The Dean of Arts Faculty, Professor Domwini Dabire Kuupole has been honoured alongside two other personalities by the French Government for academic excellence and his contributions towards the promotion of the French Language and Culture. The award consisted of a medal and a citation which read thus: Professor Kuupole, you are a linguist by training. You pursued studies in French literature at the undergraduate level at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and thereafter obtained a French government scholarship during which you diverted into studies in Linguistics and Didactics of French as a Foreign Language at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon. On obtaining the Masters degree in French as a Foreign Language (FLE) and later the M.Phil (DEA) in 1986, you were recruited by your mother University to begin a career in teaching whilst undertaking concurrent research into the varieties of spoken French in West Africa as well as on Aspects of Linguistics linked to the bringing into contact of French, English and vernaculars within the sub-region. On July 1, 1995, you defended a doctoral thesis on the title “Dynamism of Non-conventional-French of West Africa in novels written in French: A linguistic and Socio-linguistic Approach”. Since then, Professor, you have not relented in your contributions to sociolinguistics by carrying out research on the varieties of French in use in West Africa and also on issues in Linguistics bordering on the co-existence of languages in the sub-region. You have equally shown keen interest in the Didactics of French as a Foreign Language thereby encouraging discussions on the role of French as a tool for regional integration in Ghana. Your efforts at research have produced a number of publications which have earned you recognition from your colleagues and researchers. 1n 2001, you were appointed Head of the Department of French at the University of Cape Coast and in the following year Dean of the Faculty of Arts. During your career, Professor, you have distinguished yourself through your brilliance, the quality of your inter-personal relationships and your vigour in the pursuit of excellence. Through your personal commitment to the modernization of content and methods, you have largely contributed to the teaching of French in Ghana. Notably, you have developed a programme for the Masters degree in French as a Foreign Language in your University. Additionally, in your capacity as Chief Examiner for the Institute of Education at the University of Cape Coast, you have contributed immensely to the restructuring of teaching in the Teacher Training Colleges. You played a pioneering role in distance education and in specialized French for professional purposes, an area which is vital for national economic development and for exchanges between Ghana and her francophone neighbours on one hand and France on the other. Lastly, Professor Kuupole, within the framework of inter-university co-operation with University of Franche-Comté, you have developed a programme for a local doctoral training. This programme which has received the approval of both the authorities of the University of Cape Coast and the Ministry of Education in Ghana, started in the 2006/2007 academic year. The take-off of this doctoral programme is historic for not only does it mark the first doctoral programme in Didactics in French as a Foreign Language in Ghana but also, it constitutes the first attempt at doctoral training in French as a Foreign Language in Ghana. There is every hope that this example will be followed shortly by other universities in Ghana. This will, undoubtedly hasten the spread of the French language in Ghana.

The above citation, originally written in French, was issued by Etienne Manuard, Co-operation and Cultural Activities Section (SCAC), Embassy of France,Ghana on April 3, 2007.  It was translated into English by Mr. O. Addo-Danquah of the Department of French, University of Cape Coast