Speakers
Prof Dr. Riyad El Khoudary
President of Gaza University
Special Welcome Speech
Dr Wesam Amer -Palestine
Dr Mohammedwesam Amer is the Dean of Faculty of Mass Communication and Languages at Gaza University in Palestine. He is specialised in social media discourse and terrorism. Mohammedwesam finished a PhD in Media and Communication studies from the University of Hamburg, Germany under the title ‘War Reporting in the International Press: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Gaza War of 2008-2009’. He joined Newcastle University as a Marie Curie fellow and post-doctoral researcher between 2017 and 2019 working on an EU-funded project “Media Warfare and the Discourse of Islamic Revival: The Case of the Islamic State” in collaboration with Dr Majid KhosraviNik. Mohammedwesam has presented his research in various conferences and given invited talks as an expert in media and terrorism.
Rania Lampou - Greece
Rania Lampou is a STEM instructor and an ICT teacher trainer in Greece. She has been awarded many national and international prizes (22) and she is a Global Teacher Prize finalist 2019. She is also a passionate researcher on cognitive psychology and cognitive neurosciences. She has a post-graduate degree (M.Ed.) in language teaching related to cognitive neurosciences. She is the founder and International coordinator of four innovative international projects that focus on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals described in the 2030 Agenda. She promotes STEM vision by introducing STEM in astronomy and physics projects and combines STEM with Language Teaching. She is also an author of scientific books for kids. She is currently working at the Greek Ministry of Education, at the Directorate of Educational Technology and Innovation.
Evangelia Vassilakou - Greece
Vassilakou Evangelia has a BA in Philosophy from Deree College - The American College of Greece, and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the Hellenic American University with high distinction. She is an experienced English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructor with an expertise in teaching EFL exam classes for more than 20 years. She has presented in numerous conferences in Greece, abroad (Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, and Spain) and in International e-conferences in Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. She has authored various articles for the ELT news magazine, TESOL Greece, ELTweekly newsletter and the Scientific Journal of Applied Languages and Linguistics. She has been recently awarded the title of The Distinguished Educator 2020 by The Education Leaders Awards 2020. She also has an Honorary Doctorate in Education Leadership by Globastorm Safety Foundation Institute (GSFI).
Dr Alaa Aladini- Palestine
Alaa Aladini is an Education specialist at the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees. He has a Ph.D. in ELT. He is a member in the European Network Researchers for Plurilingualism and the English Language Teachers' Associate in Berlin and Bradenberg (ELTABB). He is an expert in Inclusive Education and CLIL. He participated in several national and international conferences.
Ali Zendah- Palestine
Lecturer of Applied Linguistics and Linguistics. He obtained his BA degree in English Language from Al-Aqsa University in 2001. Following more than 8 years of teaching English at UNRWA schools, he travelled to the United Kingdom- UK in order to pursue his postgraduate studies.
He joined Northumbria University at Newcastle in 2009 and obtained the MA degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in 2010. Since then, he has worked as a part-time lecturer at Al-Aqsa University. He teaches various courses in Applied Linguistics, Linguistics, ELT and supervises undergraduate students’ graduation projects. His research interest mainly focuses on teacher education, language attitudes, beliefs, cross-cultural communication and ELT.
In 2012, he attended IATEFL Conference in Glasgow- UK and joined, as a member, a number of foundations that are concerned with Applied Linguistics and Linguistics such as TESOL Asia, The International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE) and Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL).
Nalan Kenny- UK
Nalan Kenny is an English language teacher with long experience in teaching adults, students and children in Turkey and the UK, and currently working as an English language teacher helping children with learning English in Liverpool. She holds an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL. She has published several articles in Open Access journals and contributed a chapter in an edited volume. She holds a position of Vice President of IESPTA.
Prof Dr. Anwar Mourssi- Oman
Prof Dr. Anwar Mourssi received his M.A in TESOL/TEFL from Birmingham University, U.K. in 2006, and his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from University of the West of England, Bristol, U.K. in 2013. His major field of study is Second Language Acquisition.
Mourssi has published a good number of international papers and some books related to the filed.
He is supervising MA and PhD students in TESL/TEFL and Applied Linguistics. His last published book in 2020 is Second Language Acquisition between Theories and Practice: For Arab Learners of English Language (ALEs)
Dr Yehya El-Khodary- Palestine
Yehya Alkhoudary got a PhD in Applied Linguistics. His area of interest includes Phonetics & Phonology, lexical semantics, acquisition of lexis, the use of psychometric tools in investigating mental lexicon content and organization. Moreover, he is an assistant professor at Gaza University, Palestine. He is currently an effective member in TESL Ontario, Canada. besides, he is a certified reviewer for Journals and conferences in the Gulf. Additionally, he was granted Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid’s award for the distinguished researcher and the best teacher in the Emirates. Additionally, he has many publications in tier-journals and two books in the area of linguistics.
Dr Mahmoud Abu Jalambo - Palestine
Mahmoud O. Jalambo is an English language instructor at the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) since 2004. He obtained his first BA in TEFL in 2000. He got another BA in English literature in 2004. He got his Postgraduate Diploma in professional translation in 2007, his MA in Linguistics and English Language Studies in 2010, and his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Methodology in 2017. Dr. Mahmoud is a certified training professional with the Asian Regional Training and Development Organization (ARTDO), a certified trainer for IELTS from the British Council, and a certified trainer for PCELT from World Learning School of International Training (SIT). Recently occupied the position of Research Associate in CUSP project. Dr. Mahmoud has published a number of journal articles in international journals. His key research interests include teaching and training, ESP, Needs Analysis, Effective Communication Skills, Cultures, Sustainable Peace and gender, and Effective Planning for Better Learning.
Nick Bilbrough - UK
Nick Bilbrough is a teacher, teacher-trainer and author. He has taught and trained language teachers in many diverse contexts in Africa, the Middle East, South America and Europe. He holds an MA in Drama in Education and is particularly interested in the role of drama and storytelling techniques in second language learning. He is the author of two resource books in the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series: Dialogue Activities (2007) and Memory Activities for Language Learning (2011) and more recently, Stories Alive, published by British Council, Palestine. He is now devoting all his energy to the registered charity he set up https://handsupproject.org/ , providing learning opportunities for young people, mostly in Palestine, through online conversation, storytelling and drama activities.
Ms. Rida Thabet - Palestine
Rida Thaber is an Education Specialist in UNRWA - Gaza , she has a master in ELT. she is certified translator and ELT trainer. She is a member in PATEFL associate. she is a referee a judge of the Hands Up Project storytelling and Drama.
Dr Noor Nirwandy B. Mat Noordin
He is a Senior Lecturer, Centre For Media & Information Warfare Studies, UiTM Malaysia.
Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Information Warfare Studies
Master of Arts in Media and Information Warfare Studies Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) Public Relation