| Main European Language Label page | 2008 |
The European Award for Languages - the Language Label Awards Ceremony
To mark the European Day of Languages 2008, fifteen Irish projects were awarded the European Award for Languages - the Language Label, for innovative ways of teaching and learning languages.
The awards were presented by Simon Coveney, T.D., who gave the keynote speech. Four Language Ambassadors of the Year were also honoured at the event. Dick Roche, T.D., Minister for European Affairs and Cllr Emer Costello, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, spoke at the ceremony, which took place in the Croke Park Conference Centre on 26 September 2008.
Approximately 160 people attended, including representatives from all levels of language education, teaching and training, and representatives from embassies. A bilingual booklet (Irish/English) was produced containing summaries of all the winning projects and information about the European Day of Languages 2008: you can download this booklet as a PDF (2MB).
The fifteen winning projects were:
Playgroup Italiano
Mrs Alessandra Di Claudio, Simon Coveney, T.D. and Ms Francesca La Morgia
Languages of the World in our Classroom – Scoil Plás Mhuire
Parents and pupils from Scoil Plás Mhuire, Ms Catherine Cunniffe and Dr Bernadette O’Rourke
A Whole School Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Spanish – St Laurence’s National School
Pupils from St Laurence’s National School, Ms Catherine Coveney, Dick Roche, T.D. and Simon Coveney, T.D.
Developing Language and Cultural Awareness in the Spanish Primary Classroom through Active Learning and Intercultural Dialogue – Scoil Mhaolchéadair
Ms Lucía Atencia Fernández and Simon Coveney, T.D.
Le Soleil, la Lune et les Étoiles – Loreto Secondary School, Navan
Pupils from Loreto Secondary School, Navan, Ms Deirdre McCarthy, Dick Roche, T.D. and Mr Tom Kendall
Abair Leat! – Coláiste Lurgan
An tUasal Mícheál Ó Foighil and Simon Coveney, T.D.
Tandem Learning for Intercultural Communication (TaLLICo) – Waterford Institute of Technology
Dr Fionnuala Kennedy and Simon Coveney, T.D.
Creation and Everyday Running of a French SME – A French Language Simulation – Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
Simon Coveney, T.D. and Ms Michèle Boisbourdin
Chinese Learning and Teaching Programme in Irish Higher Education – University College Cork (UCC)
Dr Huan Xiong, Prof Fan Hong, Simon Coveney, T.D. and Prof David Cox
L’Italia in Diretta – NUI Galway
Dr Laura McLoughlin, Simon Coveney, T.D. and Ms Francesca Magnoni
The NDLR Modern Languages’ Community of Practice (CoP) Blog as Community Building Medium – Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), NUI Galway
Mr Paul Gormley, Simon Coveney, T.D. and Ms Michelle Tooher
www.french.ie – NCTE, DCU
Ms Angela Rickard, Mr Patrick Coffey, Cllr Emer Costello, Ms Camille Berge, Ms Mona Metcalfe and Mr Patrick Debut
Signall-Sign-Awareness and Learning the Language – Interesource Group (Ireland) Limited
Mr Haaris Sheikh, Ms Finola Sisk and Simon Coveney, T.D.
Quartiers Francophones – NEARfm
Mr Robert Cuthbert and Simon Coveney, T.D.
…à la française – A Cross Curricular Approach to Teaching French – Authentik Language Learning Resources Ltd
Ms Kristina Tobutt, Ms Linda Richardson and Simon Coveney, T.D.
The Language Ambassador of the Year
Four Language Ambassadors of the Year were honoured at this event and presented with their awards by Cllr Emer Costello, Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin. The Language Ambassador of the Year Award aims to recognise the achievements of individuals in the promotion of language learning, which is a powerful tool for building an inclusive multicultural society. It develops an awareness of cultural diversity and an understanding of different values and beliefs creating a more open and inclusive society.
Amel Yacef, Schools Cultural Mediation Project, Dublin 1. Amel worked with schools with a very high intake of pupils with little or no English and helped both the pupils and their parents to integrate
Ms Amel Yacef and Cllr Emer Costello
Brídín Gilroy, Post-Primary Languages Initiative, Marino Institute of Education, Dublin 9. Brídín coordinated the Post-Primary Languages Initiative which strengthened and promoted Spanish and Italian and introduced Japanese and Russian.
Ms Brídín Gilroy and Cllr Emer Costello
Déirdre Kirwan, Scoil Bhríde Girls' School, Dublin 15. Déirdre is principal of a school where 70 per cent of the pupils are non-Irish nationals. She encourages literacy in the first language and promotes linguistic and cultural diversity.
Ms Déirdre Kirwan and Cllr Emer Costello
Dr Lorraine Leeson, Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin. Lorraine was responsible for the creation of Deaf studies and interpreting courses at the Centre for Deaf Studies where she is the Director. She also instigated the Signs of Ireland Corpus Project which is the largest of its kind in the world.
Cllr Emer Costello and Dr Lorraine Leeson