TESOL 2025: A Beautiful Collage of Experiences

By Dr. Linh Phung, Founder of Eduling

Reflecting on my experience at the TESOL 2025 Convention in Long Beach, I’m filled with gratitude for the opportunities to share my work, reconnect with colleagues, and engage in important discussions. The first day was a whirlwind of presentations, networking, and learning. I gave two presentations, one on Vietnamese materials for ethnic minority learners in Vietnam and another on multilingual and multimodal texting with Pangea Chat.

Presentation on Materials for Ethnic Minority Learners in Vietnam

My presentation about Pangea Chat was particularly well-received, not only because of the innovative nature of the application but also due to the many real-life examples I gathered through research and practice.

Presentation on Multilingual and Multimodal Texting with Pangea Chat

In addition to the presentations, I had the honor of participating in a session with the Nominating Committee, where I began my new role as an elected member. This also marked the end of my 5-year service on the Affiliate Network Professional Council of TESOL International Association. I joined in 2019 as a member and assumed an extended period as Chair for 1.5 years in 2022-2024.

The Nominating Committee is charged with soliciting "nominations from the membership entities, standing committees, and other TESOL constituencies, and from the membership for TESOL leadership elections: president, board of directors, and the next year's Nominating Committee."

Nominating Committee 2025

We have had two online meetings and one in-person meeting at the #TESOL2025 Convention so far. We will be sharing information about deadlines to submit expressions of interest and applications through TESOL's communication channels in due course.

One highlight of the conference is when I had the opportunity to pose a question at a panel on AI, featuring experts from ETS, Cambridge Assessment, Duolingo, and TESOL. I asked how we can define the knowledge and skills students need in the age of AI. As Luciana de Oliveira aptly put it, “the five-paragraph essay is dead”—so what is next for students to write and create? This question stemmed from ideas I encountered at the AI+Education Summit at Stanford's Human-centered AI, where it was emphasized that students must still learn the core subjects but also develop the ability to create new things with AI. In addition, they need to learn from the balance between opportunities to create and to be told.

The second day of the convention was equally exciting, filled with opportunities to catch up with old friends and make new connections. It was an honor to contribute to a presentation on multilingual academic publishing, led by Shelley Taylor, TESOL's 2023-2024 President.

My example, as Shelley writes, is “multilingual writers pushing back by navigating personal challenges to support the development of future multilingual authors.” To quote her slides, “Dr. Linh Phung's self-described professional identity is in English (i.e., she finds writing academic English easier than writing academic Vietnamese) but she is involved in knowledge mobilization in Vietnamese. Her goal is to develop Vietnamese-medium materials to provide resources for parents to support their children's L1 development, which in turn supports their English development in keeping with TESOL's 6 Ps (or 6 Principles in Exemplary Teaching). There has been great uptake of these materials among Vietnamese L1 parents in Vietnam and among parents of children for whom Vietnamese is a heritage language. Academic publication in Vietnamese supports the development of next-gen multilingual authors.”

I particularly like the term knowledge mobilization as it describes well my efforts to write in multiple languages. "Tug of Words" tells a more personal story of transracial adoption that I haven't been able to tell explicitly to the world. For my colleagues interested in a copy, it's available on Amazon when you search for Tug of Words by Linh Phung. I see this multilingual work and knowledge mobilization as ongoing. As it has been documented, I feel a greater responsibility to continue it.

The keynote speech by TESOL 2024-2025 President, Debra Suarez, was moving and poignant as it captured the challenging time we are experiencing in the U.S. when the “axe fell” on access and resources for multilingual learners. The impact has rippled around the world.

Presidential Keynote, March 20, 2025

Another truly special and inspiring moment during the second day was when Teresa X. Nguyen, a super professor, super mom, and author of multiple books, brought together Annie Tran, Eric Roth, Trương Thu Trang, and myself. We spent hours discussing our work and sharing ideas, and I left feeling truly inspired. Eric and Teresa have co-authored popular books like Compelling Conversations and Creating Compelling Conversations, which I look forward to reviewing in more depth soon.

With Teresa Nguyen, Annie Tran, Eric Roth, and Trương Thu Trang

Another highlight occurred when I interviewed Dr. Deborah Healey, TESOL’s 2019-2020 President, about gamification and the How to Gamify course she created for the Eduling Speak app. Teachers can find the course by downloading the Eduling Speak app and search for the Gamify.

Here's the full interview.

My experience at the TESOL 2025 Convention has been a remarkable one. It’s been a pleasure to share my work, connect with so many colleagues (see some pictures below), and be part of such an uplifting community. The friendships, ideas, and opportunities for growth that I’ve encountered here will continue to shape my work moving forward. I’m excited for what’s to come and look forward to continuing to contribute to the TESOL community in meaningful ways.

Until the next convention in Salt Lake City in 2026!