The two teachers will receive their certificates at a charity lunch organised by the Father Atanasio Gonelli Charitable Fund, which sponsored the scholarships valued at $5000 each.
The winners of the 2019 edition are Melburnian Anna Di Perna, 51, from Hume Anglican Grammar, and Francesca Candaten, 38, who was born in Reggio Emilia and migrated to Western Australia, currently teaching at Perth Modern School.
The scholarships will allow both teachers to refine their language and teaching skills by undertaking specialised courses in Italy.
The duo will study in Tuscany, to be exact, at the Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo (ILM) in Pisa – a specialised Italian language school for foreigners.
Di Perna studied Italian at The University of Melbourne, followed by The University of Perugia.
“I haven’t been to Italy in 10 years, and this will be a great opportunity for me to refine my knowledge and bring it back to the classroom as an ambassador of Italian,” she said.
On the other hand, Cantaden studied languages at The University of Modena, followed by specialised courses in England and Australia.
“I’d like to perfect my teaching techniques, studying methodologies that make the ILM a leader in language studies and that will certainly benefit myself and my students,” she said.
Examples of these methodologies include psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, neuroscience and the information theory.
The scholarships honour the memory of the late Enrica Inglese, who dedicated her entire life to promoting Italian language and culture.
