Eaquals International Conference 2022, Venice, Italy

Abeer Ali Okaz

Abeer is the DoS and educational consultant at PUA, a freelance trainer, CELTA tutor, and NILE and TransformELT consultant. She has 23 years of experience, ten of which involved strategic and organizational management/training. She has published in international journals and done training in Ireland, the USA, the UK, KSA, Kyiv & South Africa. Her professional special interests are teacher training, materials development, management, ICT and working closely with teachers.

Adam Scott

Adam has wide ranging interests across teacher development, language development, and leaner identity and inclusion, alongside a career-long interest in advancing phonology practice. He is a skilled teacher researcher and materials writer, the ELT Specialist at Sensations English, a CELTA trainer and the joint coordinator of IATEFL PronSIG.

Aidan O Shea

Aidan O’Shea is a teacher, trainer and Director of Operations at The Linguaviva Centre. He is a Board Member of MEI with responsibility for QA of the International Education Mark in Ireland.

Alan O'Connor

Alan has an Ma TESOL, is a graduate from University of Limerick and has been working in ESL/ELE for over 10 years. During that time he has delivered courses both in general teaching and teacher training. In his current role he is involved and responsible for Training and Quality Assurance at the Bridge Mills Galway Language Centre.

Alex Warren

Alex is a DELTA trained teacher trainer with over 18 years’ experience of working in ELT as a teacher, teacher trainer and academic director. He has presented in over 50 countries throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Based in the UK, Alex is currently the Senior ELT Academic Consultant for National Geographic Learning.

Andrea Scibetta

Andrea Scibetta is a Research fellow in Chinese language and literature at the University for Foreigners of Siena. He has a PhD in Linguistics and Italian Language Teaching and an experience as an Italian language teachers to Chinese learners. His scientific activity also concerns multilingual education and Chinese language teaching.

Angelos Evangelidis & Maria Davou

Maria Davou is a school owner, teacher, teacher trainer and researcher. She has a BA in Philosophy, DELTA, MA in TESOL, now completing her PhD in Athens. She has more than twenty-five years’ experience in Greece, the UK and the US. She is a language school owner in Athens, promoting alternative models of teaching. She is an international trainer, academic consultant and a university professor.

Angelos is currently a Master’s student at the University of Amsterdam for the Research in the Literary Studies program. He is a published novel author, a musician and a lover of literature, cinema and art. He is bilingual, loves communication, and fun activities and believes language learning is a natural process that should be done in enjoyable ways. He has been teaching in Glossomatheia since 2011 and he has conceptualized, designed, and developed Deeper Learning and coordinates it for Glossomatheia and other schools around Greece.

Ania Kolbuszewska

Ania Kolbuszewska works internationally as a teacher trainer, management trainer, inspector and educational consultant at all levels of education. Ania is also a licensed mediator and conflict management specialist.

Anila R. Scott-Monkhouse

Anila R. Scott-Monkhouse teaches English for both General and Specific Purposes at Parma University (Italy). She is a Cambridge English examiner and has trained teachers in Italy and abroad. Her interests lie in analyzing leaner needs in and outside the class, and addressing them through learner training and task-based learning by applying Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to teaching.

Antonia Liberal

Antonia Liberal works at the Accredited Centers unit in the Academic Direction of the Instituto Cervantes. She has extensive experience as teachers of Spanish as a Foreign Language, as well as Academic Director in different teaching contexts and countries.

Asimenia Featham

Asimenia Featham, Dip Trans (IoL), MSc in TE (Aston University, UK). Language School owner, Director of Studies and Teacher Trainer. Member of the QLS team responsible for co-ordinating the annual QLS Online School Debate Festival.

Asli Abak Şen

Aslı graduated from Hacettepe University’s English Interpretation and Translation department. She holds Hacettepe’s English Teaching Certificate, CELTA and MA from Bahçeşehir University. She is a PhD student at University of Antwerp. Her two projects were shortlisted in ELTons Awards in 2013 and 2014. She has been an English Instructor since 2006 and she currently works at Acıbadem University.

Charlotte Lorenzen

Charlotte Lorenzen is an experienced leader and executive coach, who has twelve years of experience in leading and managing the largest languageschool in Copenhagen/Denmark.
She has tought leadership at a diploma-education for more than twenty years .

Chia Suan Chong

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and teacher trainer. She’s the author of Successful International Communication and is currently working on an adult course series with National Geographic Learning.

