With great sorrow in our hearts, we regret to share that TIRF Trustee Emeritus Dr. James E. Alatis passed away on Saturday, February 28th in Arlington, VA. Dr. Alatis, known as Jim to us, was one of TIRF’s founding Trustees. His indomitable legacy will live on for decades to come,

We asked our Board members to share with us whether they will be presenting at LTRC, AAAL, and/or TESOL. It turns out that Jodi Crandall, Jun Liu, and David Nunan will be particularly busy during their time in Toronto. In case you are interested in meeting with these Trustees, or

With the 2015 TESOL Convention just around the corner, we would be thrilled for you to join us in Toronto! TIRF has a strong history of supporting TESOL Conventions in past years, and once again the Foundation will have a presence at this year’s Convention. TIRF will be hosting a

In March 2015, TIRF and Routledge will release Teaching and Learning English Grammar, the second volume in the series, “Global Research on Teaching and Learning English,” which is co-published by TIRF and Routledge. This volume is co-edited by TIRF Trustees MaryAnn Christison (University of Utah) and Donna Christian (Center for

As noted in our November newsletter, in the October 2014 issue of TIRF Today, we offered a trick-or-treat challenge to our readers. The quiz was hosted on TIRF’sbook page. Although we had many replies to our quiz, no one answered all five items correctly. We still are hoping to award

This season of the year – harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere – is often recognized as a time for giving thanks. Indeed, Canadian thanksgiving (Jour de l’action de grâce) was celebrated in October. In the US, Thanksgiving will be celebrated this week. Tuesday, December 2 is officially recognized as

Editor’s note: This piece includes conference summaries from four TIRF Trustees who attended the AILA World Congress earlier this month. We would like to recognize Mr. Michael Carrier, Dr. Jodi Crandall, Dr. Joe Lo Bianco, and Dr. Nick Saville for their contributions to this article. The AILA (Association Internationale de

Editor’s note: In this piece, Dr. Yehia El-Ezabi details his recent trip to the UAE. Please note that TIRF does not incur travel expenses for such trips. On Friday, April 18, 2014, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), TIRF Trustee Emeritus Yehia El-Ezabi and former Trustee Ali Al Sharhan

Two conferences are set to be held later this year in Argentina. Both events will take place from September 18-20, 2014. The Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Santiago del Estero (APISE) is organizing FAAPI’s (Federación Argentina de Profesores de Inglés) XXXIX Annual Conference. This event is one of the most important meetings

One aspect of TIRF’s mission includes influencing language policies around the globe that have an impact on language education. More specifically, this part of our mission states that TIRF seeks “to influence the formation and implementation of appropriate language education policies, recognizing the importance of indigenous languages and cultures worldwide,

We are delighted to announce that the British Council has awarded TIRF a Research Grant of £ 15,000 (fifteen thousand pounds) to the 2014 TIRF Doctoral Dissertation Grants program. The TIRF-British Council grants are intended to support candidates at universities in resource-poor environments (all countries on the OECD DAC list

We are pleased to announce a new book series, Global Research on Teaching and Learning English, co-published by TIRF and Routledge. This series showcases research by young scholars from around the world, whose studies have been funded by grants from TIRF, awarded through carefully vetted international competitions. Since 2002, TIRF

At the September 2013 Board of Trustees meeting, Dr. James E. Alatis (known to us as Jim) was honored as a Trustee Emeritus. At that event, Trustees Kathi Bailey, Richard Boyum, MaryAnn Christison, and Dick Tucker shared their thoughts with Jim about his influence on the Foundation and the field.

TIRF Trustee Elected to AAAL Office TIRF Trustee Kathi Bailey has been elected to the office of Second Vice President (VP) of AAAL – the American Association for Applied Linguistics. AAAL is an affiliate of AILA –the Association Internationale de LinguistiqueAppliquée. “I am very excited to take on this new responsibility,” said