The Centre for Irish Language at Maynooth University is delighted to announce that ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) has awarded the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG) Irish-language exams with their Q-Mark for the second time. TEG was awarded the Q-Mark for the first time in 2016. To achieve this award, the Centre for Irish Language was required to go through a rigorous audit in which the TEG exams were assessed in the context of ALTE’s 17 minimum standards. The Q-mark shows that the exams meet all of ALTE’s core requirements.
Since 2005, the Centre for Irish Language has offered high-quality Irish-language exams in Ireland and abroad, with over 8,000 candidates to date. TEG offers exams at five levels which are broadly based on the Common European Framework for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). The system motivates learners to continue their study of the language and enables them to assess their progress from level to level. TEG exams assess candidates’ general language proficiency in speaking, writing, listening and reading, and candidates can register for the full exam or for partial certification (oral exam only).
TEG is increasingly recognised by institutes of education and employers as a trusted and accurate measure of Irish language proficiency. Since 2019, the Centre for Irish Language has been liaising with the Department of Education and Skills and the Irish institutes of education in the recruitment process for the Postgraduate Master of Education (Primary Education). To ensure that prospective students have a satisfactory standard of Irish, all PME applicants must take the TEG B1 oral exam as part of the application process.
Staff at the Centre for Irish Language are very pleased with the result of the ALTE audit, said Aoife Ní Ghloinn, Director of the Centre. “This award gives the TEG exam international recognition and provides assurance to exam candidates, employers and other stakeholders of the quality and reliability of our tests.” She thanked TEG staff for their painstaking work during the audit process and she also thanked the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for their support since the introduction of the TEG exams.
Further information about TEG TEG: www.teg.ie
Further information about the ALTE Q-mark: https://www.alte.org/Setting-Standards