We hope to see you in D.C. in April 2016!
Welcome to the AERA Vocabulary SIG!
I am honored to serve as Chair of the SIG this year. Whether you have an interest or passion for learning more about vocabulary or for sharing your vocabulary expertise with others, this is SIG is for you. This SIG is committed to communicating and networking about vocabulary: How it develops and how to foster it.
There are many ways to get involved in the Vocabulary SIG, including submitting proposals to the SIG for the 2016 AERA Conference to be held in Washington, D.C. April 8-12, nominating a colleague or student for one of the awards, supporting SIG efforts by volunteering to serve on a committee, or simply by showing your commitment to vocabulary by being a member.
If you, or one of your graduate students, are conducting research on vocabulary I hope you will consider sending your proposal for a paper or symposium session to the SIG. The number of paper sessions AERA permits for the SIG is determined by the number of papers submitted, so encouraging submissions is very important. The submission window for proposals for the 2016 Annual Meeting is June 1—July 22, 2015.
At the Annual Meeting two awards are given, one for Notable Vocabulary Researcher and the other for Student Vocabulary Research Paper. At the 2015 Meeting, recipients of these respective awards were Dr. William Nagy, Seattle Pacific University, and Dr. Sean Davidson, University of California, Riverside. Now is the time to consider possible nominees for the next researcher award. Winner of the student award is selected from the pool of graduate student research papers presented on vocabulary related topics at the 2015 conference.
I hope you will help us to grow the Vocabulary SIG this year. The Executive Board has discussed several ideas for making the SIG a go-to place for those interested in vocabulary. For example, we plan to compile a list of vocabulary-related publications by members to post on the website. To help us begin this effort please renew your membership or join the SIG now and encourage graduate students to do so as well. http://www.aera.net/Membership/JoinorRenew/tabid/10230/Default.aspx
As Chair of the Vocabulary SIG, I look forward to seeing you at the 2016 Meeting. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have.
Warm regards,
Kathy Ganske