Reflections From the ICIS Leadership on the 2026 TESOL Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah

The 60th Annual TESOL Convention held in Salt Lake City, Utah was a blast. Our leadership had so much to share about the experience. These reflections note the joy and vibrancy of our collaboration, best summed up by “the Naughty Table,” as well as reflecting on the past and navigating the complexity of our future. 

Roxanna M. Senyshyn, the ICIS Historian says, “As I reflect on TESOL 2026 and the ICIS’s academic session (which I had the honor of chairing this year), I am reminded of an image I captured just outside the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

Photo Caption: ICIS Academic Session: “From Past to Future Possibilities: Rethinking Interculturality in TESOL.” L to R: Roxanna Senyshyn (ICIS moderator), Ryuko Kubota (panelist), Kristen Lindahl (panelist, Joan Kang Shin (panelist)

It was an art installation of countless road signs layered with words, choices, oppositions, and possibilities. The signs read, among others, “Break and Fix,” “Stand or Run,” “Object or Subject,” and “Seen or Heard.” For me, that installation became an unexpected metaphor for intercultural communication in TESOL today.

Photo Caption: Art Installation, Point of View, by Aaron Stephan, outside of the Salt Lake City Convention Center. More information about the piece can be found here. 

As ICIS celebrates 30 years within TESOL’s 60-year history, our academic session invited us to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we may be going. Like the signs outside the convention center, our field is filled with choices. Yet intercultural communication often requires us to move beyond simple either/or thinking and engage with complexity, ambiguity, and multiple perspectives. Will we continue relying on familiar frameworks, or critically reimagine them? Will we simply react to local and global changes, or actively shape more equitable futures?

TESOL 2026 reminded me that our work increasingly requires us to navigate complexity rather than seek easy answers. Perhaps that is at the heart of intercultural communication: not choosing a single road but learning how to move thoughtfully through intersections, beginning with the awareness that “you are here” - recognizing the moment, the space, and the humanity within our communities.”

Our Primary Session titled “Bridging Worlds: Culturally Responsive Communication with Families of Neurodiverse Learner” was a success and was organized by outgoing Chair, Nichole McVeigh, and Jill Hakemian (Supporting Students with Disabilities Interest Section). It covered the intersection of intercultural communication and working with diverse learners.

Photo Caption:  ICIS Primary Session: “Bridging Worlds: Culturally Responsive Communication with Families of Neurodiverse Learners.” L to R: Nicole Bell, Maria de Lourdes Gutiérrez Aceves, Fatima Aldajani

Our Secondary Intersection session, “Rethinking Success: Implications of Global Power Shifts for ELT,” was a collaboration with the Program Administration and Higher Education Interest Sections. Panelists reflected on many years of English Language Teaching and looked forward to what the future may hold in  our field. Panelists included three former TESOL Presidents Mark Algren (2009-10), Andy Curtis (2015-16), and Joyce Kling (TESOL President 2022-23). It was hosted and organized by three interest sections (Program Administration, Intercultural Communication and Higher Education). Organizers were Bessie Lazaris (Higher Education Interest Section TESOL Board Liaison), Pamela Smart (Program Administration Co-Chair), Leslie Bohon (ICIS Co-Chair), Brad Teague (Program Administration Co-Chair), and Melanie van den Hoven (ICIS Co-Chair). It was great to hear the viewpoints of these esteemed leaders who highlighted main global shifts with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and offered insight on future trajectories.

Photo Caption: Picture with one of our Secondary Intersection Session panelists. L to R: Leslie Bohon, Andy Curtis (panelist), and Bessie Lazaris (Committee member from HE).

Photo Caption: ICIS Secondary Intersection session: “Rethinking Success: Implications of Global Power Shifts for ELT,” L to R: Mark Algren (panelist), Bessie Lazaris (HE committee member), Pamela Smart (PA Committee member), Leslie Bohon (ICIS committee member), Brad Teague (PA Committee member), Melanie van den Hoven (ICIS committee member), and Joyce Kling (panelist).

