Last night, I was watching a movie on television while I was reading the day’s mail. In addition to the usual advertisements for products and services, the movie segments were interspersed with several appeals for donations. There were compelling and even heart-wrenching solicitations from the Society for the Prevention of
At the end of October, people in several countries will celebrate Hallowe’en, or All Hallows, as it is called in some places. Children (and some adults) dress up in costumes for “trick-or-treating” – going door-to-door, asking for candy. It has been many years since I wore a Hallowe’en costume, though
As I draft this Chair’s Report for the September, 2016 issue of TIRF Today, I am aware of the passage of time. For instance, it has been six years since Ryan Damerow and I produced the first issue of this monthly newsletter. I can hardly believe I’ve managed to produce
Earlier this month, TIRF Board members gathered in Washington, DC to participate in the Foundation’s fall Board meeting. TIRF’s fall meetings are typically held over two days, so that Trustees have ample time to discuss the Foundation’s programs and activities, including the projects that are currently being undertaken, those that
Editor’s note: In this piece, Mr. Hector Alvarado, Academic Unit Director at IGA, shares information about the ABLA conference, which took place last month in the US. The Association of the Bi-National Centers in Latin America (ABLA) is formed by centers which primarily focus on English language teaching, but also
Due to the diligent efforts of several of our supporters, we are pleased to share with you that TIRF’s collection of reference lists, which boasts more than 150 topics covered, was updated this month. It is our hope that through providing this resource to our stakeholders and the public, we
Former TIRF Trustee Dr. Patricia (“Patsy”) Duff has been honored by the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) as the 2017 recipient of the AAAL Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award. Patsy was a member of the TIRF Board of Trustees for six years and served as the Chair of TIRF’s
We are pleased to announce an upcoming event of interest to researchers and administrators working in language education research. TIRF is working with Laureate Language’s CoP (community of practice) to offer a live webinar, entitled “Introducing TIRF to the Laureate Languages Community,” on Friday, October 21, 2016 from 11am to
When I was a little girl, I believed that if I saw a falling star, I should make a wish. Popular songs of the time reinforced this belief – songs like “When You Wish Upon a Star” from the animated Disney film “Pinocchio,” and Perry Como’s “Catch a Falling Star.”
Whether you’re new to our newsletter or have been reading TIRF Today since 2010, we want to remind our readers about the helpful– and free – resources we maintain. As new academic semesters are just beginning in many parts of the world, please consider visiting the “Resources” section of our
Fifteen years ago, TIRF awarded its first Doctoral Dissertation Grant (DDG). A decade and a half later, the Foundation has seen its DDG program grow into what is quite possibly now its flagship activity. Over this period of time, TIRF has made DDG awards to 95 individuals from many regions
The Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), which is the annual meeting of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), was held in Palermo, Sicily (Italy), June 20–24, 2016. LTRC is an important event for TIRF, particularly because each year, thanks to a generous donation from Cambridge English Language Assessment, we recognize
Editor’s note: Mr. Ben Knight, Director for ELT Research & Teacher Development at Cambridge University Press, shares information with TIRF Today readers about the establishment and activities of OLLReN. Laureate International Universities and Cambridge University Press (CUP) have set up the Online Language Learning Research Network (OLLReN) to support
Dear TIRF Today Readers, Like many readers of this newsletter, I spend a fair amount of time writing. On a regular basis I write letters of recommendation, articles, forewords and prefaces, book chapters, research reports, reviews of manuscripts, and countless emails. It is interesting that the most difficult writing I
