Schools express interest in ESU English-speaking programme

An pilot project in spoken English for three- and four-year-old children run run for free by the English Speaking Union (ESU) at St Clare Primary A in Żabbar has generated a lot of interest from other State and Church schools.

The project, which ended in December, will now be assessed with help from the University's Centre for Literacy to see whether such a scheme could be extended to other schools and promoted in a more structured manner.

There are also prospects of establishing mutually beneficial arrangements between the ESU and the English language teaching (ELT) industry in Malta. While the ESU is able to offer expertise and training opportunities, the ELT industry may be in a position to support ESU programmes locally by contributing teachers for its programmes.

These two developments em-erged following the recent visit to Malta of ESU director of education Martin Mulloy.

The pilot project, conducted from the end of October to the end of December, involved two spoken English sessions held twice weekly in nine classes at the Żabbar primary. Even after such a short time the improvement in the children's ability to speak and understand English was impressive. The project was run by ESU Malta under its 'Arm of Support' programme with the help of volunteers and the co-operation of the school's teachers and administration.

Mr Mulloy, whose background is in ELT, as a teacher, author, publisher, and as a former director of BBC ELT internationally, also held meetings with representatives of Malta's ELT industry to explore a possible interface between the ELT industry and the ESU.

At a meeting with representatives from local English language schools, Mr Mulloy explained the ESU's role was to support English language teaching and acquisition, and to provide assistance to the organisations involved in it.

He stressed that while the ESU does not generally engage directly in English language teaching except in sectors not covered commercially, it can provide specialised English language teaching trainers through its extensive international contacts. This could be useful in providing training seminars and workshops for local ELT teachers.

He added that the ESU can also facilitate exchange programmes, which may be beneficial for ELT teachers wanting to gain first-hand experience of English language teaching methods and resources in specialised fields.

Mr Mulloy spoke on the importance of public speaking when teaching English as a foreign language, stressing that teaching students the key skills of public speaking helps them to acquire confidence to use what they have learnt, both inside and outside the classroom.

Opportunities to co-operate in the areas of quality assurance and training were explored at a meeting with the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta executive board. While the ESU is in a position to offer its expertise and training, the ELT industry may be in a position to support ESU programmes in Malta by contributing some of its teaching resources to programmes, such as the 'Arm of Support' programme.

During a meeting held with members of the EFL Monitoring Board, Mr Mulloy explored the possibilities of sharing the ESU's expertise and contacts to assist the monitoring board in its drive to effectively regulate the ELT industry and further raise standards in Malta.

During his visit, Mr Mulloy also met University lecturer Lou Ghirlando to discuss the debating programme at the university, as well as a representative from a private school on introducing a similar debating skills programme in secondary schools.

The ESU is in the process of setting up an ESU Malta branch, which has started operating from offices in Dingli Street, Sliema, and is to be officially launched in May.

Mr Mulloy met the ESU Malta steering committee, which was formed last December, to discuss the course programme that is to be launched locally this year.

For more information call 2138 7786 during afternoons or e-mail esumalta@maltanet.net.