be well,
Sarah
Sarah Emory (Assistant Director, International Teachers & Scholars, Harvard University, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning) provides training on oral English, intercultural communication, public speaking, and teaching skills. Sarah has been active in ITAIS since 2013 and is honored to support a group that has given her so much guidance.