International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

Linking, developing and supporting English Language Teaching professionals worldwide

List of SIGs

Take a look at the Special Interest Group websites. For more information, contact the Group Coordinators listed below. Membership price is £16.50 for individual members and £30.50 for institutional members.


  • Business English Coordinated by Marjorie Rosenberg

    BESIG represents the interests and needs of the international business English teaching community. We offer - both on and offline - a stimulating annual conference, regular newsletters, webinars and weekend workshops together with an open discussion list and an expanding list of high quality members' only resources.

  • ESOL Coordinated by Elaine Williamson and Caroline Okerika

    The focus of this Group is on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), also known as English as a Second Language (ESL). Our main interest is language learners, including refugees, asylum seekers or migrant workers, who have come to settle in a country where English is the major or predominant language.

  • English for Specific Purposes Coordinated by Mark Krzanowski

    The ESP SIG focuses on English for Specific Purposes, English for Academic Purposes and English for Occupational/Professional Purposes/English for Work. Its main objective is to disseminate good practice and promote models of excellence in ESP to ELT professionals in the UK and abroad. Our coverage of ESP includes not only the teaching of this area of ELT, but also teacher training and materials design.

  • Global Issues Coordinated by Margit Szesztay

    The Global Issues SIG provides a forum among ELT practitioners to stimulate awareness and understanding of global issues to exchange ideas on integrating peace education, human rights education, development education, and environmental education into English language teaching.

  • Learner Autonomy Coordinated by Leni Dam & Lienhard Legenhausen

    The Learner Autonomy SIG discusses via publications and events a wide range of issues related to autonomy in language learning, including learner differences, motivation, learning styles and learning strategies, and cultural diversity. Their focus is on the implementation of principles of autonomy in institutional contexts.

  • Leadership and Management Coordinated by Jenny Johnson

    The ELT Leadership & Management SIG meets the needs of managers and other ELT professionals in leadership positions. Recent topics through its newsletters and workshops have included leadership skills, performance management, change management, project management, motivation, communication skills and personal effectiveness.

  • Literature, Media & Cultural Studies Coordinated by David A Hill

    The Literature, Media and Cultural Studies SIG is for anyone involved in teaching or using literature, media or cultural and intercultural studies in EFL/ESL contexts. By literature we intend both the canon of literature in English, any other forms of creative writing, and also the kinds of learner literature which features in so-called readers specifically written for English language learners.

  • Learning Technologies Coordinated by Graham Stanley & Paul Sweeney

    The Learning Technologies SIG, one of the largest groups, explores the dynamic changes taking place in the application of technology in English language learning, including corpora, multimedia, computer mediated communication, text-based software, authoring, the web, and Interactive Whiteboards.

  • Materials Writing SIG Coordinated by Byron Russell

    Materials Writers' SIG is for all of you who are interested in exploring ways to write better materials, either for your own class or for wider publication. It doesn't matter whether you are new to writing or an experienced writer with practical knowledge to share - whichever end of the spectrum, this SIG is for you.
    MaWSIG has three guiding aims:
    To encourage greater expertise and professionalism in the creation of teaching material
    To offer new opportunities for professional development to IATEFL members
    To offer further bridge-building opportunities between publishers and IATEFL members
    MaW SIG will share and promote best practice among authors and materials writers, encourage new authors, and disseminate information regarding professional writing opportunities among members.
    Key activities will include:
    An annual material writers' event, the first to be held in Autumn 2013
    Creation and launch of a specific website / forum
    A New Writing competition
    Creation and dissemination of an e-newsletter
    Establishment of a writers discussion forum and LinkedIn group
    Organization of regular ”writers workshops”

  • Pronunciation Coordinated by Wayne Rimmer

    Pronunciation SIG (PronSIG) is for teachers interested in integrating pronunciation skills with language teaching. PronSIG encourages and promotes best practice in pronunciation teaching across a range of contexts, from young learners to professional and academic English.

  • Research Coordinated by Richard Smith

    The Research SIG is a unique forum for discussion of issues connected with research into ELT, bringing together teachers, teacher-researchers and researchers from around the world. In this active community, members share their experiences of and findings from research, and network face-to-face at regular events, online via our discussion list, and in print though our biennial publication, ELT Research News.

  • Teacher Development Coordinated by Mojca Belak

    The Teacher Development SIG provides a forum in which anyone interested in developmental issues can share their own experience and learn from the experiences of others. Through an active network the group encourages individuals and groups of teachers to undertake activities that focus on personal and professional development.

  • Testing, Evaluation & Assessment Coordinated by Sue Hackett

    The Testing, Evaluation and Assessment SIG is for everyone interested and involved in the process and outcomes of testing, evaluation and assessment in ELT. Core areas of interest include classroom assessment and tests, external standardised examinations, progress, achievement and proficiency testing and assessment, teacher evaluation, self-assessment and evaluation of institutions and learning programmes.

  • Teacher Training & Education Coordinated by Birsen Tutunis

    The Teacher Training and Education SIG focuses on the aspects of pre and in-service Teacher education, as well as professional development through talks and workshops at the annual IATEFL conference in the UK and around the world. Members receive information about the latest developments in teacher training and education and plenty of opportunities to network within the profession are provided.

  • Young Learners and Teenagers Coordinated by Hans Mol

    The Young Learners and Teenagers SIG provides a forum for English Language Teaching professionals involved in the language education of 3-17 year olds. The community consists of some 1200 individual and institutional teachers, teacher educators, lecturers, policy makers, publishers and textbook writers around the world. All benefit from our online and offline interactions, international events, publications and resources.