The University of Malta G. F. Abela Junior College and the Istituto Superiore Lorenzo Lotto, Trescore Balneario, were the two partners of a linguistic project entitled Linguistic Cross-Fertilisation between Semitic and Romance Languages. Both sides have had an innovative perspective towards its implementation. The Maltese college (and its Eurocentre) was the coordinating school and the project has been funded with support from the European Union Programmes Unit, the European Commission.
A preparatory meeting was held in Trescore from 7-14 November 2005 to discuss the implementation of the project. The Italian coordinators have close affinities to Italian and Mediterranean cultures, one of the coordinators being from Sicily. It was agreed that we focus on five common cultural areas for our students: music and festa celebrations, visual arts, literature, folk narrative, and botany.
Through linguistic and desk research our students were to discover on their own and with the support of their coordinators the rich linguistic cross-fertilisation in our languages, Maltese and Italian, through the direct influence of Arabic during mediaeval times, in spite of the former belonging to the Semitic and the latter to the Romance families. During the meeting the Maltese representatives met the students of the Istituto Superiore Lorenzo Lotto and explained the parameters of the project, with special reference to Maltese culture, and particular emphasis on language, history, tourism and music. Meetings were also held with the Istituto’s head, the administration and parents’ representatives on the Istituto’s council.
Project activities
There were various project activities. During the preparatory visit the Maltese representatives visited an exhibition on Caravaggio’s artistic period at the Palazzo Reale in Milan. The Italian partners, accompanied by their students, followed suit in January 2006. The Maltese students visited the same exhibition on 15 March 2006.
Both sides divided the 15 students in each country into five sub-groups: music and festa celebrations, visual arts, literature, folk narrative, and botany, thus creating the proper basis for research, sharing of information and coordination between both sides through snail post and internet. The respective groups led by their lecturers/teachers had two meetings: one in Trescore Balneario (12-26 March, 2006) and the other in Malta (15 October-4 November, 2006). Both meetings were a worthwhile experience for one and all.
In the mornings the thirty students, divided into five groups, gave power point presentations on Maltese and Italian music (folk instruments) and festa celebrations (Christmas, Easter and Carnival), visual arts (Caravaggio and Mattia Preti), literature (story writing and discussion on the novel Bufera/Riefnu written in Italian by the late Maltese author Giovanni Curmi and translated to Maltese by the late Karmenu Vassallo), folk narrative literature (riddles; proverbs; fairytales and other folk texts recorded by Maltese folklorists Manwel Magri, Gu¿è Cassar-Pullicino, Anton F. Attard and Gorg Mifsud-Chircop or rewritten by Italo Calvino), and botany (medicinal herbs with special reference to apricots, carobs, pomegranates, lemons and oranges) discovering their common linguistic elements while sharing and participating in intercultural workshops. Group work in Trescore was followed by programme projection for the next meeting in Malta in October/November. All research has been recorded and archived by both sides.
During the Trescore meetings both sides participated in the activities of another Comenius Project, Le respect des valeurs européennes sur le marché de la force de travail, with representatives from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Romania. A Maltese representative discussed with the representatives of these countries and Italian university students the Maltese scholastic system at Secondary School level.
Mobility activities and
results
The first project meeting was held in Trescore Balneario, Italy from 12-26 March 2006. The second project meeting was held in Malta from 15 October to 4 November 2006. Products produced separately and shared by the participating institutions include: presentations of the participant countries (education system, nationality, geography, culture, etc) during various workshops; dramatic representation in Maltese and Italian of Curmi’s novel Bufera – script written by students of both countries; a video recording and photographic documentation of all the activities in Trescore Balneario and Malta; documentation of the work by the five student groups in each country; multi-media presentations about the five themes researched and discussed by students, viz. music and festa celebrations, visual arts, literature, folk narrative, and botany; an international soirée during which every country presented a half-hour cultural programme, including traditional and modern dance and song; culinary preparations for an international buffet by Bulgarian, Czech, Italian, Maltese, Portuguese, and Rumanian students; reports about the respective activities were published in the local media (newspapers, radio and television).
Cultural tours were organized in both countries: visits to lower and high Bergamo and nearby Italian towns, a visit to an international expo entitled Expo del Capitale Umano dell’Innovazione dell’Internazionalizzazione, Mostra Convegno in Milan; Cappella Suardi in Trescore; the Cividate Camuno National Archaelogical Museum; Capo di Ponte; Accademia Carrara; a visit to the Piramidi di Zone; Lago d’Iseo; Montisola; the Alessandro Manzoni Museum in Como; the Museo della Valle Cavallina in Casazza (and a mountain excursion); a concert of contemporary Irish folk music; Luigi Pirandello’s play Liolà at the Teatro Donizetti; and a meeting with the Mayor of Trescore.
In Malta visits were organized to a multi-media presentation, the Malta Experience in Valletta, the mediaeval city of Mdina, the Roman Villa and St Paul’s Grotto in Rabat, the megalithic temples, including Hagar Qim, Imnajdra and the Tarxien Temples, the Blue Grotto in Zurrieq, the sister island of Gozo, the Three Cities, St Anton’s Gardens, Mosta, Buskett Gardens, archaeological and arts museums in Valletta, and Ta’ Qali Crafts Village.
A literary meeting was held with Ileana Curmi, Giovanni Curmi’s only daughter, during which students presented her with their dramatic interpretation of Bufera. She narrated and exchanged with students and coordinators various biographical aspects of her father’s career.
Both schools are very satisfied with the results of this project. Students and coordinators have become linguistically and culturally richer, and this is undoubtedly the outcome of the close coordination, sharing of ideas and support by both sides. Students have become more fluent in Italian and English, and the Italian side has become familiar with various aspects of our culture, including the Maltese language.
The local students who participated in this project are Nicky Aquilina, Karla Attard, Desirée-Marie Avallone, Sephora Borg, Christopher Buttigieg, Melvin Caruana, Tiziana M. Grech, Mark Mifsud, Jessica Muscat, Beverly Pace, Sabrina Pace, Clare Piscopo, Annabel Spiteri, Reuben D. Spiteri, and Anthea Zammit.