Prof Mario Pace, B.Ed (Hons.), M.A., Ph.D.(Melit), is a Resident Associate Professor of Italian at the Department of Languages and Humanities in Education within the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta and language consultant to the Minister of Education and Employment on foreign language teaching & learning. Besides foreign language teaching methodology, his main areas of interest include second language acquisition, foreign language teaching and learning, as well as language assessment. In May 2018, he received the award of “Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia" (OSI) by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella in recognition of his significant contribution towards the promotion of the Italian culture in Malta and the strengthening of the relations between Italy and Malta, and especially for his role in the enhancement of the teaching and learning of Italian in Maltese schools and other educational institutions. He is responsible for the organization and delivery of Professional Development Courses for teachers of Italian as a Foreign Language held both locally as well as in various Italian cities. He is in direct collaboration with various international Universities and Institutions, namely the Universita` per Stranieri in Siena, the Universita` degli Studi in Perugia, PIXEL Association in Firenze, the Canadian Society for Italian Studies and the The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. He has participated in conferences both in Europe and the USA and is the author of various academic papers, with topics varying from Italian literature in Malta to the teaching of Italian. Prof Pace is responsible for the design and implementation of both the Subject Proficiency Programme (SPA) within Secondary Schools as well as the Foreign Language Awareness Programme (FLAP) in the Primary Schools. He is responsible for the development, management and delivery of a number of in-house training courses of "Italian for Commercial Purposes™ for various private and public companies across the Maltese Islands.
Contact: mario.pace@um.edu.mt

Director of Courses at the Societa' Dante Alighieri - Malta until 2000

Official Examiner for P.L.I.D.A. (Progetto Lingua Italiana Dante Alighieri) examinations in
Malta.

Awarded the "Diploma di Benemerenza" by the Societa' Dante Alighieri in Rome.

International President of C.C.P. (Consiglio Centrale Permanente laici agostiniani)in Rome.

National President of A.L.A.S. (Augustinian Sisters' Lay Persons Association)

Member of the Scientific Committee of the yearly ICT for Language Learning International
Conferences organised in Firenze, Italy.

Member of A.I.P.I. (Associazione internazionale dei professori d'italiano)

Member of AISLLI (Associazione internaz. di studi di lingua e letteratura italiana)

Member of CSIS (Canadian Society for Italian Studies)

Member of AATI (American Association of Teachers of Italian)