Language agenda
Foreign languages should be a larger part of the national agenda than they are already. In the main they tend to be discussed in the context of foreign students who come to Malta to spruce up their knowledge of spoken and written English. Such arrivals...
Foreign languages should be a larger part of the national agenda than they are already. In the main they tend to be discussed in the context of foreign students who come to Malta to spruce up their knowledge of spoken and written English. Such arrivals make up a significant part of overall tourist arrivals. Over 60,000 students come here to learn English each year, the bulk of which - around two-thirds - come between July and September.
They are catered for by close to 40 language schools, and take up a variety of accommodation, including room sharing in hotels. English language teaching has become a good industry, even if some taxpayers who put up foreign students in the homes remain unhappy that they have to pay some tax on the proceeds.
In addition to making a modest but useful economic contribution during the time they spend here, foreign students become potential return visitors when they grow older, depending on the impressions they carry away with them from their transiting student days.
This potential has been tapped with much determination and, generally, success. There is room for more. Within the countries of the European Union one frequently comes across numbing examples of atrocious English, whether written or spoken.
That offers a further potential to provide English language teaching for adults. To date, the providers of this service have exploited it to a much lesser extent than teaching English to young students, coming in particular from Germany and Italy.
The actual teaching of English to foreign students, young or adult, and the higher existing potential confirm the point that we, Maltese, are very lucky to possess English as our second language. Good teaching and proper use of Maltese should be emphasised, since having our own language is a very primary feature of our identity.
Learning to speak and write good English should be another priority of our education system, to be met much more seriously than is being done at the moment, not least in view of the economic of the language to us. It is time to take stock of the mish-mash that we have made of both Maltese and English, whereby far too many among those who have received a secondary education, and others who have gone to post-secondary and tertiary levels, manage to massacre the two language as farcically as some of those who do not have similar learning opportunities.
A language worth learning is worth learning well. Maltese, as our very own language, is that. And English is another one, as the main language that readily opens a portal to the rest of the world for us, and - on top of cultural rewards - allows us economic gain from the practice of the language, in the commercial sector in addition to language schools for foreigners.
It is pitiful that, no matter how obvious these arguments regarding our primary language sectors may be, the prevalence of good English, along with the use of good Maltese, is on the decline. It is not at all strange, therefore, that there is also another language gap that is only mentioned now and again, without anything much being done about it.
It concerns the learning of Arabic. Very few students bother with it, nowadays, and few parents try to guide their offspring towards learning it as an additional language. Not surprisingly, Italian and French are the two preferred foreign languages (other than English, which is thought from the early stages of compulsory education in our schools).
Italian, in addition to being a beautiful language, smoothes the way to a cultural paradise. French does so as well, and it is now of greater relevance than hitherto in view of its widespread use in the EU bureaucracies. Arabic has its extensive culture, which is not very acknowledged, let alone appreciated in Malta. In addition it is of growing economic importance.
Our geography is what it is, and that places us equidistant from the European and the Arab worlds. Through the centuries we have looked north, but to our south and in the east there are opportunities for those who have a good grasp of Arabic that should not be allowed to go begging.
That they have been so allowed is due in part to the ability to communicate with Arabs through English, and possibly in greater part to prejudice. Those who stand back to take a longer look will realise that English is not enough, nor French, and that prejudice is as short-sighted economically as it is politically and culturally.
Now we are at a new stage. The Arab world is coming to us. In the 1970s there was a wave of inward investment from Libya. Nowadays there is a new wave of interest coming from the Gulf States. That has been manifested through the sale of the government's remaining stake in Maltacom to Kuwaiti investors, and the conclusion of the deal to start the SmartCity project.
There are other Arab interests sounding out opportunities in Malta. Some of them ate simultaneously looking at what Tunisia has to offer. While, from the nationalistic level, one may wonder at the extent of the presence of foreign investors in the upper levels of the economy, in economic terms we need as much sound foreign investment as we can get.
