This year marks the 24^th consecutive year TIRF has offered its Doctoral Dissertation Grants (DDGs)  to doctoral candidates around the world. With the support of our partners – the British Council, Cambridge English (part of the Cambridge University Press & Assessment), Duolingo, and the TOEFL® program at ETS – along with many individual donors – TIRF has recently completed the process of awarding a total of US $42,500. The funds were distributed among 16 grantees, who are from Bhutan, Canada, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, USA, and Vietnam.

Including the funding for this year’s grantees, TIRF has awarded nearly US $600,000 via its DDG program to 224 individuals from approximately 30 countries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the donors who have supported our grant-making efforts to help deserving junior scholars. In particular, we want to acknowledge those individuals who have contributed to TIRF’s Russell N. Campbell fund, which is used to recognize the highest-rated DDG applicant each year.

We are very pleased to announce the 2025 class of TIRF DDG recipients. Below you will find brief bio statements for each of this year’s grantees, as well as information about their research, their home countries, and the particular TIRF Research Topic(s) each study addresses. Information about the recipients of the 2025 DDG awards has been posted to our website (select the “Recipients” tab and use the drop-down menu to select “2025″).

2025 DDG Awardees

	Name & Bio: Anita Kurniawati Hadiyanto is a doctoral candidate in Language Education at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Her research focuses on how EFL teacher candidates (re)construct their reading identities through Extensive Reading (ER) programs. Through a multiple-case study in Indonesian teacher education, she explores how ER can nurture engaged readers and prepare future teachers to inspire a love for reading in English. Hometown: Semarang, Indonesia Project Title: The (Re)construction of Teacher Candidates’ Reading Identities Through Extensive Reading Programs: A Multicase Study TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Teacher Education Doctoral Supervisor: Ashadi Ashadi, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia
	Name & Bio: Chia-Hsin Yin is a Ph.D. candidate in Multilingual Language Education at The Ohio State University, Columbus. Her research focuses on bi/multilingualism, language assessment, and the role of AI and technology in education. Her doctoral project investigates how Microsoft Copilot, a generative AI tool, evaluates student writing compared to human teachers and how learners experience AI feedback. Hometown: Hsinchu, Taiwan Project Title: Assessing Classroom-Based Writing of Adolescent English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners: A Comparative Study of Generative AI and Human Teachers TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Peter Sayer, Ohio State University, USA
	Name & Bio: Daniela Appelgren Muñoz is a Ph.D. candidate in education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her dissertation investigates how language teacher educators understand interculturality when preparing future English teachers. The TIRF DDG enables her to map both dominant and marginalized perspectives on interculturality among teacher educators, contributing to the field of English language teacher education. Hometown: Santiago, Chile Project Title: Knitting Understandings: Exploring Teacher Educators’ Understandings of Interculturality in Chilean Initial Teacher Education for English Teachers TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Teacher Education Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Malba Barahona, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
	Name & Bio: Gautam Bisht is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Education and Social Policy and co-founder of the Sinchan Education and Rural Entrepreneurship Foundation, a nonprofit organization. His research focuses on designing learning environments that engage with different ways of knowing through language and literacy spaces. He is currently involved in research projects that focus on indigenous education, migration storytelling, and local knowledge systems of the Himalayan belt. Hometown: Dehradun, India Project Title: Pedagogical Mediation to Cultivate Different Ways of Knowing in English Language Classrooms TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Revitalization of Endangered Indigenous Languages Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Wan Shun Eva Lam, Northwestern University, USA
	Name & Bio: Huiying Cai is a doctoral candidate in Linguistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her dissertation explores a feature-based, explainable automated essay scoring system for second language (L2) integrated argumentative writing assessment in local contexts. Her research bridges computational linguistics and language assessment, aiming to enhance transparency, validity, and fairness in automated scoring for L2 learners. Hometown: Wuhan, China Project Title: Exploring a Feature-Based Explainable Automated Essay Scoring System for Local L2 Integrated Argumentative Writing Assessment TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Xun Yan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA
	Name & Bio: Huong Tran is a doctoral student at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She is a lecturer in the Faculty of English at Thuongmai University, Vietnam, where she has taught for 15 years, as well as an English Language Tutor at ETC, a Wellington-based language school. Huong’s research examines the impact of English-Medium Instruction on students’ academic outcomes and English language development in Vietnamese higher education. Hometown: Hanoi, Vietnam Project Title: The Impact of English -Medium Instruction on Learning Outcomes and English Proficiency of Students in Higher Education in Vietnam TIRF Research Topic Investigated: English as a Medium of Instruction Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Rachael Ruegg, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
	Name & Bio: I-Chun Vera Hsiao is a Ph.D. candidate in Multilingual Education at the University of Iowa. Her research interests include language assessment, TESOL, English-medium instruction, and teacher education. Her dissertation employs a mixed-methods design to examine test takers’ perceptions of the BESTEP, Taiwan’s first standardized EAP test, focusing on its fairness, alignment with learners’ goals, and educational impact. Hometown: Changhua County, Taiwan Project Title: Fairness, Validity, and Impact of a Standardized English Proficiency Test in EMI Contexts and Beyond: A Mixed-Methods Study of Test Takers’ Perceptions TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Lia Plakans, University of Iowa, USA
