Guidelines for Contributions to the CETC Newsletter

Michael Lessard-Clouston, [email protected],
and Meredith Bricker, [email protected]

As relatively new editors, we would like to offer readers some guidelines for what we would like to receive as submissions for possible publication in the newsletter.

Background
The CETC Newsletter is the caucus publication, and we drafted the Christian Educators in TESOL Caucus (CETC) E-Newsletter Mission Statement in order to provide information about its purpose, audience, and vision (Note: that mission statement appeared in Vol. 10, No. 2 of the newsletter and is available for reference online at: http://www.tesol.org//s_tesol/article.asp?vid=172&DID=6490&sid=1&cid=740&iid=6487&nid=3124.) As we noted there, we view the newsletter as a forum where Christian educators in TESOL can exchange ideas, communicate about and evaluate relevant resources, and discuss topics and issues that are pertinent to us and our work as teachers, researchers, administrators, or students in TESOL and related fields.

Guidelines
Perhaps the first point to make concerns some things that the newsletter cannot publish. Following TESOL guidelines, we do not include advertising and we do not publish job announcements. TESOL has several outlets for advertising in its various serial and other publications, and the TESOL Placement Bulletin publishes notices of job opportunities. Also, some types of information and media (such as photographs) are more amenable to other formats, and may be published by the caucus at our website (http://www.cetesol.org/).

Usually announcements and news should be timely (yet still relevant for some time after publication) and appeal to a range of caucus members. Generally, the CETC leadership will provide articles for our 'Leadership Updates' section, but members are welcome to suggest ideas or to offer information and updates to be included in the regular 'News from CETC' feature. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions or ideas for our 'Articles' section, and welcome the following types of submissions (and are open to suggestions for others):

Articles: These may be short (about 800-1200 words) or longer (up to about 2500 words) and describe a favorite classroom activity or teaching technique, reflect on experiences or interests you have had or are developing, or report on classroom or other research, etc.

Book, Software, or Other Reviews: Reports on and evaluations of new student (texts, CD-ROMs, audio materials, websites, etc.) or teacher resources of interest to CETC members. [Please note: CETC members who have published such materials are welcome to contact the editors to alert us to such resources or to provide a review copy of your material(s) that a CETC member could use (and keep) in order to write such a review.]

Responses: These may be short or longer responses to articles published in the newsletter or elsewhere, or to relevant presentations you have attended or talks you have heard, etc. You might offer another perspective, raise some questions, or present new practical, philosophical, or theoretical points of view on topics of interest to CETC members.

Suggestions    

As you will see in this issue, submissions may be drawn from relevant conference presentations you make, report on readings you are familiar with or research you have carried out, describe materials or activities that are relevant to caucus members, or evaluate new resources. As you may have noticed, some articles will include a more obvious or detailed Christian perspective, while others may appear less so. Yet our audience is clearly CETC members and other people interested in relevant topics and issues with a Christian point of view.

If you have an idea and are considering submitting an article, we would be happy to for you to correspond with us about it. If it does not seem appropriate here we might be able to suggest other options. If you have written or would like to write something for us to consider, please first review articles in this and recent issues of the newsletter for models or examples, observing the style and format (e.g., web-oriented, APA, etc.). Prepare your submission as a Word document, and be careful to quote sources appropriately, include all references you mention, and respect the copyright of any authors you cite. Then contact us to let us know that you have something for us to consider, and we'll work with you on it from there. We look forward to hearing from you, and possibly to working with you on your submission.