Chris Farrell

Chris Farrell is Head of Training and Development at Centre of English Studies. He is a member of the Eaquals Board of Trustees and Chairs the EUK PD Advisory Group. Chris has collaborated with organizations such as NILE, OUP, Cengage, Trinity College London, and UCD. Chris has a particular interest in the field of Organisational Learning and Development.

Elaine Cash

She is qualified in Early Years education and she is a Young Learners teacher. She has been in the industry in France and Switzerland for 22 years first working in France in public and private schools after moving from the UK in 1999. She has been at Bell Switzerland for 10 years, first as a teacher then as the Head of the Nursery, Primary and Young Learners departments from 2012.

Elinor Stokes

Elinor Stokes from Atlas English, Clarity’s European arm, has helped numerous institutions move to online learning and assessment. She shares key findings, through case studies and practical experience.

Emma Heyderman

Emma Heyderman has over 20 years’ experience in academic management and has collaborated with O’Clock Idiomas on several projects. Now freelance, she divides her time between writing ELT materials, designing and delivering teacher training courses, providing consultancy to language institutions and is an inspector for Eaquals.

Esra Celik Soydan

Esra Ç. Soydan is the coordinator of Teaching and Learning Development Unit (TLDU) at Özyeğin University – School ofLanguages. Before her current role, she worked as a level developer and a team leader. She has BA&MA degrees in ELT; andis a CELTA tutor.

Ethan Mansur

Ethan Mansur is the author of the teacher’s books for the new 4th editions of Ready for B2 First and Ready for C1 Advanced (Macmillan). He currently teaches at International House Madrid, where over the years he has prepared dozens of students for the Cambridge exams. He has an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester.

Gina Rodriguez

Gina Rodriguez is a Social Media Marketing Specialist in ELT based in Treviso, Italy. She started her career in ELT as a qualified teacher 20 years ago and has covered various roles: self-access centre manager, teacher trainer and sales&educational consultant. In 2018 she qualified in digital marketing and is now helping language schools build a strong social media presence through consultancy, training and social media management.

Giorgio Iemmolo

Giorgio Iemmolo has been the Director of the Language Center of the University of Zurich (UZH) and ETH Zurich since November 2024. In this role, he oversees the strategic development and management of language programs that support the academic and professional growth of students, faculty, and staff across both institutions. Before joining the Language Center, Giorgio gained extensive experience in academic and organizational management. He honed his leadership skills during his tenure at EF Education First, where he managed diverse teams and projects, solidifying his expertise in educational program design and operational excellence. From 2011 to 2015, he was affiliated with the Institute of Comparative Linguistics (IVS) at UZH, where he contributed to research and teaching in linguistics. With a background in linguistics, Giorgio has published widely on topics such as language typology, semantics, and syntax. His vision for the Language Center emphasizes innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration, ensuring that the language programs continue to meet the evolving needs of an international academic community.

Gisella Lange

Professor Gisella Langé is a Foreign Languages Inspector with the Italian Ministry of Education, advising on internationalisation and foreign languages. A researcher, writer and consultant on issues relating to Foreign Language teaching, curriculum development and intercultural education, she specializes in culture and language learning solutions, and web-based teacher training.

She has extensive experience of working as an expert on European Commission and Council of Europe assignments. Most recently this has involved advising on Eurydice Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe, and the 2025 OECD/PISA Foreign Language Assessment Framework design. 

The thematic groups and studies she has been involved with include “Early Language Learning”, “European Language Portfolio”, “Autobiography for Intercultural Encounters” and a number of European and extra-European CLIL/EMILE projects (SUBJECT PROJECTS, TIE-CLIL, CLILCOM, CLIL Consortium, CLIL Cascade Network, LICI, LACE, PROMICE, …).

Hebatallah Morsy

Hebatallah is an 18-years ELT professional who is fond of teaching, training and helping in developing personal skills. She is doing her MA in Tefl. Her motto is “know everything about one thing and know one thing about everything”. That empowered her to be flexible and adaptable with experimenting different tools or tech techniques in teaching and training.

Herbert Gerzer

My name is Herbert Gerzer and I run a highly creative Digital Marketing Agency for language schools and education providers.
I have over 12 years of experience in the language training industry, from teaching, to sales, to marketing. Now I help language schools attract new customers and sell more language courses through paid ad campaigns.

Ian Brangan

Ian Brangan is a teacher, trainer, and Director of Education at The Linguaviva Centre in Dublin. He is a Schools Inspector with ACELS/ Eaquals and a materials writer.

Isabelle Gonthier

Dr Isabelle Gonthier: is the Senior Vice President of Assessment Services at PSI Services, where she oversees the psychometric, test development, and language assessment development teams.

