Celebrating the Launch of Our ARTP Strand
After much anticipation and preparation, our ARTP strand has officially kicked off this week in TESOL-TIRF Research Symposium and it’s off to a fantastic start! We’re thrilled to report that 15 people have already viewed the lecture video, and 4 individuals have engaged in vibrant discussions. It’s truly inspiring to witness the power of TESOL in uniting a global community.
TESOL brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds, each with their own multilingual perspectives, histories, experiences, and knowledge. This diversity enriches our shared mission of teaching English and supporting one another. It reminds me of the late Jan Blommaert’s insightful words: “English has not made the world more uniform; it has been a uniform instrument for more diversity.”
I’ve already had the pleasure of connecting with teachers, teacher educators, and researchers engaged in similar work within ARTP. These interactions are providing valuable insights into what we need to do to gain traction both locally and globally.
The symposium has been exceptionally well-organised, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our coordinators, Sarah Sahr and Ryan Damerow. They’ve done an amazing job ensuring that everything is easily accessible to our audience and the experts, which currently includes at least 51 people from around the world. So grateful for the support of the sponsors too!
As we continue to build momentum, I’m excited to see how our ARTP strand will evolve and contribute to the broader TESOL community. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far, and I look forward to more engaging discussions and collaborations in the future. If you haven’t joined yet, please think about enrolling – you’ll learn heaps!
A shoutout to the sponsors of TESOL-TIRF Research Symposium: