Award Categories

The "AI Integration in the ELT Classroom" award recognizes outstanding achievements in incorporating artificial intelligence technologies into English Language Teaching, promoting innovative and effective methods to enhance language learning experiences for students.

The ELT Excellence Award in Robotics celebrates achievements in ELT through the innovative use of robotics. It honours educators, institutions, and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to enhancing language learning experiences by integrating robotics into the ELT curriculum.

This Award celebrates excellence in leveraging technology to enhance the learning process through online, blended and/or asynchronous learning, showcasing innovative approaches that foster improved educational outcomes and engagement among students.

This Award recognises those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to creating a supportive and collaborative environment within foreign language education, fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging meaningful partnerships among learners and educators. You need to demonstrate how:

• You support learning by inviting community members to talk to your students about a subject e.g. social media protection, healthy eating, sports, etc.
• You combine the teaching of English with raising your community’s awareness of social issues such as bullying, cyberbullying, preserving the environment, recycling, etc.

The Creativity Award goes to educators who think ‘out of the box’, and come up with fresh, diverse responses, new solutions to problems, or ways of looking at problems.

• Have you incorporated openness in several levels of the learning processes engaging the learners in the production, use and reuse of content?
• Have you adapted materials e.g. a coursebook activity in such a way as to give your students the chance to improvise?
• Have you encouraged students to discover things for themselves about language features highlighted in their coursebook?

Creativity in Teaching Language Skills recognizes and celebrates methods, strategies and approaches that generate ideas, possibilities, and alternatives.

For example in teaching Writing: do you use diagrams, pictographs, mind maps, circle-writing activities, a memoir or a biography-based assignment that gets students excited about writing?

In teaching Reading: do you involve students in reading aloud and acting out the passage, questioning,summarizing,visualizing the story, bringing the characters to life or even drawing the story?

In teaching Listening: do you use clips from movies and TV shows, music videos, movie trailers, Ted talks, interviews etc. and turn them into personalized language learning lessons?

In teaching Speaking: do you use open questions that have many possible answers? What prompts do you use to make your students think and speak? Do you brainstorming to generate ideas? Do your use visualization techniques?

This Award refers to the crowning achievement of any teacher or language institution that has set the bar of language teaching and learning high. It refers to teachers and language institutions that provide tangible evidence of fostering and effectively cultivating excellence in all aspects related to teaching and learning the target language.

The most prominent aspects include methodology and pedagogy, employment procedures, teachers’ training and qualitative impact in learners’ certification and well-being. Management, administration and policies for innovation may be considered as well. The standards of excellence should be well supported and defined. Testimonials from the stakeholders should also be included.

This Awards recognizes gamification techniques that increase students’ engagement and motivate them to perform better. It also celebrates the creation of a compelling learning environment for students to absorb new concepts.

Gamification often involves attempts to wrap a game narrative around a course, topic, or project.

• Do you teach important skills such as problem-solving, collaboration and communication through digital games?
• Do you teach content through digital games?
• Do you grade and assess performance in a digital game?

This Award goes to educators who have transformed a course/class and have inspired students through this transformation. Have you introduced:

• new products and services, such as new syllabi, textbooks or educational resources?
• new processes for delivering services, such as e-learning services?
• new ways of organising activities, for example communicating with students and parents through digital technologies?

This Award recognises a programme or initiative that has made an outstanding contribution towards supporting students with disabilities and/or can demonstrate positive learning experiences with peers of diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural background.

This Award is for those who can effectively demonstrate initiatives and/or practices that accommodate students with special needs and provide equal opportunities for success. Judges will look at how you structure your lessons so that you produce successful results and keep students with special needs motivated.

This award acknowledges exceptional dedication and expertise in early childhood education, celebrating educators who have made a significant impact in nurturing the development and learning of young children during their critical formative years.

This Award celebrates educators who have displayed exceptional dedication and skill in fostering foreign language acquisition among primary school students, laying the groundwork for linguistic proficiency and intercultural competence at an early age.

Supporting teachers in their professional development leads to improved outcomes for learners. Good quality training and reflective practice are essential parts of a teacher’s professional life.
• Have you made training courses – online or face-to-face- available to your teachers?
• How often do you train your teachers?
• Have your teachers changed their teaching practices after training?
• What impact did this change have on students’ learning?

Using arts and crafts in the classroom can be an excellent way to facilitate language learning especially with young learners.

Do you teach through arts and crafts

• to get students to work on projects in groups?
• to include cross-curricular activities in the English language classroom?
• to promote cooperation and creativity?
• to introduce and/or recycle language?

How do you do it?

Every human being is creative by nature. Stories are an excellent tool to generate interest in the foreign language classroom; they trigger students’ imagination, activate their background knowledge, help them make associations and explore the culture elements of a story.

• • What means do you deploy to communicate the main message of the story?

• • Do you use visual and/or musical language?

• • Do you use physical props such as toys, pictures or puppets?

• • How does storytelling impact language learning and acquisition?

Drama is widely used in modern language learning settings. It enables students to develop language skills through role- play. Many drama strategies can be used to reinforce new vocabulary and develop speaking skills.

