Prof. Meihua Liu, Tsinghua University, China

Dr. Meihua Liu is a tenured professor of applied linguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Tsinghua University, consistently highly-cited in the field of "Social Sciences" in China from 2014 to 2022, and recognized as the second-ranked linguist globally in 2023. Her research interests mainly cover reticence and anxiety, L2 motivation, ESL writing and international education.

Prof. Hywel Evans, Otsuma Women’s University, Japan

Dr. Hywel Evans has over forty years’ of experience in language education and research and has published scores of peer-reviewed scholarly papers in both linguistic theory and language teaching. He has presented his research at many conferences and has acted as chair of international conferences on a number of occasions. In addition, he has published textbooks and translations into English. He has a PhD in Theoretical Linguistics from the University of London, and he is vitally concerned with the intersection between linguistic theory and practical utility in language teaching. In particular, he is fascinated by how an understanding of human evolution can help us understand the process of learning as a way of bringing us back to basics in language education. Evidence from the phylogenetic domain prompts us to reconsider facets of theoretical linguistics that have had a profound effect on how we imagine that language-learning takes place. As a result, linguistic theory and practical applications can be re-worked and revived. He worked at Tsuru University, Yamanashi Prefecture, in Japan for many years, including a stint as head of the English Department. He is currently full-time professor at Otsuma Women’s University, in central Tokyo, in the Department of Language and Literature.