Maltese students have ranked just behind Swedish ones in English language proficiency in an EU survey of foreign language competence.
The Government hailed Malta’s second place ranking, but when contacted the Education Ministry struggled to clarify whether English is defined and taught as a foreign language in Maltese schools.
Malta was the only country tested where English was treated as a foreign language while also being listed as an official language.
The European Survey on Language Competences was carried out by the European Commission in 14 countries to provide comparative statistics and information about language learning, teaching methods and curriculums.
Students aged between 14 and 16 were tested in reading, listening and writing in the first and second foreign languages they learned at school.
In Malta, these were English and Italian respectively.
Malta ranked fourth overall for second foreign language competence.
Students’ skills were measured according to the Common European Framework of References from Level A1 (lowest) to B2 (highest).
A total of 82 per cent of Maltese Form 5 students reached an overall level of “independent user” (B1 or B2) in English – the same as Sweden.
Broken down further, 62 per cent of Maltese students achieved the highest level of B2 in reading, slightly fewer than the Swedes.
In listening, 72 per cent of Maltese achieved B2, compared to 78 per cent of Swedish students.
But Maltese students got the highest marks in English writing, with 47 per cent achieving B2, compared with 29 per cent of Swedish students.
Level B2 students are defined as independent language users who can express themselves clearly and effectively, while B1 students are independent language users who can deal with straightforward, familiar matters.
An Education Ministry spokesman said the results “need to be acknowledged as very good”.
However, when asked if English is taught as a foreign language in Maltese schools, the spokesman said: “English in Malta is normally considered as a second language, though there are different opinions about this.”
In State schools, the ability of learners is the guiding principle in determining the languages used by teachers in different subjects, while there is variation in the non-State sector too, the spokesman said.
“However, generally English is used to teach most of the subjects,” he added, noting it was not uncommon to find teachers using both languages for different parts of the same lesson.
The guiding principle for language use in schools is currently the National Minimum Curriculum published in 1990, which advises teachers to use English when teaching English, mathematics, science and technology.
“Code switching” can be used when teaching these subjects in English poses difficulties.
The issue of language policy features in the draft National Curriculum Framework published in 2011.
This document is being finalised and a ministerial group is working on a national language policy, which will provide direction on the uses of English and Maltese in schools.
The participating countries in the ESLC were Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Greece, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and England. Belgium’s three linguistic communities participated separately.
Of the 16 countries/regions tested, English was the most widely taught foreign language in all but three: England and the Flemish and German regions of Belgium, where French was the most widely taught.
The English proved to be the worst at foreign languages, with just nine per cent reaching B1 or B2 in their first foreign language (French).