This is the season when I normally use the Chair’s Report as a vehicle to push our year-end appeal – asking people to support TIRF with financial gifts to keep the Foundation going. But this year, I’ve decided to take a different approach. This year I’m going to share TIRF’s gifts to you.

There are two reasons for this approach. First, this is the season for giving (as television ads remind us on an overly frequent basis). Second, this year we are celebrating TIRF’s twentieth birthday – so I am reminded of gift giving.

TIRF was started in 1998 by the TESOL International Association to support research in our field. In addition to funding Doctoral Dissertation Grants and focused publications, TIRF offers access to many free resources for language researchers and teachers around the world.

The Foundation’s website (www.tirfonline.org) provides links to TIRF’s Publications as well as to other valuable tools. Simply visit TIRF’s homepage and click on the “Resources & References” button, and you’ll find links to numerous resources, as outlined below.

There are over 200 Reference Lists on various topics of interest to teachers, researchers, applied linguists, program administrators, and test developers. New ones are added monthly and the exiting lists are regularly updated.

You can also find Links to Organizations with missions similar to that of TIRF or that serve any of TIRF’s constituencies. These resources include professional organizations for teachers.

There is a section for Research Organizations in our field, including examples of activities and links to resources provided by other organizations and individuals.

The Journals section provides information on nearly 140 journals related to language teaching and applied linguistics.

TIRF’s Teachers’ Associations section contains information about professional networks of teachers around the globe.

If you would like to publish some of your own teaching ideas, click on the Get Published link to see the current calls for papers from publishers and associations in our field.

TIRF provides information about Conference Opportunities as well. This link has information about workshops and conferences hosted by various language-related organizations.

There is a link to Grant, Fellowship, and Award Information from organizations with missions similar to TIRF’s.

You can also see Slidecasts of TIRF presentations on a range of topics. The slidecasts include PowerPoint slides and audio recordings of the presentations.

There is an Annotated Bibliography on language classroom research, teacher research, and research methodology.

The Foundation shares access to a Free Software and Guide to Using R – useful for statistical computing and graphics.

Finally, the Practical Resources part of this webpage is of particular interest for language teachers. It provides links to websites with information on the following important topics: listening, speaking, and pronunciation; reading, writing, and grammar; general skills in ESL/EFL; content-based resources; technology tools for teachers; rubric-building tools; language assessment information; podcasts; recommended readings; and other miscellaneous topics of interest.

TIRF’s Board of Trustees hopes that all these resources will be helpful to English language teachers around the world, at any time of the year. If you have questions or comments or suggestions for additional resources, please write to [email protected] or visit us online and on Facebook for further information!

Oh, and yes, as I close, I do hope you’ll remember TIRF in your year-end giving this year. We can only continue to offer these resources if we can keep the Foundation going. It seems especially relevant to point out that as a nonprofit organization, TIRF desires to continually give to its stakeholders. With your support, we can achieve our goals. Please consider clicking here and making a donation to TIRF.

Best wishes,