Towards the end of 2013, the British Council, a highly res­pected worldwide organisation and a major player in the field of English education and culture, published a report entitled Languages for the Future, in which it sought to address the question of which languages it felt the UK needed most for the future.

In attempting to provide an answer to this question, the report awarded points concerning three clusters of indicators which measured economic, educational and cultural aspects. The economic indicators were the UK’s export trade, the language needs of its business sector, the trade priorities of its government and emerging high-growth markets.

A second set of indicators had to do with the languages it was felt were needed for cultural, educational, and diplomatic reasons, while the third set of priorities had to do with levels of English proficiency in other countries and the prevalence of different languages on the internet.

In proportionate terms, twice as many students choose Spanish in Gozo than is the case for Malta

The report concluded that the 10 most important languages for the UK’s future, in order of importance, were Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese.

These conclusions were not totally unpredictable but having been an economist and econometrician, I am inevitably drawn to appendices at the tail end of publications where the gems are normally to be found. It was indeed here, in the detailed Matrix of Language Indicators Weightings and Scores, that I discovered that the British Council report not only placed Spanish at the top of the list, but awarded it a whooping 22 points more than the next language, placing it way ahead of the pack.

All this derives from data relating to the UK but they are findings that provide food for thought for all parents, guidance teachers and students engaged in choosing which languages to sign up for.

It must be said that while our educational system is often held to reflect past priorities rather than future needs, this is not always so everywhere, and some forward-looking groups in our society may be quicker off the mark than others in identifying future trends. Those responsible for leading our schools in Gozo seem to be one such group, as I found out when I accompanied Spanish Ambassador Don Felipe de La Morena Casado on a visit to State and Church schools there.

Gozo may seem like a laid-back island in the sun to many, especially the numerous foreigners and Maltese who move or have a second home there, and in many respects it undoubtedly is, but there can be no doubt that to get on in life you have to try harder in Gozo, especially if you are intent on getting a higher education.

A person from Gozo has to go that extra mile; indeed, it would perhaps be more accurate to talk of having to go the extra five miles or so, the distance which separates Malta from its sister island, so its inhabitants must weigh their educational choices even more carefully than usual.

Given these considerations, I find it very gratifying that, in proportionate terms, twice as many students choose Spanish in Gozo than is the case for Malta.

A former head teacher, Maria Formosa, is credited with introducing Spanish in Gozo via adult evening courses in 1991. Some years later, in 1995, no fewer than three of the first 11 locally-trained teachers of Spanish to graduate were from Gozo.

These included Ruth Sabino, who became the first teacher qualified in the subject appointed to a Gozo secondary school, and who, in a remarkable achievement that did Gozo proud, went on to obtain a Diploma in Hispanic Studies and concurrently a Masters in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language from Madrid’s Complutense University, after having been awarded a Spanish government scholarship.

In the Maltese islands, Spanish was introduced in State schools in scholastic year 1988-1989 with a total of 55 students. By the beginning of scholastic year 2013-2014, the number of students studying Spanish had climbed to 1,425, while those studying Italian, French and German number 7,558, 2,106, and 997 respectively.

All this is happening in response to popular demand and despite Spanish in State schools labouring under a number of important handicaps compared to other languages, which include the absence of ‘taster’ classes in primary schools that permit pupils to get to know the languages on offer, and the lack of the all-important figure of the Education Officer.

The Education Ministry is currently in the process of remedying these matters and this should create a level playing field for all languages.

As we were shown around the splendid facilities of the Gozo College, including the Spanish Room, and were subsequently treated to a wonderful performance of student talent.

We had the opportunity to gauge the enormous enthusiasm for Spanish which has been so carefully nurtured by head of Spanish Frankline Zammit. She and her enthusiastic team made up of Yvonne Azzopardi, Sandra Daly, and Sylvana Agius, supported by the principal Victor Galea, and heads of school Marcel Xuereb, Frank Abela, and Pierre Portelli, have spared no effort to promote their subject.

But our visit to Gozo was doubly gratifying because we were also able to see Spanish making advances in Church secondary schools as well.

The importance of Spanish as a world language, its position as the third most used language on the internet after English and Chinese, and sound economic grounds are very good reasons for Church schools to take it up, as it is for State and independent schools, but there are added reasons why I would expect Church schools to offer Spanish as an option to their students.

As I pointed out to the students from the Bishop’s Conservatory secondary school and the Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, gathered in the latter’s main hall together with their teachers of Spanish, Diana Gomez and Emmanuel Scerri, and Learning Support Assistant Sam Vella, the centre of gravity of the Catholic Church has gradually shifted away from the ‘Old World’ towards the ‘New World’, and at present nearly half the world’s Catholics speak either Spanish or Portuguese. These realities on the ground are increasingly reflected in the Church’s hierarchy.

Pope Francis is fully aware of this and seems intent on the composition of the upper echelons of the Church’s hierarchy better reflecting the Catholic grassroots. In 1903, the conclave that elected Pope Pius X did not have one single Latin American cardinal. In 2013, the conclave that chose Pope Francis I had 19 cardinals from Latin America.

Since then, no fewer than nine of the 12 new cardinal electors recently chosen by the Pope were from Latin America.

Canon Emmanuel Saliba, headmaster of the Minor Seminary is clearly very much aware of these changes, and the presence during our visit of Michelle Vella Gobey from the Secretariat for Catholic Education makes me hope that Can. Saliba’s initiative will be emulated by other Church school heads.

1,425

– The number of students studying Spanish in Malta in 2013-2014.

The University of Malta’s Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies is one of the youngest departments in the Faculty of Arts, and perhaps because it was not too hemmed in by previous practice, it is in the process of creating a department which attends to modern language needs.

The department is also the only modern languages department at the University to equip students with not just one but two of the languages on the British Council’s 2013 list of ‘Languages for the Future’, a good command of Spanish and a working knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese.

I do not I need to emphasise that those seeking employment with a sound knowledge of English and two foreign languages in their CV are better placed than those who can offer only one foreign language, as any applicant to an EU post will tell you.

In our department you sign up for one and we give you another one for free!

The 10 most important languages for the UK’s future

N.B. 8 = represents a tie for the 8th position

Source: British Council, Languages for the Future, UK, 2013, pp. 42-42.

Prof. Vassallo is head of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Malta.