Daniel Xerri is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Academic Literacies and English Communication Skills (C-ALECS), University of Malta. He lectures on the Centre's MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, running study units on second language acquisition, TESOL fieldwork, and the development and assessment of English language proficiency. He chairs the ELT Council within the Ministry for Education and Employment in Malta, and has occupied a number of leadership positions within international teacher associations. Besides sitting on IATEFL's Conference Committee and on TESOL International Association's Research Professional Council, he acted as the joint co-ordinator of the IATEFL Research SIG. Before joining C-ALECS, he taught English language and literature at the University of Malta Junior College and worked as a secondary school teacher of English.

After reading for a BA (Hons) in English at the University of Malta, Daniel completed an MA in English Literature, writing a dissertation on the poetry of Ted Hughes. He subsequently finished a PGCE in English and an MEd in Applied Language Studies. His Master's dissertation investigated candidates’ performance in the Advanced English examination. In 2011, he spent a few months at International House Barcelona in order to complete the Developing Professional Practice module of the Cambridge ESOL DELTA. After being awarded a Malta Government Scholarship, he completed a PhD in Education at the University of York in 2016. His research focused on the interplay between teachers’ and students’ attitudes, beliefs and practices in English education. In 2020, he was awarded an MBA by the University of Essex.

Daniel is the author of more than 200 publications. He has published peer-reviewed papers in international academic journals, chapters in books edited by world-renowned academics, and articles in professional journals and magazines. As the basis for some of these publications he has interviewed writers and educators in Australia, the UK,  and the USA.

Daniel has received grants, scholarships and prizes from a number of Maltese and international organisations, including MATEFL and IATEFL. Thanks to the academic merits of one of his articles, in 2013 he was awarded the Terry Furlong Prize for Research by the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE) in the UK. In 2014, he was awarded a Research Mobility Programme Award by the World Universities Network that enabled him to conduct research at the University of Sydney on creativity in English. At the 2014 ELTons Ceremony, the British Council awarded him and a group of colleagues from Junior College the Innovation in Assessment Prize in recognition of their work on the design and implementation of the Advanced English Speaking Examination. In 2015, Daniel was awarded a Santander International Connections Award in order for him to conduct research in the USA.

Daniel regularly gives talks at international conferences. He has presented his work at events in Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and the USA. In 2012, IATEFL invited him to convene a symposium on extensive reading at its conference in Glasgow.

Besides attending conferences abroad, Daniel has also organized a number of successful conferences in Malta. As the chairperson of the EFL Monitoring Board (the precursor of the ELT Council), he helped organize Malta’s first ever ELT Conference in 2012. This has now become an annual event and it brings together hundreds of teachers of English working in the ELT industry, as well as teachers from the mainstream school sector.

Chairing the 7th ELT Malta Conference

Terry Furlong Prize for Research

British Council Innovation in Assessment Prize

Opening the 2nd ELT Malta Conference