Dr Christina Gitsaki is an Associate Professor and Research Coordinator at the Center for Educational Innovation at Zayed University, UAE. Dr Gitsaki has previously served as the UNESCO Chair in Applied Research in Education, designing professional development programs for teachers in the K-12 and higher education sectors. She has served on the executive boards of professional associations such as the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, the Gulf Comparative Education Society, TESOL Arabia, and is currently the Secretary General of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA). She has published extensively, and her research interests are in second language acquisition and pedagogy, the use of educational technology in the second language classroom, teacher professional development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Dr Christine Coombe received a PhD in Foreign/Second Language Education from Ohio State University, and is currently part of the English/General Studies faculty of Dubai Men’s College, UAE. Christine is co-author and editor of numerous professional volumes, including A Practical Guide to Assessing English Language Learners (2007), The Cambridge Guide to Research in Language Teaching and Learning (2015), and Reigniting, Retooling and Retiring in English Language Teaching (2012). Most recently, Christine served as President of the TESOL International Association (2010–2013), and received the British Council’s International Assessment Award in 2013.