In a significant achievement for the Kurdish educational community, educators from the Kurdistan Association of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL Kurdistan) participated in the prestigious 2025 International Conference of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), held from April 8 to 11 in Edinburgh, UK. As an affiliate member of TESOL International Association in the United States and an associate member of IATEFL in the UK, TESOL Kurdistan showcased its commitment to enhancing English language teaching globally.

Marwan Abdi, the Founder and Executive Director of TESOL Kurdistan, and Head of the English Department at the University of Duhok, expressed his pride in representing Kurdistan at this significant event. The conference featured IATEFL Associates’ Day, a key pre-conference gathering that united representatives from 15 associate members of IATEFL, which boasts over 80 associate members worldwide.

TESOL Kurdistan made a notable contribution with a presentation titled “Fostering Inclusion: Building TESOL Networks for Underrepresented Communities.” This opportunity allowed the association’s delegates to engage with passionate education professionals and share their vision for inclusive and collaborative TESOL networks.

The event fostered connections with esteemed organizations, including TESOL Spain, FAAPI (Argentina), SPELT (Pakistan), BETA Bulgaria, NATECLA (UK), ATECR (Czech Republic), TESOL Turkiye, PATE (Belarus), TESOL Panama, ELTAM (Mongolia), MATE/RATE (Romania), IATEFL Poland, ELTAF (Germany), and SEELPA (Ethiopia).

As Abdi emphasized, TESOL Kurdistan extends its heartfelt gratitude to IATEFL for the warm welcome and the chance to participate in such an inspiring gathering. The collaboration fostered during the conference highlighted the shared goals and strong spirit among the associates.

The involvement of TESOL Kurdistan at this international forum emphasizes the increasing contributions of Kurdish educators to the field of English language teaching and lays the groundwork for future academic collaborations and recognition on the global stage. “Together, these educators strive to build a more connected and inclusive global ELT community.” Abdi concluded.