Bilingualism in education : the Maltese experience

Abstract

In recent years there has been an upsurge in interest in bilingualism in education. This has lead to an increase in research and publications on the use of more than one language as medium of instruction. In this book I try to unravel some of the strands making up the complicated web of the mixed use of Maltese and English by teachers in the classroom. In the process I attempt a clarification of some of the confused perceptions regarding this issue, which I explore and situate within the Maltese bilingual context. This, in turn, is set against the variegated landscape of bilingual pedagogical situations worldwide. The book is intended for researchers of bilingual education and practitioners in the same field. The Maltese secondary classroom is approached empirically, making the study of immediate interest to educators in Malta. Moreover, the critical review, in chapter 2, of the international literature on bilingual education will be useful to students and other researchers. [Excerpt from Preface]