Our Speakers

Charles Daniel Saliba (PhD, University of Sheffield, UK) is an academic at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, Gozo Campus, Malta, where he lectures in Maltese language courses and on the pedagogy of Maltese. Saliba has taught Maltese language, linguistics, literature, and Maltese as a foreign language at secondary schools, post-secondary schools, and tertiary institutions for more than 23 years. He has made a significant contribution to the Maltese language and culture via his research as well as the large number of books which he has published focusing on the teaching of Maltese as a native or foreign language. He specialises in teaching Maltese as a foreign language and published/co-published more than 65 books related to the Maltese language. At the National Book Awards in 2007, Saliba won a prize for his book, Realtà, in the Prose for Adolescents category. Besides his specialisation in the Maltese language and literature, Saliba also graduated in Arabic Language and Linguistics at the master’s level. For his continuous efforts to promote the Maltese language and culture, he received the Għarb Gozitan Cultural Award from the Għarb Local Council in 2024. For more information, please visit: www.charlesdanielsaliba.com 

Zhongfeng Tian (田中锋), Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education in the Department of Urban Education at Rutgers University–Newark. Grounded in translanguaging theory, his research centers on collaborating with teachers, families, and communities to foster equitable and inclusive learning environments for bi/multilingual students in ESL and dual language immersion contexts. Dr. Tian has published five books (with Multilingual Matters, Springer, Routledge and De Gruyter Mouton), eight special issues and over 35 peer-reviewed articles in top journals, including TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, and Language Policy. He has received research support from AERA, ACTFL, and the Spencer Foundation, and was honored with the 2022 ACTFL Research SIG Early Career Award and the 2023 Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development Young Alumni Award. He currently chairs the AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG and serves on editorial boards of several leading journals, including TESOL Quarterly, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, and International Multilingual Research Journal.

Dr. Anna Dillon is an Associate Professor at Emirates College for Advanced Education in Abu Dhabi. She has worked in the UAE since 2013, initially as a public school teacher and Head of Faculty in a kindergarten, and then as a teacher educator at Zayed University. She has held a variety of different administrative roles including Director of the Early Childhood Learning Center, an on-campus laboratory school at Zayed University, Chair of the Department of Education Studies, and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Zayed University. She previously worked in Ireland as a teacher educator in Mary Immaculate College at the University of Limerick and Hibernia College. She started off her career as a classroom teacher in an Irish-language immersion setting, and then became the principal of 2 different small schools while continuing to work as a teacher of multi-level classes. She holds a PhD from Technological University, Dublin (2011), a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Limerick (2005) and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Limerick. Her research interests include bilingual education, early childhood education, translanguaging, co-teaching, teacher education, English Medium Instruction, and Third Culture Kids.