The board has been meeting regularly in order to keep communications transparent. We have put our priority on core services – TESL Canada journal, Teacher Training Program Recognition, and Teacher Certification. TESL Canada Journal, under the editorship of Farahnaz Faez and Antonella Valeo and with the support of a SSHRC “aid to scholarly journals” grant that will be housed at Dr. Faez’s institution, has been stabilized and will publish a special issue on “formulaic language in second language acquisition and teaching” early in the new year. A regular issue will follow shortly thereafter and all journal articles are available at http://teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl

We have also worked closer with an external professional accreditation service, Orion, in order to negotiate a proposal for teacher training program (TTP) accreditation. If approved, Orion will manage the logistics of accreditation, but the TESL Canada standards and name will be maintained. Although the costs will be higher for TTP, it will provide a highly professionalized and internationally recognized accreditation for those who join. An email survey will be sent to TTPs shortly to ascertain next steps.

Certification is our next piece and, as soon as our financial situation is stabilized, we will be able to re-activate these applications. I am hopeful that with the support of members and TTPs, we can maintain this service with a part-time staff and an adjudicator. We hope to have some good news on this front in the new year.

In terms of communications, we have been managing, with the help of TESL NB volunteers to maintain the website and the admin@tesl.ca email correspondence. I am grateful to my NB colleagues for their support in this regard. I also want to thank the managing committee (treasurer, secretary, standards chair, provincial reps chair, journal chair, and past president) as well as the whole board for their continued hard work and support of TESL Canada.

As we move forward, we can begin to re-envision what our federation can offer. With the help of volunteers and those with ideas and talents to contribute, we can think about professional learning (PL) opportunities and partnerships related to PL.

We ask that you please strongly consider renewing your membership with TESL Canada either directly or by encouraging your provincial organizations to remain connected to the federation. Thank you so much for your continued patience and support.

Happy New Year,
Paula Kristmanson, Acting President