Speakers and panellists

Barry O’Sullivan is the British Council’s Head of English Language Research. He has worked on test development and validation projects globally and advises ministries and institutions on assessment policy and practice. He is the founding president of the UK Association of Language Testing and Assessment, and visiting professor at the University of Reading, UK, and is Advisory Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He was awarded an OBE for his contribution to language testing.

Amol Padwad has been a teacher, trainer, teacher community leader and ELT consultant and retired as the Professor & Director, Centre for English Language Education, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi after a distinguished career of four decades. He is an Executive Member of the AINET Association of English Teachers (India) and a Trustee of the A. S. Hornby Educational Trust, UK. He has several national and international publications and presentations and has led many innovative ELT projects

Victoria A. Murphy is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She was Chair of National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum between 2018-2021. Her work has been funded by ESRC, The Leverhulme Trust, The Nuffield Foundation and the Educational Endowment Foundation, among others. Victoria has published two books on the topic of young language learners, as well as numerous refereed journal articles and book chapters.

Evan Frendo has been involved in ESP and business English teaching since 1993. He is a regular speaker at ELT conferences and events and was the opening plenary speaker at the 2023 IATEFL Conference in Harrogate. Evan is considered an expert in corporate training materials and has authored several coursebooks and methodology books. You may visit his personal website to find out more.