The 2026 TIRF Kathleen M. Bailey Teacher-Research Award (hereafter, the “TIRF Bailey Award”) proposal deadline passed earlier this month, on June 1^st. Here is a quick glance at some of the key application data we collected from the second year of the program.

• Total Number of Proposals Received: 69
• Number of Applicants Requesting TIRF Mentoring: 61
• Number of Geographic Locations Represented by 2026 Bailey Award Applicants: 40
  • Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, China, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippine, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, and Vietnam
• Breakdown by Research Topic (The sum of the figures in this list exceeds the total number of proposals received because some proposals concern more than one TIRF research topic.):
  • Artificial Intelligence: 17
  • Content-based Instruction: 3
  • Digital Technology in Language Education: 9
  • English as a Medium of Instruction: 2
  • English for Specific Purposes: 5
  • Individual Learner Differences and Effective Language Education: 9
  • Language Assessment: 5
  • Migrants and Refugees: Teaching and Assessing English: 3
  • Plurilingualism and Multilingualism in Business, Industry, the Professions, and Educational Contexts: 5
  • Revitalization of Endangered Indigenous Languages: 1
  • Teaching Second and Foreign Languages to Young Learners: 8

The TIRF Bailey Award is meant to recognize Dr. Bailey’s research, her lifelong commitment to teaching, and her desire to support and encourage research carried out by practicing English language teachers, as well as to honor her service to TIRF. The award is designed to encourage, support, and recognize research conducted by teachers. It also serves as a vehicle for the creation of new knowledge about language teaching and learning as well as the development of research skills for both new and experienced teachers. Recipients of the TIRF Bailey Award will receive $1,000 and will have an opportunity to receive mentoring services from the Foundation.

Applicants will be notified in October concerning the results of the proposal review process. News of this year’s awardees will be announced via TIRF Today (click here to sign up to receive our newsletter), our website, and on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages at that time.

Best wishes to all the applicants!