Jane Ritter

Jane has been teaching adults and young learners for over 20 years in both Italy and Hong Kong. She is a University Lecturer at Suor Orsola University in Naples, an experienced Cambridge Examiner and Examiner Trainer acting as Regional Team Leader for South-West Italy and Sicily. Jane is also a Teacher trainer, a CELTA and DELTA Tutor, and an author and editor.

Joanna Paolinelli

Joanna Paolinelli is the Managing Director of British School Pisa Group. Her focus lies in leveraging her experience, technology, and fresh ideas to ensure that English learning and teaching are accessible to all. She combines digital tools and innovative approaches to foster an inclusive classroom environment that caters to everyone’s learning needs. Joanna holds an MSC in psychological research methods and a Masters in Educational Psychology. She is also a qualified tutor affiliated with the Italian Dyslexia Association (AID). As a teacher trainer and speaker, she champions inclusive teaching practices. Her active collaboration with book publishers and exam boards addresses challenges related to dyslexia in language learning. Joanna divides her time among supporting children with special needs, training fellow educators and collaborating with Italian state school teachers. Her aim is to enhance teaching methodologies and support students with dyslexia. Her training sessions focus on introducing innovative techniques to create a more inclusive, flexible, and engaging educational experience. In her role, Joanna Paolinelli is leaving a lasting impact, reshaping the educational landscape by fostering innovation and inclusivity in learning.

Joanna Wrzesinska

Joanna manages the ELT and Institutional Relations team at ETS EMEA. She is also a joint coordinator of IATEFL TEASIG. Joanna holds an M.A. degree in TEFL and is based in Poland and Greece. Previously, Joanna worked as an ELT teacher and academic manager in Poland.

Jonathan Dykes

Jonathan is involved in the management of four language schools based in three different countries. He is also the Founder Director of Net Languages, a Web-based language school. Jonathan is also heavily involved in several Erasmus+ projects, including one that is developing VR materials for language schools. He is also the co-founder of Green Standard Schools, an association that aims to help language schools everywhere achieve a more sustainable future.

Julie Wallis

Julie is Director of The London School, AISLi President, an Eaquals Trustee and sits on the board of International House London.

She has worked as a teacher trainer for organisations including Eaquals, AISLi, LEND, NILE, Transform ELT, Pilgrims, The British Council and Bell.

She holds a degree, is DELTA and CertIBET qualified, and is a trained inspector for AISLi and Eaquals.

Liam Vint

Liam has been involved in English teaching and assessment, for over thirty years, primarily based in Italy. He joined LanguageCert in March 2020 as Country Manager Italy, before taking up the post of Head of Business Development UK and Western Europe in July. Prior to joining LanguageCert he had been Deputy Director Global Network at Cambridge Assessment English, after previous roles as Director Operations Europe, Assistant Director Business Development Europe, and Regional Manager Italy. Prior to that, he had worked for the British Council, as Director of Studies, trainer and teacher, in Italy and Portugal. He has an MA from the University of Cambridge, an MA in TEFL from Reading University, an RSA Dip (DTEFL), and a PGCE (Distinction).

Linda Egnatz

Linda Egnatz is the Executive Director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy, a free international language certification program that serves to recognize and document bilingual skills in over 50 countries. Egnatz serves as the 2023-24 President of the Joint National Committee for Languages, and is a Bilingualism Matters Advisory Board Member and Heritage Language Global Think Tank Member.

Lou McLaughlin

Executive Director, Eaquals

Lou is the Executive Director of Eaquals. She was one of the founding members of ELT Ireland, and served on the IATEFL Board of Trustees as the Associates Representative until 2021. Lou holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics, Masters in ELT, DELTA, TESOL Cert. in Leadership & Management and Trinity TESOL Cert. Her special interests are Young Learner teacher training, teacher cognition and management in ELT and she was the co-editor of Children Learning English: From Research to Practice (2015).

Lucas Gade

Lucas Gade from Atlas English, Clarity’s European arm, has helped numerous institutions move to online learning and assessment. He shares key findings, through case studies and practical experience.

Ludka Kotarska

Ludka Kotarska was the Director of Eaquals Accreditation and Consultancy between 2016 – 2022. She was responsible for the management of Eaquals accreditation services, the development of the Inspection Scheme and for advising and supporting language centres that apply to become accredited members of Eaquals.      

