Scholarship Winners

Abdussalam Mousa | Libya | The ESOLSIG Champion Pauline Blake-Johnston Scholarship Winner 2027 

Abdussalam is a lecturer in English Language Education at the Faculty of Education, Elmergib University, Libya, where he previously served as Head of the English Language Department. He holds an M.Ed. from Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia, and has over ten years of experience teaching English, including training future teachers. His work focuses on the everyday realities of teaching English in Libya, and his writing has appeared in ESOL Matters.

Alexandra Covell | United States | IATEFL BESIG Facilitator Winner 2027

Alexandra is the Academic Director and an instructor at Michigan Language Center. With over a decade of experience in English Language Teaching, she has supported adult learners preparing for university and careers in the U.S. Alexandra is passionate about helping learners build the intercultural communicative competence to adapt and thrive in global settings. She is a former President of Michigan TESOL and a frequent presenter at local, national, and international conferences.

Ali Zendah | Palestine | IATEFL Gill Sturtridge First Time Speaker Winner 2027

Ali is an English language teacher at Khanyounis Preparatory Boys (A) School in Gaza, Palestine. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics for TESOL. His interests include education in emergencies, teacher education, professional development, and teacher resilience in conflict-affected contexts. He is particularly interested in supporting teachers to sustain meaningful and inclusive learning in challenging environment. Through his teaching and research, he advocates for quality education for learners affected by conflict.

Anabel Bronnimann | Argentina | IATEFL LAMSIG Early Career Leader Scholarship Winner 2027 

Anabel is Head of Studies and Director of Active Learning Methodologies at Colegio San Agustín's secondary school in Buenos Aires. She is particularly interested in formative assessment and disciplinary literacy, the focus of her thesis for the Specialisation in Foreign Language Teaching at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. She holds an MA in Education from Universidad de San Andrés and received the LAMSIG Early Career Leader Scholarship

Assel Mambetbayeva | Kazakhstan | IATEFL TEASIG First time delegate Scholarship Winner 2027

Assel is an English teacher, IELTS instructor and teacher trainer from a rural area of Kazakhstan, with seven years of teaching experience. She runs RainSEED Educational Centre, with a particular focus on supporting rural children and mentoring rural teachers across Kazakhstan. Her professional interests include student engagement, speaking development and practical classroom methodology. Assel is also a conference speaker, contributing to the development of English language teaching in Kazakhstan.

Dragica Zdraveska | North Macedonia | Symmetry Teacher Training Winner 2027 

Dragica is an English language teacher and teacher educator with over 23 years of experience in English language teaching, teacher training, and materials development. She has particular interests in critical thinking, student-centred learning, literature, psychology, and social sustainability and is an active member of two literature book clubs. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature, an MA in Philology, and a Cambridge DELTA.

Elivelton Domingos| Brazil | IATEFL Gillian Porter Ladousse Winner 2027 

Elivelton is an Education Specialist at the Training and Pedagogical Development department of the CNA National Headquarters in Brazil. A linguist graduated from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), he has a particular interest in teacher training, pedagogical development, and DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion. He holds multiple Cambridge qualifications, including the CELTA, ICELT, and Train the Trainer, and is dedicated to advancing professional development within the ELT community.

Emma Meade-Flynn | Ireland | The Sheila Thorn Authentic Listening Scholarship Winner 2027 

Emma is a teacher, teacher educator and materials writer with over 20 years’ experience in ELT. A keen IATEFL attendee and speaker, her interests include listening pedagogy, authentic spoken English, classroom interaction and emergent language. She is particularly interested in helping teachers develop practical, principled approaches to teaching listening. 

Filippo Colamorea | United Kingdom | IATEFL TTEdSIG Early-Career Teacher Educator Scholarship Winner 2027

Filippo is a Senior Teacher and Teacher Trainer at Celtic English Academy in Cardiff, where he has worked for 2 years. He is also a CELTA tutor and regularly runs CPD sessions and workshops in the school. His particular interest in learners with SEND has led to a recent collaboration with Cambridge Assessment to develop the bite-sized module:  'Teaching learners with SEND' for the online CELTA.

Ireena Nazirudeen | India | IATEFL Ray Tongue Winner 2027

Ireena recently submitted her PhD on developing the English speaking skills of learners from challenging circumstances through contextual pedagogical intervention. She has been localising lessons around children's own realities to make the language emotionally safe and relatable rather than foreign. She is currently working as an Assistant Language Trainer at the Prefectural Board of Education, Fukuoka, Japan. Her goal is to continue designing English language teaching materials for disadvantaged learners to help them communicate confidently and access better opportunities in life.

Károly Nagy | Hungary | IATEFL Bill Lee Winner 2027 

Károly is an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of English Language Pedagogy, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. His interests include teacher education, critical discourse studies, and critical language awareness. He has extensive English language teaching experience across various contexts and countries. He has also worked as a General Education Coordinator for language schools in Turkey, overseeing language programmes and delivering teacher-training workshops. He also has international research and teacher-development experience.

Le Nu Cam Le | Viet Nam | IELTS Morgan Terry Memorial Winner 2027

Le Nu Cam is a lecturer of Applied Linguistics at Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam.  She obtained two Master’s degrees in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from Newcastle University, UK and La Trobe University, Australia. Her research interests include ELT, EMI, Phonetics, Lexicology and Classroom Interaction. Le has presented her research at many international conferences and published extensively in both international and local journals.

