Speakers and panellists

Associate Professor Jirada Wudthayagorn, Ph.D., is the Director of Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI), Bangkok, Thailand, and the immediate past President of the Asian Association of Language Assessment (AALA). She was the recipient of the Royal Thai Government scholarship, which enabled her to earn a Ph.D. (specializing in Instruction and Learning) from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 

Claudia Harsch is a professor at the University of Bremen, specialising in language learning, teaching and assessment; she is also the director of the Languages Centre of the Universities in the Land Bremen. Her research interests focus on language assessment and educational evaluation, language in the context of migration, language assessment literacy, linguistic preparedness in academic contexts, and the implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Tony Capstick is Associate Professor of Language and Migration at the University of Reading, UK. He is Co-Investigator on the Transnational Families in Europe project and Principal Investigator on language and education projects in Pakistan and Iraq. He has carried out critical ethnographic research on language use and language education in resource-low environments for over twenty years and his main focus is multilingualism and migration, particularly in refugee settings in the Middle East. 

Dr. Jessica Wu holds a PhD in Language Testing and serves as the Deputy CEO and Director General for Research and Development at LTTC. With over 20 years of experience in developing localized assessments in Taiwan, she has played a pivotal role in the creation of the General English Proficiency Test and the recent BEST Test of English Proficiency for college students. Her expertise is widely recognized, and she regularly advises the government on L1 test development and administration. 

Ianthi Tsimpli is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge. She is also Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). She has taught and published extensively on Bilingualism and Multilingualism, First and Second Language Development, Language attrition and Language Impairment. She has taught at Cambridge, University College London, University of Newcastle, University of Thessaloniki, University of Reading and University of Ca’ Foscari.

Saengkae Khonghuayrob, the Director of the English Language Institute at the Human Capital Excellence Management Center (HCEMC) under the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC), Ministry of Education, Thailand, is a certified Thai Master Trainer with over 15 years of multifaceted experience in teaching, teacher training, educational supervision. Her expertise in accelerating teacher development in the digital era, in alignment with the CEFR framework, is unparalleled.

Huu Nguyen was assigned to be the director of the National Foreign Languages Project, Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam in January 2017 and has been in her office since then. She has engaged in a wide range of national projects, professional conferences, education activities and has made contribution to the development of Vietnam’s national foreign languages education. She delivered lectures and worked for years at Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Dr. Anuncius Gumawang Jati, M.A., is a Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) expert. With over 30 years of experience, he has significantly influenced English education in Indonesia. Gumawang Jati is the president of the Indonesia Technology Enhanced Language Learning Association (iTELL), where he champions technology integration in education. He collaborates with organizations like the British Council Indonesia to deliver impactful teacher training programs. 

Professor Barry O'Sullivan has written extensively on language testing and regularly presents his work at conferences globally. He designed and led the development and validation of the British Council’s Aptis test and is recognised for his work on the socio-cognitive model of test development and validation. He contributed significantly to assessment in education policy though his paper on the comprehensive learning system (2020) and his work on localisation in learning systems. 

Makoto Fukazawa is a professor of the Faculty of Education at the University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. His research interests include classroom speaking assessment, peer assessment, and English entrance examinations in Japan. He has 20 years of experience as a high school teacher. He is familiar with Japanese English education and high school and college English entrance examinations, including the national English test for college entrance examination.