Letter From the Editor
Patricia Moon, English Language Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Dear ICIS Community,
Greetings! Our interest section has been so active since our last issue! If you’ve missed out on any of our engaging activities, please check our videos on my.tesol here and on youtube here and here. Since our last issue, we had leaders in our field present and share in thefollowing events:
June 1: Decoloniality in a Multilingual University. Sarah Hopkyns and Melanie van den Hoven
June 25: Culturally Responsive ESOL Strategies for Adult Education. Katarzyna Helbin-Travis
September 30: Mentoring Across Cultures, A Guided Conversation. Liz England
The reception was great and I hope you will join us for our upcoming events!
Coming up very soon are our Lightning Talks and the Virtual Convention. You can find info about registering for the Virtual Convention here.
Lightning Talks, October 30, 2026, Noon to 1pm, EDT
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Vahid Ghorbani: From ICN to RICN–A Dynamic Needs-Based Model for Intercultural Communication in English Language Teaching
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Zainab Teraif: Teaching through the Genai Rupture–An Autoethnographic Exploration of Epistemic Reflexivity and Professional Becoming in EAP Teaching
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Bellaarabi El Mehdi: Negotiating Algorithmic Bias in Intercultural Education–Moroccan EFL Teachers and Contested Representations
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Maria J. Morocho: Creating bilingual stories–Unleashing your Creativity and Developing Writing and Speaking
TESOL Virtual Conference, November 20 and 21, in the Culture and Intercultural Communication strand:
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Leslie Bohon (one of our IS chairs!): Pre-Service Teachers' Intercultural Competence Growth in an EFL Internship
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Katarzyna Helbin-Travis (one of our IS leadership!): Culturally Responsive ESOL Strategies for Adult Immigrant Literacy Learners
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Ufuk Keles: Becoming a Transnational English Teacher Across Borders: A Narrative Inquiry
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Annie Altamirano: Beyond Borders: Multicultural Poets and Postcolonial Perspectives Annie Altamirano
Following are recorded sessions at the Conference:
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Elsie Enanga Mange Jato, Atoh Ade Annette Njakoi: Enhancing Culture through Letter Writing and Open Door Days
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Nikki-Maria Christofi: Intercultural Communication and Academic Adaptation Among South Asian EAP Students
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Mohamed Ala Sghaie: Intercultural Communicative Competence and Foreign Language Enjoyment Among Tunisian Undergraduates
In this issue, we have four excellent pieces from scholars and practitioners in Italy, Iran, Vietnam and Japan. The authors shared pieces that range from pure research to practical applications and instruction of intercultural communication. I am really happy to share them with you here.
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Language In Full: Teaching English Through Metaphors
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Beyond Intercultural Competence: Introducing The RICN Model To Tesol Professionals
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From Infographic To Interview To Performance: A Three-Part Culture Project
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From Templates To Voice: Helping Japanese EFL Students To Find Their Own Voices
After reading these, I’m reminded of the richness of this field. Context and domain are critical in understanding and learning, but also, using mistakes and numerous cultural tools are rich sources for learning. I hope these titles pique your interest and that you are inspired to read them all! They demonstrate ways in which intercultural instruction enhance the language learning experience. After reading them, maybe these submissions inspire you to share your voice and experience in teaching English and how intercultural communication and awareness informs your practice. For the Pre-Convention issue, we are looking for articles to get people excited about the convention coming up in March in Houston. If you have something to share on intercultural communication, intercultural competence, or cultural exchange in your educational setting, please submit something! You can find the author's guidelines here. The next deadline is January 29, 2027. Please email your submissions or questions to [email protected].
Please check out the letter from our co-chairs and follow our social media (on LinkedIn, Facebook and X) for more upcoming events. If you miss an event, you can find a replay available on YouTube. If you are not a member, we invite you to become part of our group! This is a great community to be involved in!
Finally, thanks to Jennifer Ramos, who helped serve as co-editor for two issues. Doing this was better with a partner! Also, I would like to welcome Jignasa Gondalia to the team! Jignasa comes with 20 years of experience in TESOL. I will be shifting to a background role while Jignasa takes over the editing responsibilities. This has been a wonderful experience and I am so grateful to have found such a welcoming and kind community!
If you are looking for a way to be engaged, I strongly recommend being part of this group. I have really learned a lot and there are always educational and engaging events. I truly enjoyed seeing all the exciting work everyone is doing to inform the field of intercultural communication.
Patricia Moon, MA, is the outgoing newsletter editor for the ICIS community after serving for two and half years. She has been in TESOL for over 30 years and is currently serving as an administrator and instructor at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Florida. Her work since 2004 has focused on scheduling and curriculum for students studying intensive academic English at the University of Florida. She loves seeing the students get excited learning a new language and making many friends in the program. They truly have shared their cultures and languages with all of us. Being at the UFELI for 32 years has been like travelling around the globe every day.