Luzan Mattar | Palestine | IATEFL LitSIG Scholarship Winner 2027 

I'm Luzan Mattar, an experienced English language teacher in UNRWA schools for 24 years, and holds a Master's degree in translation, currently studying digital art. I use art in teaching English language. I wrote about my techniques in teaching English language, I’m interested in children’s literature and I look forward to study Ph.D. in children literature.

Marina Kopilovic | Serbia | HIPPO Winner 2027 

Marina is an English language teacher at Primary School ”Stevan Sremac” in Belgrade, Serbia, with 38 years of teaching experience and over 21 years as a teacher trainer. Her professional interests include communicative teaching, drama, young learner testing and assessment, and intercultural learning. She has contributed to national curriculum and assessment development and has coordinated her school’s participation in the HIPPO English Language Olympiad since 2015.

Marita Snabekova | Kazakhstan | IATEFL PronSIG Classroom Research Scholarship Winner 2027 

Marita is a Senior Lecturer with a PhD at Kazakh National Women’s Teacher Training University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with over 20 years of experience in English language teaching. Her academic interests include English language teaching, pronunciation pedagogy, shadowing techniques, innovative approaches to language education, and linguistics. In 2024-2025, she completed a research internship at the University of Sussex and attended the IATEFL Conference in Brighton in 2024.

Nderim Zuçaku | Kosovo | IATEFL TDSIG Michael Berman Winner 2027

Nderim is an English language teacher from Kosovo with a BA in English Language and Literature and an MA in Applied Linguistics. His main interests are reading and writing, with a particular interest in how learners engage with and understand texts. He enjoys bringing research and fresh ideas into his classroom and is always looking for opportunities to grow, contribute, and connect with the wider ELT community.

Neda Moradi | Iran | IATEFL LAMSIG Winner 2027 

Neda Moradi, an English language educator from Iran, brings over two decades of experience to her roles. She lectures at Farhangian University and serves as Secretary of English for Secondary Education, Head of the English Language Teachers' Group, and President of the English Language Instructors' Association for North Khorasan. Neda excels in training English teachers, focusing on language skills and professional development, and has been recognized with awards for her innovative teaching methods.

Nguyen Khuong Huynh | Vietnam | IATEFL TDSIG Early Career Teacher Winner 2027 

Nguyen Khuong holds a bachelor's degree in English Teacher Education from the University of Foreign Language Studies, the University of Danang, and is an incoming MSc student in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Oxford. Her research interests centre on cognitive linguistics and how learners construct meaning, English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education, and AI-assisted language learning and teaching. She is also the founder of Pinny Teaching, a platform providing free English-learning resources, and founder of EchoEd, a charity organisation which supports educational access for disadvantaged children in Danang city, Vietnam.

Phuong Le Hoang Ngo | Vietnam | Trinity College London Teacher Education Scholarship Winner 2027 

Phuong Le Hoang is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Foreign Languages and International Studies, Hue University, Vietnam. Her research interests include English-medium instruction, language teaching, teacher agency, and teacher professional development. She is proud of her beautiful hometown, Hue City, and would love more people to discover it.

Salome Ikokoyo | Nigeria | IATEFL Africa Winner 2027 

Salome is an accomplished educator and British Council Master Trainer with 20+ years of experience empowering teenagers and adults. A proven leader in teacher professional development, she has driven impact through the STEP and STRIDE Programmes and is an alumna of the U.S. Department of State's Online Professional English Network (OPEN). She currently serves as National Treasurer for the English Language Teachers Association of Nigeria, combining instructional excellence with strategic organisational governance.

Shishi Zhang | United Kingdom | Trinity College London-Friederike Sell Scholarship Winner 2027 

Shishi completed her PhD from University College London in 2026. Shishi’s PhD research was on assessing second language pragmatic competence for intercultural communication, targeting UK pre-sessional students. Her PhD project received multiple doctoral dissertation or research grants/awards from the British Council, DET, TOEFL, TIRF and TIRF’s 2024 Russell N. Campbell Award. Shishi’s research interests include test development and validation, pragmatic competence and its assessment, EAP assessments, and intercultural communication.

Shuyi Li | Japan | IATEFL LTSIG Diana Eastment Roving Reporter Winner 2027 

Shuyi is a Ph.D. student in Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University, exploring the intersection of emerging technologies and written communication. Building on her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Tokyo and her hands-on practice as a writing advisor, her research focuses on how to ethically leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) to support multilingual communicators. She is particularly invested in designing "writer-centered" prompt engineering frameworks and examining challenges like "algorithmic native-speakerism" to ensure AI tools empower rather than marginalize developing writers.

Tatiana Beinikova | China | IATEFL ESPSIG Mark Krzanowski Winner 2027 

Tatiana is an ESL/EFL educator with over five years of experience teaching English across Russia and China, from young learners to university level. She has a particular interest in English for Specific Purposes, especially Business English and preparing learners for authentic international communication. Tatiana holds TEFL/TESOL and TKT qualifications and is a member of IATEFL and its ESP Special Interest Group.

Vladyslava Didkivska | Ukraine | IATEFL TEASIG Scholarship Winner 2027

Vladyslava is a Ukrainian English teacher, teacher trainer and materials developer specialising in adult education. Having worked with learners in a variety of contexts, she developed a particular interest in BE and ESP. Her teaching focuses on understanding learners’ needs, setting meaningful goals and using assessment to track progress and help learners see what they can actually achieve with English in their fields.