At the July 2005 AGM of GANZ (German in Aotearoa New Zealand), it was unanimously passed to nominate Mairi Ferguson for the FIPLV (Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes) International Award because of her dedication to supporting languages' teachers through her organisation of professional development opportunities; because of her writing of resources, and vocabulary and structure lists for support for students and teachers for national examinations in German; and because of her untiring involvement in GANZ and NZALT for the benefit of language learning in New Zealand.

Mairi was presented with the FIPLV International Award at the 2006 NZALT Biennial Conference in Auckland by Jan Robertson, Treasurer-General of FIPLV. Founded in Paris in 1931, FIPLV is the only international multilingual association of teachers of living languages. It has Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) 'operational relations' status with UNESCO and has representation as an NGO with the Council of Europe.

FIPLV, the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes, founded in Paris in 1931, is the only international multilingual association of teachers of living languages.

Mairi's citation is as follows:

An effective and excellent classroom teacher of the German language, Mairi Ferguson is unassuming and modest about her exceptional and outstanding contribution for the benefit of both language learners and language educators in New Zealand.

Her Year 11 Revision Workbook (1997) became the authority for practice in the prescribed structures and vocabulary for the national School Certificate examination. She fulfilled a contract from GANZ (NZ German teachers' association) to produce the prescribed School Certificate vocabulary for use in schools, and in 2003 she reviewed the Level 1 vocabulary for the new NCEA (National Certificate in Educational Achievement) and was co-writer of sample units of work with assessment tasks. She was also the German writer for producing the support materials for the new German Curriculum. Her expertise, having been previously used to review Year 13 Bursary oral tests and vocabulary lists, led her to be contracted to produce the new vocabulary and structure lists for the external examinations for NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3. Her first book was revised and re-published as Elementary German (2004) and she produced a second, German Practice (2004), to cover the new structures and vocabulary for the three levels of NCEA.

For ten years Mairi assisted with the annual Auckland Goethe Society school examinations as the writer and marker for Years 11 and !2 and as oral examiner. In 2004 and 2005 she organised and convened the LangSem Professional Development days for 300 teachers of the German, French, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish languages from the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, and she is co-organiser and convenor of the biennial international NZALT Conference to be held in Auckland in July 2006.

From 1999-2001 Mairi was the President of GANZ. She was the Auckland Regional Officer of NZALT and a member of the National Executive from 1999-2003 and since 2001 has continued her untiring services to the Association as President of the NZALT Auckland Region. She is a worthy recipient of the FIPLV International Award.