Member at Large, Sarah Hopkyns who just published Decoloniality in Multilingual University Spaces (Cambridge University Press) is here with Melanie van den Hoven (Co-Chair) before their presentation titled, “Emirati Student Language Learning Through Affinity Groups and Soft Power.”  This presentation explored not only the use of English but the ways in which other languages are inserted in daily spaces at a UAE university.

Photo Caption: Sarah Hopkyns (Member at Large) and Melanie van den Hoven (Co-Chair) before their presentation.

Barbara Lapornik, Co-Chair Elect, says: “In TESOL’s  60th anniversary, it is the intensity of experience of  its annual convention that immediately comes to my mind. I think its vigor is given by so many professional and personal moments happening simultaneously in a very short period of time, the usual four days.

First, also this year I have been able to joyfully re-meet in person, after our year-long online work, the  friends of our Leadership team, and attend the sessions proposed by our interest section. Discussing ICIS past events and future plans during our Business meeting, informing about our activities during the networking hours, engaging in meaningful conversations during our social dinner, have been precious occasions for all present ICIS team members, looking ahead to our next steps. 

More generally, the keynotes, the innumerable and varied sessions, and the poster presentations have given me new theoretical and practical insights, different possible pathways and solutions, interestingly from diverse educational settings. The expo with its press, resources, tools, or novelties has helped me to keep informed.  I have thoroughly enjoyed attending both TESOL’s annual Business meeting as well as  the conversation with past presidents for both the past and present answers to challenges, and the Board of Directors’  inspiring actual visions and paths. At the end, I would like to express sincere thanks to every professional I met, talked with and shared  experiences! And needless to say, I hope I will be able to join the convention in Houston next year. “

Andrea Lypka, our community manager says, “If you attended the Leadership Breakfast at TESOL 2026, you may have noticed the liveliest table in the room, where members of the Intercultural Communication Interest Section (ICIS) gathered. Thanks to Dr. Melanie Vandenhoven, our table quickly earned the nickname the naughty table, and it may have been the best seat in the house. 

Photo Caption: The Naughty Table. L to R: Melanie Vandenhoven, Nichole McVeigh, Sarah Hopkyns, Leslie Bohon, Barbara Lapornik, Roxanna Senyshyn, and Jen Lacroix (not pictured).

The name was, of course, all in good fun, but it captured something real about our little corner of the breakfast. There was laughter, storytelling, and the kind of genuine conversation that reminds us why we entered this profession in the first place. A special shout-out to the colleagues who made the morning so memorable: Melanie Vandenhoven, Nichole McVeigh, Sarah Hopkyns, Leslie Bohon, Barbara Lapornik, Roxanna Senyshyn, and Jen Lacroix, and many others who are the heart of what makes ICIS so special. 

As intercultural communication professionals, we spend much of our time discussing connection, dialogue, and relationship building in our classrooms, research, and professional work. At that breakfast, we had the opportunity to experience those principles firsthand. Professional conversations blended naturally with personal stories, creating a sense of community that extended beyond the conference itself. 

Some of my most meaningful takeaways from TESOL 2026 did not come from a presentation slide or a conference session. They came from the conversations around that table—from exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and strengthening professional friendships.

That experience also reminded me of what makes ICIS such a vibrant community. Our members bring diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise, yet we are united by a shared commitment to fostering intercultural understanding in language education. Whether through conference presentations, webinars, publications, collaborative projects, or informal conversations, ICIS creates spaces where meaningful connections can flourish.

Interested in joining us? ICIS is always looking for new members, volunteers, writers, presenters, and collaborators. Whether you are new to TESOL or a longtime member, there is a place for you in our community. Visit us on my.tesol.org, attend an upcoming event, or connect with an ICIS leader to learn more about how you can get involved.

Here's to more conversations, more connections, and yes—more naughty tables in the future. The future of ICIS is bright!

Photo Caption: The Leadership Team together at the Expo Hall L to R: Nichole McVeigh, Leslie Bohon, Roxanna Senyshyn, Andrea Lypka, Melanie van den Hoven, Barbara Lapornik

As you can see, this community is vibrant and has the values of collaboration, heartfelt listening, and sharing that can’t be matched in other groups. This coupled with the passion of rigorous academic study makes them the perfect group to be a part of. Please join us and see you next year in Houston!