TESOL celebrates excellence in the field every year at its Convention. At the 2018 TESOL Annual Convention & English Language Expo in Chicago, Illinois, USA, more than 60 awards were given to outstanding teachers, researchers, students, and English learner advocates. Here are some of this year's award winners.

James E. Alatis Award for Service to TESOL

The James E. Alatis Award for Service to TESOL was established to acknowledge outstanding and extended service by TESOL members at international, regional, and local levels.

Dr. Christine Coombe is an assistant professor of general studies at Dubai Men’s College in the United Arab Emirates. She served as president of TESOL International Association from 2011 to 2012.  Christine has published widely in areas such as assessment, leadership, teacher effectiveness, research, and task-based teaching and learning.

TESOL Teacher of the Year Award

The TESOL Teacher of the Year Award was created by TESOL and National Geographic Learning to recognize and honor exceptional English language teachers at all levels.

For nearly two decades, Scott Freiberger has been an educator, instructional mentor, and teacher trainer in the United States and East Asia. He has earned three master’s degrees and is certified in TESOL (K–12) in New York and Florida (with a reading endorsement) and in New York as a school/district leader.

TESOL Award for Distinguished Research

The TESOL Award for Distinguished Research was created to recognize excellence in any area of research on language teaching and learning.

Andrea Révész is an associate professor in applied linguistics at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London. Her main research interests are instructed second language acquisition, in particular, the roles of tasks, interaction, and individual differences in second language learning.

Laura Gurzynski-Weiss is associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University. She investigates interaction and task-based classroom instructed second language acquisition, feedback provision and perception, instructor cognition, research methodology, and the role of individual differences.

Mary Finocchiaro Award for Excellence in Unpublished Pedagogical Materials

This award was created in 1987 in honor of Mary Finocchiaro, a noted educator, author, and TESOL president (1970–1971), to recognize a TESOL member(s) who has achieved excellence through the development of practical pedagogical materials not currently under consideration for publication.

Ms. Fakhira Najib is an educationist by profession. She has master's degrees in education and international relations, and she has introduced Interactive radio instruction for the marginalized communities living in hardest to reach areas, teaching English, literacy, and numeracy, thus building confidence and educating demographic values to the children.

TESOL Virginia French Allen Award for Scholarship and Service

The TESOL Virginia French Allen Award was established in 1990 by Dr. Allen's former students in honor of her long-time contributions to the field. The award honors an ESOL teacher who has shared scholarship and provided service to a TESOL International Association affiliate.

Grazzia María Mendoza has master’s degrees in international education and TESOL and is a U.S. State Department alumna, recognized for project development for teachers’ professional growth. She has worked in the TESOL field for 25 years. Her research interests include competency-based language teaching and methodological improvements for professional development. She has been an international presenter at the conferences of TESOL International Association and several affiliates since 2007. Ms. Mendoza is an active volunteer at TESOL International Association: Chair of the International Participation Award 2012–2015 and current EFLIS Chair. Additionally, she is president for HELTA Honduras TESOL and for the Regional TESOL Group for Central America and the Caribbean Basin.

Ruth Crymes TESOL Fellowship for Graduate Study

This fellowship was created to support recent or current graduate students in the development of projects with direct application to ESOL language classroom instruction. The recipient of this award is expected to present the results of the project at a TESOL convention within 3 years of the date the award is received.

Stephanie Moody was an elementary ESL teacher for 10 years and is now a doctoral student at Texas A&M University in the United States. Her research interests include translanguaging as a literacy strategy, children’s literature, and the impact of writing on vocabulary development.

Outstanding Advocate Honor

The TESOL Outstanding Advocate Honor was created to recognize individuals who have advocated for, and on behalf of, the ESL/EFL profession and the constituency that it serves.

As the Manager of Education Policy and Research with the Latino Policy Institute in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro has ventured to advocate for all Latino and English learners to have access to high-quality care and education services that are linguistically and culturally responsive in an effort to close the opportunity gap. She leads efforts in family and community engagement and capacity building; equitable access and resource distribution; and pre-and in-service educator preparation. 

Rebecca also provides immigrant parent workshops to discuss how various policy changes influence the education of English Learners.  Most recently, as a state-appointed member of the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education, Rebecca led efforts to advise the state on how English learners are considered within the U.S. Every Student Succeeds Act.

TESOL Presidents’ Award

The TESOL President's Award winner is selected annually by TESOL’s Executive Committee in recognition of individuals or organizations who have supported efforts for the field in line with TESOL’s values. This year, it was presented to The International Research Foundation (TIRF).

Jim Cummins is a professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on literacy development in educational contexts characterized by linguistic diversity. In numerous articles and books he has explored the nature of language proficiency and its relationship to literacy development with particular emphasis on the intersections of societal power relations, teacher-student identity negotiation, and literacy attainment.

TESOL Travel Grants and Scholarships

Each year, TESOL also presents a number of travel grants and scholarships to TESOL members. To view a list of TESOL’s Travel Grants and Scholarships recipients for 2018, click here (PDF).