Marc Anderson

Marc Anderson is a co-founder and CEO of Comas LLC which provides language training solutions for businesses in Japan. He has worked for some of Japan’s largest IT companies both as a language trainer and as a manager where he was able to develop specialised language training programs. . It is now his mission to create a Japan where language and culture are not barriers to global success.

Mark Rendell

Mark Rendell is CEO of IH London and Chair of English UK. He will share his insights leading one of the largest providers of language teaching, teacher training, and testing, through the pandemic.

Marta Higueras

Marta Higueras García. Ph.D in Philosophy and Education. M.A in Applied Linguistic is Responsible for language teacher training programs at Instituto Cervantes, Madrid.

Max Bondi

Max Bondi is Head of Product Management at the educational technology firm, Avallain.  For more than ten years Max has worked extensively with ELT and educational publishers such as OUP, CUP, Pearson, Cengage and Santillana to deliver some of the industry’s most innovative digital solutions, used by millions of learners. Now, he is focused on bringing these innovations to the institutional market. He is based in London, UK.

Meri Maroutian

Meri is a DELTA-qualified English language teacher and teacher trainer with over 15 years of experience. Based in Parma, Italy, she specializes in creating inclusive classrooms and dismantling biases in ELT. Passionate about leveraging AI and innovative teaching methods, Meri designs engaging professional development programs for global educators, helping them focus on effective communication in diverse learning environments.

Mike Mayor

Mike Mayor is Senior Director of English Learning Research & Design at Pearson. On leaving university, Mike worked as an English teacher in France before entering the world of publishing as a lexicographer. Mike joined Pearson in 2003 and moved to Learning Research & Design in 2013. Mike has a BA in French, a Dip. TEFLA and an MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics from Cambridge University.

Mike Riley

Mike Riley joined NILE as Deputy Director in 2020 after spending four years as Teacher Training Manager at Macmillan Education. He started his teaching career in 2001 working with refugees and asylum seekers in his native Manchester and then spent 15 years as teacher, director of studies and director in Milan. His role at NILE involves supporting strategic and organisational management.

Miranda Karjagdi Çolak

Miranda Karjagdi Çolak is a seasoned language educator at Bursa Technical University’s School of Foreign Languages. With a PhD in TEFL, she has extensive experience as an EFL teacher, teacher trainer, researcher, and EAQUALS inspector. Miranda is passionate about promoting sustainable and comprehensive quality assurance systems within Turkish public universities. 

Nick Gossett

I have 24 years’ experience working in a range of settings and countries, as a teacher, teacher trainer and manager. Having accidentally become a manager 18 years ago, I have often reflected on my own style and approach and worried that I may be wanting. I have met many interesting characters along the way… I currently work for CES Leeds in the UK as an Academic Manager and Teacher Trainer.

Özlem Baykan

Özlem Baykan is a Team Leader at Ozyegin University School of Languages. She started her teaching career in 2010 and has been running her managerial role for around 10 years at the same institution. Özlem is also CELTA Trainer and a member of The Standards Professional Council at TESOL International Association, and an Executive Board Member at TESOLTurkey Leadership and Management SIG.

Rebecca White & Bianca Peel

Future Focus21c utilises creative strategies and tactics grounded in place to provide deep learning through tangible, practical evidence-based activities. By developing and harnessing individuals’ creativity for innovation and transferable innovative thinking, we facilitate ‘tooling up education for the 21st Century.

Sarah Aitken

Sarah Aitken is an experienced inspector and a member of the Accreditation Panel, moderating Eaquals reports and overseeing the Inspection Scheme’s standards. She has been involved in the recent review and update of the Scheme. Previously Sarah served for four years as Eaquals Executive Director and was responsible for advising and supporting language centres that apply to become Accredited Members of our Association.

Sarah Ellis

Sarah Ellis is currently working as Senior Manager, Assessment Services, for Cambridge Assessment English.  She is based in Bologna, Italy. Sarah is interested in Assessment, Learning & Professional Development and has an extensive background in teaching, teacher training, assessment and exam management. She has trained teachers on CELTA and DELTA courses and is currently is involved in the Cambridge Assessment English teacher support programme which provides information, materials and support for teachers and academic directors.  She is particularly interested in supporting teachers in developing digital skills and assessment literacy.

Sarah Mount & Alan Pulverness

Sarah and Alan are Co-Directors of TransformELT, a consultancy specialising in education change projects. Our work embraces curriculum reform, syllabus design, materials development, teacher training and professional development, and institutional change projects. We developed Globe to answer the challenges of 2020, by providing a platform for professional dialogue for the global ELT community.

