A team composed of four students from three Maltese sixth forms has participated in the 21st edition of the International Linguistics Olympiad, IOL Brasília 2024, in Brasília, Brazil.
The students, Shanel Cassar and Carlo Rossi (St Aloysius College), Ariana McCarthy (Junior College) and Jade Xuereb (De La Salle College), were led by Alexandra Vella from the Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology (ILLT), University of Malta, and were accompanied by Michela Vella and Ayrton-Didier Brincat.
This was the first time ever that Malta participated in any international science Olympiad. Almost 40 other countries took part in the competition.
Preparing for the competition
Participation in the international Olympiad, which was sponsored by the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation (MEYR), came about following months of intense preparation coordinated by the ILLT.
Preparation started with plenary talks given to students in various sixth forms.
The linguistics puzzles which feature in the competition require little-to-no knowledge of linguistics although an interest in languages and the ability to use linguistic intuition, reasoning and world knowledge to solve the puzzles is necessary. However, students need to practise in order to acquire problem-solving skills in such a way as to recognise and systematise patterns and break the code.
With help from contact teachers in the different schools and team members (notably Vella and Brincat), linguistics Olympiad clubs in three of the sixth forms (St Aloysius College, Verdala International School and Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School) served this function.
This year’s competition consisted of two rounds, a team competition and an individual competition. The four students who scored highest in the individual competition got to form the team Maltilinguals. An awards ceremony for all students was held on April 12.
The experience in Brasilia
The adventure stepped up for the Malta team on July 22, when they left for Brasília.
The week-long programme was jam-packed with activities such as a Wikidata IOLab, a city tour, a Juline party (a version of festas de São João, originally a celebration in honour of St John the Baptist), and an excursion to Salto do Itiquira, a meeting with Indigenous leaders, lectures on the languages of Brazil and Brazilian sign language, an IOL Jeopardy-style quiz and a farewell party.
Individual (six hours to work out four puzzles) and team (four hours to work on a long and extremely challenging problem) contests took place on days three and six.
One of the Malta students, Carlo Rossi, got an honorary mention for his performance in the individual contest, while the Maltilinguals team broke through the intricacies of the Lexicostatistical team problem − an incredible achievement as first-time participants.
During the closing ceremony, the team had the honour of meeting the Malta Ambassador to Brazil, John Aquilina. The ambassador kindly invited the Maltese group to have lunch with him and his team the following day.
What’s next?
The Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology is all fired up to build on the experience acquired in the course of organising and preparing sixth form students to take part in the local Linguistics Olympiad Malta (LOM) competition and in the prestigious IOL contest being held in Taiwan in July 2025.
“We are impressed by the way in which our students have engaged with the Linguistics Olympiad ethos and hope for support of the ILLT’s efforts on the part of the local sixth forms,” Vella said.
Vella also thanked the education ministry for its financial support.
“We can only go so far without financial support. Here’s hoping that we will continue to get the support we need to take this initiative to new heights in the interest of Maltese students,” she added.
For information on next year’s LOM, get in touch with Vella on alexandra.vella@um.edu.mt.
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