• Children love to role-play and make up imaginary worlds. Instead of sitting passively looking at the book, students participate and learn actively.
• The results are much better in terms of language retention, confidence and motivation.
• Pupils learn to work together as a team and become more confident in speaking English.

This Award recognizes practices of teaching a foreign language through social issues, allowing students to develop a strong sense of global citizenship and responsible living. You need to demonstrate:

• how you solicit personal responses using social issues or current events
• how the themes that students explore connect to their lives (e.g. ‘Preserving the Environment’, ‘Healthy Eating’, ‘Family and Friendship’, ‘Work and Socialization’, ‘Immigration’ ‘Bullying’ etc.)
• how students discuss and plan courses of action, predict outcomes and write or talk about them
• how they are guided to achieve understanding from a perspective that is both personal and meaningful.

Adults usually want to perfect or continue learning a foreign language for study, work or travel purposes.

This award celebrates the smooth transition of adults in the classroom or in face-to face teaching and learning environments.

This award also recognizes adult education initiatives that provide English lessons to refugees and/or asylum seekers.

• How do you facilitate adult learning?
• What methods and approaches do you use to develop adults’ language skills?
• How do you ensure engagement and participation?

This Award celebrates the use of educational corporate platforms that are engineered to cover teacher training and testing needs.

Regarding teacher training:

• Is there abundant material for teacher training and teacher development?
• Is it regularly updated?
• Is it easy to navigate?

Regarding testing:

• Is the platform easy to access and navigate?
• Is testing administered in a secure environment?
• Is the platform equipped with surveillance software to detect cheating?

This Award celebrates the use of educational platforms that provide learning opportunities in and out of the classroom.

How do you use this application?

• Do you give learners the tools to access material taught in class and expand their knowledge through exploring various available sources?
• Do students upload assignments, projects and other tasks on the platform that can be evaluated by their teachers?
• Is educational content such as video skits, recordings, success stories, power point presentations etc. shared with all stakeholders in the school?

The ELT Excellence in Digital Presence Award is created to recognize outstanding individuals, organizations, or initiatives that have showcased innovation, creativity, and effectiveness in their digital
presence within the field of English language education.

Candidates’ digital presence may encompass a diverse array of  achievements, including the generation of engaging and informative educational content, the design of new courses, and various other
educational activities aimed at fostering a supportive learning environment.

This award celebrates schools that are safe, with pleasantly decorated classrooms, and unconventional classroom layouts that allow students to move freely, communicate and collaborate with their peers and enjoy learning in a happy atmosphere.

The Edupreneurship Award celebrates and honours individuals, organizations, and initiatives that have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit in the field of education. This award acknowledges the visionaries who have invested in expanding their facilities, have built partnerships with local or international institutions and/or producing new ELT methods, approaches, and materials that support teaching and learning and advance education.  It acknowledges institutions that exhibit dedication to curriculum design, lesson planning, resource allocation, and strategic scheduling, all contributing to the creation of a supportive and well-organizedlearning environment for students. Celebrating innovation and effectiveness in ELT management, this award highlights schools that excel in fostering optimal conditions for language acquisition and academic success.

This award recognizes and applauds efforts in promoting the holistic wellbeing of both students and educators within the English Language Teaching community. It honours initiatives and individuals who have dedicated themselves to fostering a positive, healthy learning environment, where students thrive academically and teachers feel supported and empowered. Whether through innovative mental health programmes, teacher training and development, or student-centered well-being practices, this award celebrates those who prioritize the emotional, physical, and psychological wellness of all involved in the ELT experience.

The Teachers’ Associations Award pays tribute to the contributions of teachers’/schools' associations to the personal and professional development of their members. It spotlights the invaluable role these associations play in advancing the teaching profession, in enhancing educational experiences and in improving teaching standards within their respective communities and beyond.

This award recognises a teacher’s commitment to CPD, language teaching and dedication to helping students to learn.

Nomination criteria

Entrants must provide evidence of participation in courses and/or in seminars/webinars that have improved his/her teaching skills and competences.

Entrants must demonstrate evidence that they have created a supportive, encouraging and inclusive learning environment and have delivered quality language instruction based on well-articulated theory, philosophy and educational research. Student success in language exams is also considered.

Entrants must demonstrate evidence that they have presented in national and international conferences, workshops, seminars, webinars and other educational events, that they have submitted articles in national and international journals and have contributed to the development of new materials.

This award celebrates schools that are inclusive and supportive of all students, and/or have trust in their staff, place staff development at the top of their agenda, establish bonds with their local communities donating, and/or helping vulnerable and marginalized groups of people in their respective areas.

The "Lifetime Achievement Award" is a prestigious accolade that celebrates an individual's profound and enduring contribution to the field of language education. This recognition honors a distinguished career marked by exceptional teaching, innovation, and influence, leaving an indelible impact on language learners and educators alike.

The posthumous award given to an ELT personality is a significant tribute to honour and recognize their exceptional contributions to the field. The award celebrates the lasting impact the individual has made on ELT, it acknowledges the positive influence they had on students, fellow educators, and the broader ELT community. By honouring their memory, the award ensures that their work continues to inspire and shape the field even after their passing.

This award is awarded to the applicant who has attained the highest overall score among all applicants across all categories.