Bilingualism in grade V Maltese primary schools : a sociolinguistic perspective

Abstract

Chapter 1, Article 5 of the Constitution of Malta (1964) (Il-Kostituzzjoni Ta’ Malta) recognises Maltese as the national language of Malta, whilst it accords both Maltese and English the status of official languages. Nonetheless, Malta’s status as a bilingual country has over the years been repeatedly questioned and has also been the subject of many a heated debate amongst lay people and academics alike. Provisional data obtained from the National Statistics Office resulting from the most recent Census 2011, confirms Maltese as being overwhelmingly the language of the majority, with 91.6% of the population describing their spoken proficiency as being ‘very good’. Similarly, fresh data obtained from a representative study by Sciriha (2012) reveals that the majority of respondents (73.2%) believe that the Maltese generally possess a good standard of English (Sciriha 2012: 74). Significantly however, seminal studies conducted over the years by Sciriha (1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2013) have noted tangible concerns that cast a shadow over the actual standards of written Maltese as well as the standards of spoken and written English. These studies have therefore served to highlight the need for further data to corroborate these previous survey findings and to try and identify any shortcomings in the field of bilingual education in Malta. Despite the guidelines and ideals laid out in the National Minimum Curriculum (1999) and the National Curriculum Framework (2012), Maltese schools still lack a clear-cut language policy that spells out the requirements that need to be adhered to in order to guarantee what is widely accepted to be the ideal – an additive bilingual education that empowers all students not only to progress academically should they desire to do so, but to equip them with a quality grasp of at least two languages without which, one is sure to be at a disadvantage on all fronts. This study addresses what has been described as a rather ambitious project; ambitious because of its sheer scale and scope. Rather than investigating the proficiency of either one or the other of the country’s two official languages, the present researcher felt that there was a void in terms of data which gauges respondents’ attitudes towards and opinions about proficiency in the two languages. Further insight was needed to determine what hinders students from attaining a working proficiency in both languages and how much actual exposure to Malta’s two official languages these respondents have, both within and outside the school domain. Respondents were not only asked to rate themselves in terms of spoken and written L1 and L2 skills but also required to complete a brief creative writing exercise that tested their written bilingual skills. Respondents’ answers were evaluated in accordance with guidelines adapted from an accredited international testing body, specifically the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Hence the study’s main research questions were: a) To what extent can Primary Grade V children be said to be bilingual and what factors aid or inhibit the attainment of age-appropriate bilingualism? b) How do primary school students, parents and teachers perceive spoken and written Maltese and English language skills? c) How important is bilingualism for primary school students? d) What is the actual extent of exposure to the two languages? e) To what extent may primary students be said to be bilingual? f) What are the strengths and the challenges that the Maltese bilingual education system faces? The respondents interviewed in this study, are all main stakeholders in the field of education in the Maltese Islands. The respondents whose views are presented in this study are 987 primary Grade V students, 1316 primary school parents, as well as 30 primary Grade V teachers themselves. Once the opinion of all of these stakeholders is gauged, it is hoped that this data would yield information which would be of use to education planners and policy-makers alike and contribute to current debate on the creation of a sound language policy which delineates specific guidelines that all primary educational institutions should abide by. It is for this reason that this study is a mixed-methods study which is split into distinct phases: Phase I which yields a large-scale, quantitative study with Grade V primary students (the penultimate year of primary schooling); Phase II which consists of large-scale quantitative interviews with parents whose children are currently in Grade V, and Phase III which consists of in-depth qualitative interviews with Grade V primary school teachers. It is hoped that the depth and the breadth of this study, incorporating the analysis of data from some of the main stakeholders in the field of education, would provide: a clear understanding of the de facto status of bilingualism in the Maltese islands. It is hoped that the insight thus acquired would be able to contribute to a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of current bilingual education programmes in the primary years, with the aim of encouraging equity for all students irrespective of their socio-economic background or the type of school they attend.