As from the coming scholastic year the Education Ministry will introduce a rethought Foreign Language Awareness Programme (Flap) in Year 3 of State primary schools. This is in line with the proposals for language education heralded by the Council of Europe’s 2001 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), in which the primary focus of language education was shifted from mastering a single language to developing various degrees of proficiency in several languages and experiencing different cultures.
In recent years, the Council of Europe has recommended that education systems should adopt a more multilingual approach to modern language learning. The Barcelona Agreement and the Lisbon Strategy recommended that systems be put in place to facilitate early language learning of at least two foreign languages. An important sub-objective of the Lisbon Strategy states that there is a need to improve foreign language teaching at all levels of education throughout Europe. This is seen as a means of giving expression to the multilingual nature of the EU.
The proposed Flap aims to reflect and implement the principles of multilingual and intercultural education in the teaching of languages. It recognises the importance of linguistic diversity and supports language learning as a lifelong task that is essential for economic competitiveness and inclusive societies. It also recognises the importance of investing in education and human capital as Malta’s most important resource.
The programme will focus on helping children learn multilingual and intercultural competences from an early age and lead them to develop a better knowledge of languages, the skills to learn them, and positive attitudes towards linguistic diversity.
It will also support the formation of teachers and the creation and piloting of materials to service the needs of the primary sector of the Flap. Through various activities and enriching resource materials, young learners will reflect on the diversity of linguistic development and communication, and how to learn different foreign languages.
One of the greatest benefits for a child learning a foreign language is that of becoming aware of cultures distinct from one’s own. This is especially true for children living in a small country such as Malta. Even though the island’s demography has become much more heterogeneous in recent decades, it is still very homogenised.
Today, being fluent in only one (and, to a certain extent, two) languages seems to be the exception rather than the rule given that many languages are spoken in the vast majority of classrooms in European countries, and Maltese classrooms are no exception. It is becoming almost impossible to find a classroom in which all students speak the same language. This makes it essential to find ways of addressing issues and challenges arising from diverse populations and multilingual and multicultural settings that were formerly unknown to primary classrooms.
Beyond doubt, one of the greatest challenges is that the student population has become more heterogeneous than ever before, with students sitting next to each other in the same classroom speaking different languages and representing a variety of cultural backgrounds. On one hand, this is a major step towards a truly international educational environment, but on the other it also presents challenges that school administrators, teachers and parents have not previously had to address.
If addressed carefully, this situation should provide an excellent opportunity to renew students’ and other stakeholders’ interest in learning foreign languages. If they learn to be proficient in more than their mother language and English they will find it much easier to communicate effectively with classmates who do not speak these languages.
A key component of foreign language curricula is preparing learners to interact appropriately and effectively when they enter into intercultural relationships. Indeed, learning a new language shows children that there is more to the world than that which they see and interact with. It adds a new way of describing the world, and thus a new way of seeing it.
This, in turn, will have an impact on teaching and learning in practice. By developing linguistic and intercultural competence, language and culture teaching makes people see the world differently and contributes to the education of the individual in society. Indeed, language awareness can be an excellent bridge between school subjects and, in wider society, between people of different backgrounds and languages.
To achieve all this, Flap activities may be included in schools’ calendar of events and may include school assemblies focusing on interculturalism, storytelling, drama/role play activities and cookery sessions. Schools will also be free to invite parents to attend and act as ambassadors of their respective countries, cultures and languages.
Dr Mario Pace is a resident senior lecturer of Italian at the Department of Humanities and Languages at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education.