Foreign students need to learn Maltese as well in order to integrate with Maltese culture, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said at the launch of a national policy for the teaching of Maltese as a foreign language.

In a press conference on Thursday, Bartolo said that the launch of this policy – which is now at a consultation phase – is an important step for the strengthening of the Maltese language.

He said that it is important to keep strengthening the teaching of the Maltese language to Maltese children, but noted that this should also be the case for foreign children as well. He said that it is important for him that all those who come to Malta respect the country’s culture and identity, but noted that this cannot be done to the full if there aren’t any measures to promote Maltese to them.

Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Education Francis Fabri said that teaching Maltese as a foreign language is without a doubt one of the ways to sustain the importance of the language and its teaching.

He said that it would absolutely not be the case that this subject replaces the teaching of Maltese in its current form and syllabus, while Minister Bartolo later said that the subject will be open to foreign students who would find it difficult to follow that Maltese syllabus that Maltese students follow, especially given that they may have joined Maltese schooling at a much later stage than Maltese children.

Fabri said that schools are different today than they were in the past, and not all students come from Maltese families and speak Maltese at home.  The Ministry wants to continue to pursue measures to strengthen the teaching of Maltese at school, but at the same time also wants to provide measures that open doors for others.

The policy document clearly states, Fabri said, that if a child is able to study Maltese using the current syllabus, then they will continue to do so.  The policy will however work to address a hole in the educational system, where a pocket of children find it difficult to learn Maltese.

The policy was prepared by a committee headed by Professor Antoinette Camilleri Grima – who also addressed Thursday’s press conference – and consultation on it will remain open till the end of October.

Foreign students reaching a certain level of Maltese will be encouraged to follow National Curriculum

The policy reads that no students in any school in Malta and Gozo that follows the National Curriculum, and for any reason whatsoever, should be exempted from Maltese lessons and for any assessment on their knowledge of the language, while it also stipulates that every educator who works in child care centres, kindergarten, and schools should be qualified in Maltese or in Maltese as a Foreign Language (MFL).

Furthermore, the Council for the Teaching Profession should ensure that every educator is able to communicate with the students and their parents in Maltese, while foreign teachers should be informed for the outset about what level of Maltese, as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment, is required from them.

The policy also stipulates that there should be incentives for migrant parents to learn Maltese, and that communication between the administration, educators, and home should be in both English and Maltese.

Registration for the learning of MFL should be open to migrant children and, on a voluntary basis, to children with one parent or guardian in possession of a foreign ID card. 

A formative and summative assessment system should be implemented periodically following the children’s registration in a Maltese school so to verify the level of progress in the Maltese language, while every student who is not found to have the desired command of Maltese should be enrolled in a dedicated induction programme for MFL.

The actual teaching of Maltese as a foreign language is divided into five sections within the policy. In the case of children up to seven years old, they should all enter the National Curriculum System, while migrant children should be given support to develop their listening comprehension and oral skills before the reading and writing skills.

At primary level, migrant children who enter at this stage should be assessed to determine whether they require an induction period before entering the national curriculum. At the end of the sixth year, the student will be assessed on their level of Maltese before a decision will be made in agreement with the parents as to whether the Maltese or the MFL route should be followed in Middle School.

Migrant students who are registered from the seventh year of Middle School upwards – that is, between the ages of 11 and 13 – should be taught and assessed according to the MFL programme, and at the end of each year it is assessed and discussed with the parents whether the student should continue the MFL programme or enter the Maltese language route.

At secondary level – between the ages of 13 and 16 – teaching and preparation for the SEC exam in MFL should start. Those students who would have just arrived in the country though should be taugh MFL according to their needs, while those for whom it was decided at the end of Middle School that the MFL route would be the best for them, should continue as such.

However, foreign students who master the Maltese language are urged to enter a route of Maltese language learning and sit for the Maltese language exam.

MFL learning should also be offered to the adults arriving in Malta, but the teaching of MFL should not replace the teaching of specialised Maltese to children and students who need particular intervention because of their needs.

In terms of training and resources, every teacher of each subject should be competent enough in Maltese to be able to understand the questions and difficulties of Maltese students, and be able to explain and guide them as necessary in Maltese.

All Maltese teachers should be prepared as necessary to teach MFL as a subject, and there should be financial or progression incentives to engage more teachers, including those at retirement age who would like to return to service.

A working group should also be set up by the Ministry to draw up descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Maltese as a Foreign Language, while attractive courses and digital games should be developed immediately for the teaching of MFL.  The Maltese spellchecker should be made available to all educators, school administrators, and students as well.