Letter from the Editors

Sarah Emory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Elka KristóNagy, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

Welcome everyone to our Fall 2026 Newsletter!

We've got a great issue for you: thank you to all contributors! We have letters from our current steering committee Chair, Kyle Swanson; our Chair-Elect, Eva Miszoglad; and from people who help keep our community running smoothly --our Community Co-organizers, Jen Brondell and Jaime Parry --and our MyTESOL manager, Qiusi Zhang. 

This edition’s articles are from some of our dynamic ITA presenters from TESOL 2026 in Salt Lake City. Whether you were there and wanted to learn more, or if you weren’t able to join us, we’re excited to share these articles: strategies that boost active learning in ITAs, research on ITA assessment practices, and ways to use technology to help ITAs practice authentic language. We also have a reflective essay on a topic we’ve all been thinking about: what role might AI play in our work?  

In addition to reading our Fall 2026 newsletter, we have an ask of you. The ITAIS steering committee has been discussing potentially renaming our newsletter so that its title has more detail and specificity about its content. We brainstormed some ideas and are asking you, our members, to vote and share your thoughts. Here's the survey:

Share Your Thoughts About the ITAIS Newsletter Name

We also added a couple of other questions tied to ITAIS branding that can help the steering committee think about how we market our materials to each other, as well as to external stakeholders. 

If you have an idea for an article, a review of a technology, software, book, or other resource, do consider reaching out to us! We want to hear from you and help you connect with the larger community of Professionals who work with ITAs and other graduate students.

Enjoy!

Sarah Emory

Elka KristóNagy