We are pleased to announce the 2025 TIRF-British Council Research Mentoring Award (RMA) recipients!

Now in its third year, the RMA program is designed to support new researchers and improve the quality of research undertaken by students in doctoral programs within the field of English language education on issues of mutual interest to TIRF and the British Council. The awards are offered to doctoral students in approximately 60 countries from four different geographic regions around the world: Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. For further background information about the awards, the program’s key features, and past recipients, click here.

This year, six individuals have been awarded RMAs. The recipients’ names, bio statements, home countries, dissertation titles, and the TIRF Research Topics investigated are provided below.

2025 TIRF British Council RMA Recipients

	Name & Bio: Achraf Guaad is a doctoral candidate at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. His research focuses on CLIL in Moroccan high schools. As a Resident Coordinator at Middlebury College, he supports international students and teaches Moroccan Arabic, enriching his research on bilingual education, learner engagement, and intercultural competence. Home Country: Morocco Dissertation Title: Contextualizing CLIL in Moroccan High Schools: A Case Study of the BI-English Stream TIRF Research Topics Investigated: (1) Language Teacher Education; (2) Teaching Languages to Young Learners
	Name & Bio: Khawla Lamghari is a doctoral candidate at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, as well as an English teacher at the secondary level. Her doctoral research examines pragmatic competence through speech acts of apologizing among Moroccan high school baccalaureate students. Her TIRF-funded project explores AI’s role in classroom assessment, focusing on its pedagogical implications, learner agency, and fairness. Home Country: Morocco Dissertation Title: Beyond the Algorithm: The Limitations and Pedagogical Implications of AI in Language Assessment TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment
	Name & Bio: Macarena Durán-Castro is an English teacher and Ph.D. candidate in Education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her dissertation examines teacher educators’ understandings of social justice in Chilean IELTE programs, drawing on decolonial perspectives, Testimonios, and arts-based inquiry. She teaches undergraduate English courses and collaborates as an editorial assistant for an academic journal, while engaging in research on language education. Home Country: Chile Dissertation Title: Exploring Teacher Educators’ Understandings of Social Justice in Chilean Initial English Language Teaching Education Programs: A Decolonial Inquiry Through Testimonios and a/r/tography TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Teacher Education
	Name & Bio: Mamadou Sawadogo is a Ph.D. student in Language Sciences at University Joseph KI-ZERBO, Burkina Faso, and is a certified English teacher of junior and senior high schools. His research aims to analyze teaching practices related to the introduction of English at the primary level and to assess their sociolinguistic implications in Burkina Faso’s multilingual context. Home Country: Burkina Faso Dissertation Title: The Implementation of English in Primary Education in Burkina Faso: Teaching Practices and Multilingual Challenges TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Plurilingualism and Multilingualism in Business, Industry, the Professions, and Educational Contexts
	Name & Bio: Melaku Hailemichael is a doctoral candidate at Arab-Minch University (A-MU) where he also received his MA in TEFL. He is an experienced university lecturer and researcher at the Department of English Language and Literature of A-MU. His doctoral work helps to address the urgent need for scalable, sustainable EMI training in Ethiopia. Home Country: Ethiopia Dissertation Title: Effects of Blended English Training on Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Motivation, and Oral Language Proficiency in EMI: Content Teachers at Secondary Schools of Arab-Minch Town in Focus TIRF Research Topics Investigated: (1) English as a Medium of Instruction; (2) Digital Technology In Language Education
	Name & Bio: Nguyen Thi Hoang Bau is a Ph.D. candidate at Danang University of Foreign Language Studies. Through her doctorate, she examines the implementation of active learning in teaching English to non-English major students at Vietnamese universities. She also explores teachers’ and students’ perceptions, practices, and challenges, offering context-sensitive insights to inform pedagogy, enhance engagement, and support reforms as Vietnam advances toward adopting English as a second language. Home Country: Vietnam Dissertation Title: The Reality of Implementing Active Learning in Teaching English for Non-English Major Students at Vietnamese Universities TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Teacher Education

TIRF is aiming to continue to offer the RMA programs next year and beyond. Please follow our updates by signing up to receive TIRF Today – our monthly newsletter – if you have not already done so.

Please join us in congratulating the 2025 TIRF-British Council Research Mentoring Award recipients!