Second Language Writing

There are two calls for submission on the SLWIS newsletter page. One is for the regular SLWIS newsletter and the other is a special call for articles on SLWIS-CALL intersections.

Sponsored by Composition and TESOL Program, Academic Literacies Symposium: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Academic Literacies across Educational Contexts will be held February 27-28, 2010 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Keynote speakers will include Suresh Canagarajah and Alan Hirvela. For the Call for Proposals, go to the SLWIS Professional Development page.

The SLWIS website is also posting handouts and presentations on second language writing from TESOL 2009 (See SLW-IS at TESOL 2009.) 

If you presented on second language writing and would like others who may have had to miss your session to have the opportunity to see it or read about it, then send your handouts and presentations to me, and I'll post them. Or if you put them on your own website, I can provide a link to them.

To help you plan for TESOL 2009, below is a list of SLWIS sessions, information on the SLWIS business meeting, and information on our hot topics evening with the experts and on reading proposals.

At TESOL 2009 in Denver, the Second Language Writing Interest Section will host an event in which we can discuss hot topics with the experts on second language writing. You can read and print out the flyer below:

The SLWIS is seeking nominations for the following positions:

• Chair-Elect
• Steering Committee Member (3)

If you are interested in becoming more involved in the IS, please consider nominating yourself for these positions. We are looking for nominees who reflect a broad range of professional interests, institutional contexts, and geographic locations.  All officers must be TESOL members and are expected to attend TESOL conventions during their terms of service.

To nominate yourself for any of these positions, please email a brief (100-words max) statement of interest, including biographical information, to Deborah Crusan, Past-Chair (deborah.crusan@wright.edu), by January 28, 2009.

ONE person to be elected Chair-elect (starting at the end of the TESOL Convention until the close of the next annual Convention. The person elected will serve as chair-elect 2009-2010, chair 2010-2011, immediate past chair 2011-2012.

The Chair-Elect:

• In the temporary absence of the Chair, presides at all meetings of the Second Language Writing IS and the Steering Committee
• Prepares, in cooperation with the Chair and the Second Vice President of TESOL, the Second Language Writing IS’s segment within the general TESOL convention program, including the academic and discussion sessions
• Conducts an evaluation of the Second Language Writing IS program offered at the Annual TESOL Meeting and submits a report to the steering Committee within 30 days after the Meeting.  This report should include recommendations for changes to be made the following year
• Generally assists the Chair in carrying out his/her responsibilities and performs other duties assigned by the Chair
• Serves as a voting member of the Steering Committee
• Serves as a Second Language Writing IS Delegate to the annual Interest Section Council meeting, if membership is adequate to warrant two representatives.

The main duties of the Chair include:

• Administering refereeing of SLWIS proposals
• Conducting annual Open Meeting of the IS
• Delegating responsibility for the booth prep

THREE members of the Steering Committee who hold office for three years.
Duties of the Steering Committee are:

• Determining policies for the operation of the SLWIS
• Conducting long-range planning for the SLWIS, developing projects and programs as are necessary to achieve the goals of TESOL and the SLWIS
• Supporting the Chair and Chair-elect in efforts to obtain close liaison with other TESOL groups and other professional organizations having similar concerns
• Establishing committees as required and to give them specific direction and istructions; to approve the appointments of all members by the Chair
• Appointing the Editor/s of the Writing IS newsletter and the Webmaster.

Our interest section thrives on member participation, so I hope you will submit your self-nomination or encourage colleagues to nominate themselves for these positions.

If you have any questions, please contact me (deborah.crusan@wright.edu).

Deborah Crusan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, TESOL/Applied Linguistics
Wright State University
Dayton, OH  45435
(o) 937-775-2846

2008-2009 Past Chair, Second Language Writing IS at TESOL

The SLWIS conference page has been updated with this conference in October, 2009: Language Learning in Computer Mediated Communities. The deadline for submission of session proposals is March 1. Here's a description of the conference from their webpage:

"Once, computers were seen as thinking machines or electronic tutors. Now the computer has become one of many devices that people use to form virtual communities of all kinds. In the field of language education, computer mediated communication (CMC) enables students to interact with one another free of space and time constraints and to participate in communities of learning with their counterparts in the target culture. The Language Learning in Computer Mediated Communities (LLCMC) Conference explores the use of computers as a medium of communication in language learning communities."

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR FOUR TESOL 2009 ELECTRONIC VILLAGE SPECIAL EVENTS
TESOL 2009: "Uncharted Mountains, Forging New Pathways"
March 26-28, 2009, - Denver, Colorado, USA
EV FAIRS, HARDWARE FAIRS, EV MINI-WORKSHOPS, and DEVELOPERS' SHOWCASE

*DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday, December 12, 2008*

You are invited to submit a proposal for participation in one or more of these TESOL 2009 CALL Interest Section Special Events. You are welcome to submit proposals to more than one event, and it is possible to have more than one proposal accepted (depending on space availability and quality of the submission). Windows and Macintosh equipment will be available at no charge, along with CD ROM Drives, Internet connections, and (for the Showcase, EV Hardware Fair and EV Mini-Workshops) projection equipment. Plan to bring a minimum of 100 handouts per Fair/Showcase acceptance slot since these are very popular events!

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE EV FAIRS: Presenters have approximately 20-30 minutes to demonstrate their material on 1-2 computer(s) without projection equipment in a presentation format similar to a "poster session." Participants walk around the EV, dropping in and out of demonstrations, thus precluding highly structured presentations. A demonstration may be repeated a second time (an additional 20 to 30 minutes), if interest warrants and space allows.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE HARDWARE FAIRS: A Hardware Fair is a variant of the regular fairs, where presenters will demonstrate their material for 20-30 minute intervals, so people can go around the room and see the event multiple times. The variation is that presentations will be on devices which may or may not include computers, but may also interact with them in some way (see description below for suggested items).

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE MINI-WORKSHOPS: One or two presenters introduce a topic to a small group of workshop participants. The workshop is "hands-on" in a computer lab setting. Each workshop - with instruction and "hands-on" practice - lasts 90 minutes.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SHOWCASE: A selected group of presenters will demonstrate their software or application for 8 to 12 minutes each. A brief question and answer session follows each presentation. 

_____EV FAIR_____
Coordinator: Roger Drury (roger.drury@ esl.gatech. edu)

WHAT ARE EV FAIRS?

• Email projects
• Lesson plan archives for teachers
• Vocabulary worksheets using an online thesaurus
• Skimming/scanning activities using a local newspaper webpage
• Research/writing exercises for investigating Internet hoaxes
• A descriptive writing activity combined with HyperStudio illustrations
• Web 2.0 activities, using social networking or SecondLife

Please submit your proposal(s) for the EV Fairs online at http://www.langconc epts.net/ ev2009.html

_____HARDWARE FAIR_____
Coordinator: Randall Davis (eslrandall@yahoo. com)

WHAT ARE HARDWARE FAIRS?

• handheld devices
• cameras
• porttable technologies
• smartboards
• clickers
• ELMOs
• MP3 players
• cell phones

It is suggested that you bring your own small hardware (as in hand-held device, camera or cell phone) or ask the company (like Smart) to send you a loaner for the larger equipment (like interactive whiteboards) to demonstrate at the workshop (they are usually good about this). Some responsibility for hardware by the presenter will be needed.

Please submit your proposal(s) for the Hardware Fairs online at http://www.langconc epts.net/ ev2009.html

The Call for Proposals for the 2009 Symposium on Second Language Writing, to be held at Arizona State University on November 5-7, 2009, is now available in PDF format.

http://sslw.asu.edu/2009/sslw2009cfp.pdf