The Modern Languages Teachers Association Queensland (MLTAQ) was formed in 1959 with a membership of 105 teachers. The scope was to form a support network for language teachers and it has since grown to include thousands of members across Queensland.
MLTAQ Sunshine Coast Branch members teach languages in schools across a vast area from Caboolture to Gympie and west to the Great Dividing Range. Teachers of Italian, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian had the opportunity to enter their students in the 11th annual MLTAQ Speaking Competition held at the University of the Sunshine Coast on Sunday 26 August 2018.Over 650 entries were received and throughout the day, students presented their speeches to teams of judges across all languages.The Italian judging teams included Marzia Mauro and Rosella Dermedgoglou from the Italian Language Centre who judged students from year 4 to Year 12 on their fluency, pronunciation and accuracy. Judges agreed the standard was extremely high, reflecting the effective language teaching and learning taking place in Italian classrooms throughout the Sunshine Coast area. All participating students received a bag of Italian products as a memento of the day and winning students were presented with medals and certificates.Dina Ranieri, Chief Executive Officer of Co.As.It.–Italian Language Centre (ILC), firmly believes in supporting the promotion and teaching of Italian in Queensland by sponsoring events such as the MLTAQ Sunshine Coast Speaking Competition.