Semih İrfaner

Dr. Semih Irfaner works at Macmillan Education responsible for teacher training and product promotion, and prepares training programs on academic skills and the use of critical thinking in language classrooms.

Before joining Macmillan Education, Dr. İrfaner worked as both an administrator and a lecturer in the Academic English unit at Bilkent University and prepared and taught courses related to academic English.

In addition to the use of critical thinking in language teaching and learning, Dr. İrfaner also has works on the prevention of bullying among the students, which he worked on during his doctoral program at Hacettepe University.

Seong Hui You (Daniella)

Daniella Seong Hui You is the Executive Academic Manager at Cultura Inglesa São Paulo (Brazil), responsible for the pre andin-service training and teacher development programmes. She is also responsible for developing teacher evaluationprogrammes. She is CELTA & DELTA tutor and assessor, holds DELTA, BA in Economics and Postgraduate diploma inProfessional Development for Language Education

Shakeh Manassian

Shakeh began here career in English language teaching working at all levels of the CEFR both in the UK and in Europe. She moved into language assessment and testing in 1999 and has worked in a variety of roles including consultancy, training, content development and research.

She is currently Director, Language Assessments at PSI and responsible for the Skills for English suite of English language tests.

Stefanie Smith

Stefanie Smith: With a background in publishing, Stefanie found her niche in language education when she joined EF in 2010,where she has managed the development of multiple courses.

Steve Walsh

Steve Walsh is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, UK, where he was, until recently, Head of Department. Steve is also a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong. He has been involved in English Language Teaching and English language teacher education for more than 30 years in a range of overseas contexts.

Steve’s research interests include classroom discourse, teacher development, second language teacher education, and professional communication. He has published 10 books and more than 100 research papers. Recent publications, with Steve Mann, are the monograph Reflective Practice for English Language Teaching: Research-based Principles and Practices (Routledge, 2017) and The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education (Routledge, June 2019). Currently he is researching and writing about e-CIC and has just published a paper: Moorhouse, B., Li, Y. and Walsh, S. (2021) E-Classroom Interactional Competencies: mediating and assisting language learning during synchronous online lessons. RELC Journal February 2021.

Sue Hackett

Sue has worked in language education and quality assurance for more than 45 years. During this time, she has developed policy and overseen its implementation related to a broad range of education contexts, managed projects including developing assessments, designing and delivering teacher training, managing curriculum renewal initiatives, publishing a series of EAP English for Academic Purposes) textbooks. She has recently been very active in the field of academic integrity and has presented and published on this topic, both nationally in Ireland where she was the QQI (Quality & Qualifications Ireland) manager for the National Academic Integrity Network, and internationally for Eaquals, ENQA (European Network of Quality Assurance Agencies), INQAAHE (International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education), and ENAI (European Network for Academic Integrity). She is a member of the Eaquals Accreditation Panel as well as a Senior Inspector and Advisor. Currently, she works as an independent tertiary education consultant.

Sultan Zeydan

Sultan Zeydan is a team leader in the Preparatory English Program at Özyeğin University. She received her BA in ELT and MA in Cognitive Sciences from Middle East Technical University. She is also a CELTA Trainer.

Tetiana Myronova

A teacher trainer, materials writer and passionate ESL teacher from Ukraine. She’s been teaching groups of adults for more than 10 years and has also designed her own course “English for Fashion Industry”. She’s particularly interested in the ways how Professional Development can be integrated into different teaching contexts.

Waldemar Martyniuk

Waldemar Martyniuk is Professor at the Institute of Polish Language and Culture for Foreigners of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. He holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and is a teacher trainer, author of several textbooks, curricula, and testing materials for Polish as a foreign language. Visiting Professor and lecturer at universities in Germany (Bochum, Giessen, Goettingen, Mainz, Muenster), Switzerland (Basel), and in the USA (Stanford University). Seconded to the Council of Europe, Language Policy Division in Strasbourg, France, 2005–2006, and 2008–2013 as Executive Director of the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz, Austria. Since 2019, he has been Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).  

Yordanka Kavalova

Yordanka Kavalova is the Head of Assessment Product at Oxford University Press, ELT. She has worked in educational research and publishing for over two decades and has led a number of international projects for schools and higher education, including collaborating with ministries of education. Before that, she was a corpus linguistics researcher at University College London.

Zoe Flaherty

Zoe Flaherty is the Founding Director of The Language Grid, an innovative business English training company renowned for its focus on practical skills and flexibility. Zoe’s academic background and early career were in business and finance.
Throughout her career in corporate language training, Zoe has focused on driving innovation in the field, both in terms of methodology and digital support.