The situation calls for recognition that knowledge of the Arab language has never been more important than it is now. Education Minister Louis Galea pointed that out some time ago. And an attempt at a discussion of this factor is becoming evident in the media.
It is not so evident that career guidance is placing the same emphasis of this particular aspect of the language agenda.
They are catered for by close to 40 language schools, and take up a variety of accommodation, including room sharing in hotels. English language teaching has become a good industry, even if some taxpayers who put up foreign students in the homes remain unhappy that they have to pay some tax on the proceeds.
In addition to making a modest but useful economic contribution during the time they spend here, foreign students become potential return visitors when they grow older, depending on the impressions they carry away with them from their transiting student days.
This potential has been tapped with much determination and, generally, success. There is room for more. Within the countries of the European Union one frequently comes across numbing examples of atrocious English, whether written or spoken.
That offers a further potential to provide English language teaching for adults. To date, the providers of this service have exploited it to a much lesser extent than teaching English to young students, coming in particular from Germany and Italy.
The actual teaching of English to foreign students, young or adult, and the higher existing potential confirm the point that we, Maltese, are very lucky to possess English as our second language. Good teaching and proper use of Maltese should be emphasised, since having our own language is a very primary feature of our identity.
Learning to speak and write good English should be another priority of our education system, to be met much more seriously than is being done at the moment, not least in view of the economic of the language to us. It is time to take stock of the mish-mash that we have made of both Maltese and English, whereby far too many among those who have received a secondary education, and others who have gone to post-secondary and tertiary levels, manage to massacre the two language as farcically as some of those who do not have similar learning opportunities.
A language worth learning is worth learning well. Maltese, as our very own language, is that. And English is another one, as the main language that readily opens a portal to the rest of the world for us, and - on top of cultural rewards - allows us economic gain from the practice of the language, in the commercial sector in addition to language schools for foreigners.
It is pitiful that, no matter how obvious these arguments regarding our primary language sectors may be, the prevalence of good English, along with the use of good Maltese, is on the decline. It is not at all strange, therefore, that there is also another language gap that is only mentioned now and again, without anything much being done about it.
It concerns the learning of Arabic. Very few students bother with it, nowadays, and few parents try to guide their offspring towards learning it as an additional language. Not surprisingly, Italian and French are the two preferred foreign languages (other than English, which is thought from the early stages of compulsory education in our schools).
Italian, in addition to being a beautiful language, smoothes the way to a cultural paradise. French does so as well, and it is now of greater relevance than hitherto in view of its widespread use in the EU bureaucracies. Arabic has its extensive culture, which is not very acknowledged, let alone appreciated in Malta. In addition it is of growing economic importance.
Our geography is what it is, and that places us equidistant from the European and the Arab worlds. Through the centuries we have looked north, but to our south and in the east there are opportunities for those who have a good grasp of Arabic that should not be allowed to go begging.
That they have been so allowed is due in part to the ability to communicate with Arabs through English, and possibly in greater part to prejudice. Those who stand back to take a longer look will realise that English is not enough, nor French, and that prejudice is as short-sighted economically as it is politically and culturally.
Now we are at a new stage. The Arab world is coming to us. In the 1970s there was a wave of inward investment from Libya. Nowadays there is a new wave of interest coming from the Gulf States. That has been manifested through the sale of the government's remaining stake in Maltacom to Kuwaiti investors, and the conclusion of the deal to start the SmartCity project.
There are other Arab interests sounding out opportunities in Malta. Some of them ate simultaneously looking at what Tunisia has to offer. While, from the nationalistic level, one may wonder at the extent of the presence of foreign investors in the upper levels of the economy, in economic terms we need as much sound foreign investment as we can get.
The situation calls for recognition that knowledge of the Arab language has never been more important than it is now. Education Minister Louis Galea pointed that out some time ago. And an attempt at a discussion of this factor is becoming evident in the media.
It is not so evident that career guidance is placing the same emphasis of this particular aspect of the language agenda.