A celebratory event was held in Mary Immaculate College on 5 November to celebrate the 28 teachers from public schools in Brazil who travelled to Ireland to complete a Certificate in Advanced English for Academic Purposes.
One hundred and twenty educators had previously participated in a selection process, of which 28 were chosen to undertake an intensive eight-week online Certificate in English for Academic Purposes earlier this year, run by the Department of English Language and Literature, funded by CAPES federal funding agency in Brazil, and coordinated by Ilona Costelloe, English Language Projects Coordinator, and Giana Hennigan, Departmental Online Development Coordinator.
Professor Eugene O’Brien, Head of the Department of English Language & Literature, presented the awards and highlighted the levels of progress made and the enthusiasm of the students. He pointed out that the programme was part of a new suite of language programmes run by his Department: “We feel there is great scope for English language programmes here and Ilona and Giana are at the forefront of developing these and teaching them. It was lovely working with these Brazilian teachers and helping them achieve some of their career goals”.
Professor Lorraine McIllrath, Director of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Interculturalism at MIC, provided funding for the Certificate in English for Academic Purposes for migrants. The rollout of English language programmes for migrants across the academic year was a joint effort between MIC EDII, Mary Cantwell (Limerick and Clare ETB) and Coordinator, Ilona Costelloe.
Students from Afghanistan, Algeria, Czech Republic, Honduras, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine were awarded their certificates at the event by Professor O’Brien who said: “it is a source of great pride for us to be able to help people from so many different countries find their way to new careers, new lives and new homes here in Ireland. The English language is the gateway to so much of this, and we are proud to be part of your journey to a new future”.
Professor McIllrath added: “We at MIC are very proud of our mainstreaming of the Certificate in English for Academic Purposes for those seeking International Protection in Ireland. This programme is unique in terms of enabling our new communities move towards advanced levels of English so as to continue their studies or kickstart their future careers in Ireland. I am especially thankful to my colleagues in the MIC Department of English Language and Literature, namely Ilona Costelloe and Giana Hennigan, for their pioneering work here and their genuine support of each individual learner. Many of the students have gone onto undergraduate and postgraduate study in Ireland and their completion of this Certificate has been that crucial step towards study.”
