Negative reports about the state of the English language in Malta confirm the preoccupation of Education Minister Evarist Bartolo who, last December, raised the alarm stating that the standard of English had deteriorated to such an extent that Malta risked becoming a single language nation threatening our competitiveness in a global market.

I would like to stress once again that my impassioned plea for an improvement at all levels in the standard of English does not stem from any nostalgic harking to colonial days but from a genuine realisation of the importance of this global language as a vehicle of economic, technical, cultural and educational import.

In the past, our proficiency in the language served us so well, enabling us to scale Olympian heights in technological, economic, medical, and social development. It is this degree of necessity that gives meaning to the term ‘English as a second language’ in contrast to the more leisurely approach to ‘English as a foreign language’.

Britannia again rules the waves… this time thee-waves of information technology

The misguided campaign, intended to relegate the status of English in State schools, the university and the civil service, emanates not so much from a national outcry but from an unrealistic idealism resulting very often in a wide chasm in the standard of English between the majority of Church/private schools and State schools.

The upsurge of English, which is also the language of the European Union, gives the lie to those intellectuals, most of whom well-placed and highly privileged in Maltese society, who have consistently pontificated to the nation’s children, other than their own, on the importance of the vernacular as a means of a national identity. Imperceptibly, in their nationalistic zeal, these academics attempt to wean the less-privileged children in State schools away from the language of the Oracle while, for their children, an English-speaking environment is taken for granted.

A study of the contemporary linguistic scene confirms that, in the civil service, the acquisition and mastery of English is no longer considered of paramount importance. Unfortunately, while many equate English language with our colonial past, others make a virtue out of necessity because of poor attainment.

The process of decolonisation is not achieved by discarding or relegating the usefulness of a world language. Such sterile nationalism will have a disastrous effect not only on our general culture and research possibilities but also our economy.

Furthermore, we have to admit that, once again, Britannia rules the waves… this time the e-waves of information technology.

Unlike pre-war days, post- independence Malta has very few anglophile promoters in the political arena. It needs guts to go against the grain and not pander to the pseudo-national fervour to downgrade the language of the ex-colonial masters. Few politicians are prepared to articulate, even discreetly, the absolute need of a second language in an island-State fully dependent on connections with the outside world where the English language is everywhere on the ascendancy.

After the brutal massacre at an army high school in Pakistan, some students who survived the terrible ordeal were interviewed by the BBC to relate about their experience. I was intrigued by their fluency and command of English. I inquired further about their curriculum and school ethos, which evidently promoted English usage. I discovered that the English language receives a big boost through their School Broadcasting Unit that broadcasts daily television programmes in the afternoon, specifically designed by English language specialists for the high school.

In this regard, we make consider revamping our School Broadcasting Unit under the auspices of the Ministry of Education or the Broadcasting Authority to launch a series of TV programmes for primary and secondary students professionally crafted by experts in the English language to be viewed outside school hours.

It is to be recalled that the now defunct School Broadcasting Unit in Malta had taken up the initiative and engaged three English language experts, through the British Council, to assist them in the massive project of promoting the language in Malta.

Lino Bugeja is a former educator.