Dear NNEST Members,
Warm greetings from California!
For those who went to the Convention, I hope you had a safe travel back home, and if you missed it, please visit the photo section in our website to see some friendly faces!
Let me start with a few introductions and updates on newly elected members. The Interest Section wants to welcome Aiden Yeh as the Chair-elect, Lifen Lin as the Webmanager, Maribel Fernandez as the Listserv Manager, and Rashi Jain as Editorial Volunteer. Kyung-hee Bae and Lisya Seloni will continue their great work as our Newsletter editor and Editorial Volunteer, and George Braine as our Historian. We are also very happy to have Kyuko Kubota and Aya Matsuda as Members at Large. And of course, we will continue having the support of Katya Nemtchinova and Brock Brady, and other past chairs.
We also want to thank Rosie Maum, our past listserv manager, and Sandra Hollmann, our past Editorial Volunteer, for their diligent work.
Officers are important, but you members, are essential! I'd like to thank all the cheerful people who volunteered at the NNEST booth. Your generosity was highly appreciated and if you have any suggestions for next year, please do not hesitate to email me and Aiden Yeh at aidenyeh@hotmail.com
I also need to thank all the people who submitted the 69 proposals about NNEST issues and the people who volunteered as proposal readers. Unfortunately, we only had 25 slots, so I'd like to encourage those whose proposals weren't accepted, to try again - and those who presented, keep up with the good work.... which leads me to the next topic:
During our business meeting, members brainstormed a few topics that could lead to great presentations. I'd like to invite you all to identify your areas of interests, post your ideas in our listserv and start grouping among yourselves.
Working in groups, collaborating, makes everything much easier! It was through one of these online discussions that I ended up co-presenting with two great colleagues who I only met at the following convention, two days before our presentation. My story ends well as we are friends until now!
Also, send more than one proposal. Remember that teachers around the world need to hear about our interest section, research and your great ideas!
Here are the topics and please feel free to post others:
- Gap between Teacher Education researchers and those working with ELLs or bringing TESOL research into mainstream research;
- Preparing NESTs to work with younger learners abroad;
- NNEST educators in contexts where they have to prepare NESTs to teach ELLs;
- How to change student, parent and administrator perceptions of NNEST;
- Educating ESL/EFL students and administrators on issues of race and diversity;
- Research on international students-specific courses in MA TESOL programs;
- Student and administrator perceptions of MA TESOL curriculum;
- Multilingualism vs. bilingualism
The 2010 Convention theme is "Re-imagining TESOL" and I will be sending out requests for proposal readers shortly. The deadline for submission is June 2, 2009 and here is the link for the call for participation.
As the NNEST IS completes its first year, it did lose a few members. But let's focus on the good things. We are very proud to have another member, Brock Brady, as TESOL President (2010-2011). We are also one of the few IS that consistently publishes two newsletters a year (and on time!), keeps an updated and independent website and blog, and has a growing number of publications, so... let's keep the ball rolling, guys!
With my deepest appreciation and respect,
Ana Wu
NNEST Chair 2009-2010
http://fog.ccsf.edu/awu/
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