Report from the IATEFL Conference
Report From IATEFL Visit
The 2026 IATEFL conference held its 59th annual event which ran from Tuesday 21 April to Friday 24 April 2026, with Pre-Conference Events being held on Monday 20 April. The organization has been holding these conferences since it was founded in 1967, representing over five decades of professional development for English language teaching professionals.
Over 2,400 ELT professionals from more than 100 countries were brought together to experience 600+ sessions, including plenary sessions, workshops, and exhibitions.
Check out the following links to view videos of the plenary sessions day by day on IATEFL ‘s YouTube channel.
IATEFL Exhibition
Exploring Innovations at the IATEFL Conference
In this short overview, the focus will be on the exhibition section of the event.
As I wandered through the exhibition area, I had the distinct sense that the future of language teaching was unfolding right before me. Having attended IATEFL conferences since the 1980s, I’ve had the rare opportunity to observe how our profession has evolved over the decades. My first impression this year was that the exhibition centred around two dominant themes: traditional publishing and the rapidly expanding world of AI and educational technology.
On one side, there were the major, long-established publishers—names like Pearson and Oxford University Press—continuing to showcase their latest coursebooks, digital platforms, and assessment tools.
On the EdTech side, there was a palpable sense of innovation, with a range of exciting developments capturing delegates’ attention. Tools and platforms focusing on how technology plus AI is increasingly being harnessed to support teachers in lesson planning, content creation, and learner engagement were particularly prominent.
Following are a couple of stands which stood out for me.
TEACHERMATIC is essentially a smart AI teaching assistant. It uses specialised generators to produce lesson content, activities, assessments, feedback and with over 150 different generators it provides just about everything you could need.
What was especially appealing was that it has The Language Teaching Edition which is tailored for EFL/ESL teachers. The content can be aligned for CEFR A1 -C1 levels using Generators for: Lesson plans Dialogues, Vocabulary practice, Model answers, Discussion tasks etc., etc and you can even choose key methodologies such as: Communicative Language Teaching, Task-based learning or PPP.
In short: it’s not generic AI—it’s built specifically for language classrooms.
If you would like to know more about Teachermatic, click here.
Language Mate (LanguageMate) is an AI-powered language learning and teaching platform designed to improve speaking skills and reduce teacher workload. It combines conversational AI, speech recognition, and natural language processing to create interactive language practice experiences for learners and educators.
Language Mate focuses primarily on active language use, especially speaking. Instead of just teaching vocabulary or grammar in isolation, it integrates these elements into realistic conversation tasks, helping learners apply language in a spoken context.
Hamilton House is an ELT publishing company that serves as a strong illustration of where the future of coursebooks and teaching materials is heading. Traditionally, publishers focused primarily on printed materials—coursebooks, workbooks, and teacher’s guides. However, companies like Hamilton House ELT are now embracing a much broader, technology-driven approach to language learning.
What is particularly striking is how publishers are no longer producing standalone books, but complete learning ecosystems. These include interactive digital platforms, online practice tools, mobile apps, video content, and AI-powered resources that complement and extend the core course material. The poster highlights how these digital components are now integrated into the learning experience, rather than being optional extras.
Now these two gentlemen really made my day! Slangman Publishing is definitely worth exploring. Specialising in vibrant, real-world English, their materials focus on the kind of language learners actually encounter in everyday conversation—idioms, slang, cultural references, and informal expressions that are so often missing from traditional coursebooks.
As I browsed through their range of books, audio, and videos, I was struck by how original they felt—and, to borrow a word I spotted in one section, downright sassy! In fact, I’d happily read them for sheer enjoyment, even if I weren’t involved in TESOL at all.
At stand 21 I came across these two very nice people from the ELT COUNCIL MALTA
According to their website,” More than 85,000 foreign students from diverse age groups visit Malta annually to learn English and to benefit from leisure and cultural activities. There are currently 38 licensed ELT schools in Malta and Gozo.”
There appear to be plenty of vacancies for teachers of English on the website, so if you fancy spending the summer in Malta, check it out.
QUESTION GAMIFICATION is a fascinating approach to teaching materials, designed to engage and activate students & teachers alike by introducing elements of game-design. The graphics are very compelling, and I wanted to explore more of the stories immediately. You can see in the image below a screenshot of the type of materials available. I think this company will be going places.
Well, we will have to stop there but there was so much to see and a great atmosphere. Next year,2027, the IATEFL conference will be in Birmingham, so hope to see you there!!
Phyllis Vannuffel
London Teacher Training College
