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Dr. Peter Heffernan

Dr. Heffernan's Acceptance Speech - Discours d'acceptation

Chères collègues, chers collègues, merci de ce grand geste de reconnaissance envers moi. Je me sens petit (dans les plusieurs sens du terme) dans la compagnie de mes prédecesseurs récipiendaires du Prix Robert Roy. You are then bestowing on me today a great honour for which I thank you, which is honestly very unexpected and for which I am humbled and, I'll be honest, boosted at the same time.

Je ne veux pas être un rabat-joie à ma propre fête, mais je dois avouer que j'ai toujours eu un drôle de pressentiment concernant les prix et ceux et celles qui les reçoivent. Je vais vous dire pourquoi.

I once received a significant promotion of sorts. A sympathetic colleague observed to me with some satisfaction: "Well, good guys do win!" I know he meant well, but that particular event in my life did not, in the end, bode well and led me down what was for a certain period a very dark and lonely professional road.
A un autre moment de ma vie, un curé missionnaire de retour de l'Afrique m'a fait l'observation que les récipiendaires de prix et de reconnaissances, selon son travail de conseiller psychologique et de directeur spirituel, furent souvent ceux / celles qui abandonnent le plus leurs proches dans leur but d'aller sauver le monde. Il y avait de quoi y faire réfléchir.

Troisièmement, avec tout le respect que je leur dois, je me rappelle que plusieurs des récipiendaires récents de ce prix se sont décédés peu avant ou après avoir été décerné ce prix. Espérons que ce même destin ne m'attend pas tout de suite! Je vous assure; je suis bien vivant et espère l'être pour longtemps!

Finalement, je note qu'un prix n'appartient jamais en réalité à une seule personne mais à une équipe ou à des équipes de personnes. Donc, ce prix ne m'appartient pas à moi tout seul non plus.

With these provisory observations made and in now accepting this prize, I do so with a kind of mixed, oddly rueful joy. You, my colleagues and friends, virtually all of whom I recognize here as my professional equals and many of whom I recognize as my professional betters, do know that in graciously presenting me this prize, you leave me both nonplussed and grateful.

In keeping with the notion that a prize may recognize one but in truth acknowledges the professional camaraderie and combined efforts of many, I would like to now, while receiving this tribute, recognize a precious few who are indeed corecipients of this recognition with me. In doing so, I am actually naming only some of them.

Let us first of all, perhaps more respectfully now, remember some of the deceased Prix Robert Roy recipients who I have had the privilege to know and work with-Lilly Borges Oldham, Stan Frey, David Stern and, indeed, the father of CASLT, Robert Roy himself.

Un de leurs noms, celui de Lilly Borges Oldham, nous revient quand je mentionne les dix président.e.s de l'ACPLS avec qui j'ai eu le plaisir de servir entre 1987-1996 comme rédacteur du Bulletin de langues secondes. Je reconnais aussi mes trois compatriotes de l'Alberta : Ihor Kruk, Denise Bourassa et Eleanor Morris, tous les trois anciens président.e.s de l'ACPLS, avec qui j'ai servi ainsi que Florence Wilton de la Colombie-Britannique, Joyce Fewer de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador, Jean-Pierre Flament du Yukon, Debbie Pineau de l'Ile du Prince-Edouard, notre regrettée Fadwa Dennis de l'Ontario, et Nancy Pynch-Worthylake de la Nouvelle-Ecosse.
I would also like to make special recognition of the contributions of my predecessor as editor of the Bulletin, Tony Mollica, who has been a professional mentor to me and to many over the years and has always been my cherished friend.
Likewise to your outgoing president and my Alberta compatriot, Carolyn King. Carolyn's leadership and support of others through the years are recognized and valued by all who know her.

I close with my family. My wife Theresa and daughters Chantal, Anya and Caithleen, who are all grown up now, always supported me in my work with CASLT and throughout my career. This award is every bit as much theirs as mine.
Finalement, du fond de mon coeur je vous remercie toutes et tous de cet honneur. Toutefois, mon plus grand honneur est depuis toujours d'avoir pu vivre ma vie de professionnel dans la compagnie de personnes comme vous. Continuons ensemble nos efforts pour l'amélioration de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage des langues au Canada.

-Peter Heffernan

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Nomination letter from Dr. Anthony Mollica

I am submitting the name of Professor Peter J. Heffernan as a candidate for the Robert Roy Award.

While it is superfluous for me to outline Professor Heffernan's achievements, I do so, in case some members of the committee may not be familiar with his contributions to language teaching in this country and to abide by the rules of the Award.

I have known Professor Heffernan for at least twenty-five years. I published him in The Canadian Modern Language Review (CMLR) while he was in Newfoundland and in Dialogue. Published by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada while at the University of Lethbridge. He followed me as Editor of the CASLT Bulletin. I have always admired his work and it was natural that when I founded Mosaic. A Journal for Language Teachers, a language journal founded in 1993, I should invite him to serve on the Editorial Board along with number of prestigious colleagues - Stephen Krashen, Roseann Runte, Pierre Calve, Rebecca Valette, Marcel Danesi - to mention only a few. Later, because of his editorial expertise, I invited him to be guest editor for one of the issues (Vol. 8, No. 2, Winter 2004).

I always found his articles very sound in research and very interesting and informative. I recall that evaluators enthusiastically endorsed and recommended the publication of the various articles he submitted to The Canadian Modern Language Review. While I was Editorial Consultant for Dialogue. Published by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, my task was to invite colleagues - authorities in their field - to submit articles. I commissioned Heffernan to write a lead article on "Core French Teachers' Continuing Professional Development: Balancing the Ideal and the Real", an article extremely well-received and widely quoted.

From the point of view of his research and practical applications, I have nothing but praise. But Heffernan's contribution goes beyond that. His editorial expertise is very strong. His 18-page cv (attached copy) will immediately identify the various journals with which he has been associated and the editorial boards on which he sat and sits. His involvement with professional association meant that he contributed significantly to the development of second-language teaching in this country.

His support to CASLT as a national association is second to none. Heffernan was instrumental in getting CASLT to make the CMLR its "official" publication. Where I did not succeed in this aspect for a number of reasons, Heffernan was able to convince CASLT' s executive and membership to "buy into" this worthwhile partnership.

I could go on singing Heffernan's praises but the publications and his professional activities in his curriculum vitae speak for themselves. There is no doubt in my mind that Peter Heffernan should be the recipient of the next Robert Roy Award and I strongly support his candidacy. I would hope that you your Committee will give his candidacy the consideration it richly deserves. In his quiet unassuming way, Heffernan has contributed significantly and unselfishly to the language community and should be recognized by a national association such as CASLT.

For my part, I welcomed the opportunity to write a letter singing the praise of a colleague whom I highly admire and respect.