(BETA – Bulgaria)

Irina Ivanova

Assoc. Prof. Irina Ivanova, PhD, is a lecturer in English language teaching at the Department of English Studies in Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, Bulgaria. She has been working as a university lecturer and researcher for more than 20 years, teaching a number of disciplines in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programmes in the field of ELT and teacher education, and supervising trainees’ school-based internship. She is actively involved in in-service teacher training, development and certification at the Department of Information, Qualification and Lifelong Learning in Varna. At present, she is the Vice-Rector for Research and International Cooperation of Shumen University.

Irina Ivanova’s career in teaching started back in 1990, when, upon graduation from university, she became a school teacher, and soon after that, a mentor for trainees and novice teachers with Shumen University. She has two master’s degrees – in Russian and in English, and a doctoral degree in applied linguistics from 2010. She became an associate professor in the field of foreign language teaching in 2018. Her research interests and publications are in the fields of foreign language teaching, linguistics, language acquisition, academic literacy, teacher training and continuing professional development. She has written several books and book chapters, more than 50 articles, and has more than 70 citations of her research over the last 5 years.

In her career Irina Ivanova has worked on different projects in the field of teacher education. In addition, she has been a member of the Bulgarian English Teachers’ Association for more than 20 years. She was part of BETA committee serving as a treasurer from 2014 to 2022. She is a regular participant and presenter at BETA-IATEFL conferences. Her first talk was at the 9th IATEFL Poland conference in 2000. In 2018 she gave a talk on continuing professional development in Bulgaria at the IATEFL conference in Brighton, UK. In 2017 she was conference secretary of the First FIPLV East European Regional Congress held in Varna.

In her career as an educator and researcher, Irina Ivanova has worked in close cooperation with learners, teachers and stakeholders directly involved in the promotion of language teaching and learning. She firmly believes that language learning is one the most important prerequisites for peaceful and prosperous existence.