	Name & Bio: Inyoung Na is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and Technology at Iowa State University, focusing on the use of technology in language testing. Her dissertation explores the potential of using large language model–driven spoken dialogue systems (SDS) to assess second-language learners’ interactional competence in paired discussions for university placement testing. Hometown: Seoul, South Korea Project Title: Assessing Interactional Competence: Leveraging Generative AI for the English Placement Test at a U.S. University TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Gary Ockey, Iowa State University, USA
	Name & Bio: Kelly Kendro is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. Her dissertation research investigates how terms like “bilingual” and “language attrition” are defined and operationalized, as well as how L1 and L2 lexical attrition affect receptive and productive abilities, to situate language attrition within the broader literature on the psycholinguistics of multilingualism. Hometown: Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA Project Title: Situating Language Attrition Within Bilingualism Research TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Plurilingualism and Multilingualism in Business, Industry,  the Professions, and Educational Contexts Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Scott Jarvis, Northern Arizona University, USA
	Name & Bio: Tran Thi Yen is a doctoral candidate at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education, Thai Nguyen University of Education. Her dissertation investigates social-emotional learning in EFL teacher education in Vietnam, focusing on pre-service teachers’ perceptions, practices, and training and offering evidence-based recommendations for curriculum innovation, teacher preparation, and holistic language education. Hometown: Thai Nguyen, Vietnam Project Title: Social Emotional Learning: An Exploratory Study of Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices at a Pedagogical University in Vietnam TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Teacher Education Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Huong Nguyen, Vietnam National University, Vietnam
	Name & Bio: Singay is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and Languages at the Open University (UK). His research interests include translanguaging, English-medium instruction, and multimodality. For his dissertation, Singay employs a case study approach to explore translanguaging practices in the EMI classrooms. Hometown: Thimphu, Bhutan Project Title: “Speak English Only” – A Case Study of Translanguaging in English Medium Instruction Schools in Bhutan TIRF Research Topic Investigated: English as a Medium of Instruction Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Prithvi Prithvi, The Open University, UK
	Name & Bio: Renee Davy is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Studies – Language Acquisition at McGill University. In her dissertation, Renee uses critical action research to investigate how multiliterate Black immigrant youth based in Montreal, Quebec use writing to articulate their Black immigrant experiences in a community publishing group. Hometown: Trelawny, Jamaica Project Title: Exploring the Potential of Community Publishing in Enhancing the English Writing Experiences of Black Immigrant Youth in Quebec TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Migrants and Refugees: Teaching, Learning, and Assessing English Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Amir Kalan, McGill University, Canada
	Name & Bio: Majid Farham is a senior Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics at York University in Toronto, Canada. His dissertation examines how adult ESL learners engage with written corrective feedback in high-stakes IELTS preparation contexts. His research focuses on learner engagement, feedback practices, and language assessment to inform pedagogy and policy in ESL education. Hometown: Tehran, Iran Project Title: Investigating ESL Students’ Engagement With Written Corrective Feedback in Test Preparation Courses TIRF Research Topics Investigated: (1) Individual Learner Differences and Effective Language Education; (2) Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Antonella Valeo, York University, Canada
	Name & Bio: Muhamad Firdaus Mohd Noh is a doctoral candidate at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. His research focuses on designing cognitive models for reading among secondary-school students, developing and validating cognitive diagnostic items, comparing psychometric frameworks, and producing teacher-usable diagnostic reports to inform targeted instruction. Hometown: Johor, Malaysia Project Title: Developing Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment for Second Language Reading Comprehension Using Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT) and Cognitive Diagnostic Models (CDMs) TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. Mohd Effendi Ewan Mohd Matore, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
	Name & Bio: Tingting Wang is a doctoral candidate in Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Nanjing University, China. Her primary research interests include learner corpus research, language assessment, second-language speaking, and phraseology. Her dissertation research focuses on providing convergent validity evidence for a proposed set of phraseological competence indices tailored to L2 speaking by comparing them with human judgments of the construct collected through the comparative judgment method. Home Country: Nanjing, China Project Title: Validating Automated Measures of Phraseological Competence in L2 Speaking: Evidence from Human Judgments TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Language Assessment Doctoral Supervisors: (1) Prof. Dandan Zhou, Nanjing University, China; (2) Prof. Magali Paquot UCLouvain (Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)
	Name & Bio: Yoon Namkung is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and ESL at Georgia State University. Her research interests include second-language acquisition, educational technology, task-based language teaching, and research synthesis. Yoon’s dissertation examines beginner-level English learners’ task engagement in virtual 3D platforms, such as the metaverse, exploring the mediating effects of emotions and learning outcomes in vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics. Hometown: Yangpyeonggun, Gyeonggido, South Korea Project Title: Online Language Learning With Out-of-Class Technology-Mediated Tasks: Comparing Videoconferencing and Virtual 3D Settings TIRF Research Topic Investigated: Digital Technology in English Language Education Doctoral Supervisor: Prof. YouJin Kim, Georgia State University, USA

We also wish to note that the 2025 TIRF DDG Honorable Mention distinction has been awarded to two individuals this year. Although this distinction does not involve a monetary award, we would like to recognize the outstanding work of these doctoral candidates:

• Albert Maganaka (McGill University): English as a Second Language Learning in Quebec: Student Perspectives from Community-Based Organizations
• James Lesley (University of Bedfordshire, UK): Exploring English Medium Instruction Learners’ Spoken Language Development in a Japanese University Context

Please join us in congratulating this year’s DDG awardees and honorable mentionees!!