Meet the panellists

Khatuna Tavartkiladze

Khatuna Tavartkiladze is the English Programme Director at Naif Arab University for Security Sciences. She has extensive experience in the fields of language teaching and language teacher education for 20 years as a teacher, item writer, and teacher educator in the UK and Saudi Arabia.  She earned her postgraduate master’s degree in TESOL 2021 after securing her DELTA qualification in 2016. She has designed, taught and supervised several ESP courses that focus on English for security sciences. Khatuna is passionate about helping teachers develop professionally, and she has written and delivered many teacher training workshops—both face-to-face and online—that help teachers develop practical teaching techniques and approaches. She is passionate about engaging and motivating the people she works with so that they can provide impactful education.

At the conference

Ms. Tavartkiladze will sit on the panel of the second panel discussion around 'Language Learning and Assessment in Local Context.'

Dr. Mansoor S. Almalki

Dr. Mansoor S. Almalki is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, a HE Consultant, and currently serves as a Vice President for Development and Quality at Shaqra University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne (2014) in Applied Linguistics and Language Assessment & MA in TESOL from Curtin University (2009). He is an MA & PhD theses examiner, a teacher trainer, and has taught English for several years in Saudi Arabia and Australia. He is a certified reviewer for the US-based Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), and a member of different national and international associations including the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ), the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BALL), and a member of Saudi TESOL Association’s board of directors.

His main research interests include language assessment, teacher identity, professional development, life competencies in ELT, and qualitative research methods in applied linguistics.

At the conference

Dr. Almalki will sit on the panel of the second panel discussion around 'Language Learning and Assessment in Local Context.'

Dr. Sahar M. Alzahrani

Dr Sahar M. Alzahrani is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, the director of the English Language Centre at Umm AlQura University, and member of the Saudi TESOL Association board of directors. Her PhD is from the University of Southampton in England. 

She has given conference papers and has published research in areas of learner autonomy, innovation in teaching, language assessment, blended learning, MOOCs, online instructional design, and teacher education. She has won awards for best poster at LASIG Antwerp Conference; 3MT competition at The University of Southampton; and CALICO Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

At the conference

Dr. Alzahrani will sit on the panel of the second panel discussion around 'Language Learning and Assessment in Local Context.'

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