https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18579 2026-10-21T14:56:24Z 2026-10-21T14:56:24Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/150313 2026-10-21T13:52:59Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Who will teach our babies Maltese if we don't? Abstract: This opinion article explores the importance of early childhood language exposure in safeguarding the future of Maltese, with particular attention to the linguistic environments of children aged 0–3. It argues that language acquisition begins long before formal schooling and that everyday interactions with parents, carers and early childhood educators play a crucial role in shaping children's linguistic development. Against the backdrop of Malta's increasingly multilingual society and its reliance on international carers, the article raises concerns about children's limited exposure to Maltese during their formative years. It discusses existing language requirements for third-country nationals and highlights a University of Malta initiative to develop a practical Maltese-language syllabus for international carers working with young children. The article advocates accessible, occupation-specific language training and coordinated national policies that support Maltese-language development from birth. It emphasises the shared responsibility of families, educators, employers and policymakers in ensuring the intergenerational transmission of Maltese while respecting linguistic diversity and multilingualism.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Bugeja, Nicole M. Vella, Yosanne https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149870 2026-10-08T13:31:46Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Teaching women's history in Maltese schools : a teaching pack Authors: Bugeja, Nicole M.; Vella, Yosanne Abstract: This pack has been designed to help you introduce students to the often overlooked yet profoundly impactful stories of women in Maltese history. It includes a collection of engaging activities and PowerPoints specifically created for history secondary students, both general and option, aged 12 to 16. All topics and activities align with the History National Curriculum of Malta and the Learning Objectives.; Inside the pack, you will find seven activities, each focussing on a different topic and era.; • Activity 1 focuses on women and health history in the 17th century.; • Activity 2 examines the social history of female slavery in the 18th century.; • Activity 3 explores the social history & upheavals faced by women during the French blockade.; • Activity 4 looks at social history related to motherhood in the 19th century.; • Activity 5 explores the social history of female entrepreneurs in Malta in the 19th century.; • Activity 6 covers political and social history related to women in the Second World War.; • Activity 7 focuses on the social history of working women after 1945.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Vella, Yosanne https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149784 2026-10-07T09:09:26Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Is a paradigm shift happening in history pedagogy at the moment? is ‘the source method’ obsolete and are we now onto brave new pastures? Authors: Vella, Yosanne Abstract: The author has been a history pedagogist for over 30 years and in this paper, she makes the claim that presently there is a new paradigm shift in the ideology behind history teaching. This paper asserts that history pedagogy is at the threshold of a new paradigm, that needs addressing by both academics and practitioners. Traditional history teaching basically looked at history as ‘a finished product’ the work of historians and it was the job of history teachers to pass on the facts and information. This pedagogy was seriously challenged in the 1960s and 70s in England (Burston & Green, 1962; Price, 1969; Coltham & Fines, 1971). A new history pedagogy came into existence, what was then called ‘New History’ and which later became known as ‘the Source Method’. The dichotomy of facts/information or skills/concepts in this approach in history teaching was in turn challenged in the early 21st century mainly by Christine Counsell. Counsell refined ‘the Source Method’ by showing how both Substantive knowledge (facts/information) and Procedural knowledge (thinking skills/concepts) were important forms of knowledge that needed to be both addressed in the classroom (Counsell, 2004). On the whole, up to a decade ago this was basically the situation in history teaching and the paradigm shift from traditional history teaching to ‘the Source method’ felt complete, at least in the pedagogists’ mind, how much that translated to real history classrooms can vary considerably (Euroclio,1998; CHE report, 2013; OHTE, 2023).; However, for some time now, the author has been feeling that a new paradigm seems to be pushing ‘the Source Method’ out and bringing in new ideas and notions. Postmodernist ideas have long established that ‘History is not the Past’ (Jenkins, 1991) but now this notion seems to have been picked up by some history pedagogists as something which needs to be consistently at the forefront of teachers’ thinking in the history classroom; to achieve what has been called ‘Criterialist’ thinking. From 2010 onwards Liliana Maggioni’s work (Maggioni, 2004; 2009; 2010) becomes very significant, with many history pedagogy researchers insisting on pushing for history-specific epistemic beliefs in the classroom (see for example Voet, M. & De Wever, B.,2016; Stoel, G. et. al., 2017; Karlsson, P., 2018; Wansink, B., 2016). This paper argues that it is time for an academic debate on whether this new challenge to history teaching is the best way forward in history pedagogy.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Caruana, Sandro https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/149668 2026-10-06T12:56:45Z 2027-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Prefazione - Il blended language learning tra prospettive teoriche, ricerca-azione e frontiere dell’intelligenza artificiale Authors: Caruana, Sandro Abstract: L’evoluzione delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione, unitamente alla loro irreversibile integrazione nei contesti educativi, ha determinato una trasformazione radicale dei parametri definitori dei processi di insegnamento e apprendimento delle lingue straniere. Negli ultimi decenni, il dibattito glottodidattico ha progressivamente abbandonato un’interpretazione strumentale e tecnocentrica dei dispositivi digitali, considerati per lungo tempo semplici sussidi o contenitori di risorse aggiuntive, per orientarsi verso una comprensione complessa, sistemica e integrata degli ambienti di apprendimento. Il presente volume di Silvana Fanalista si inserisce, con rigore teorico e applicazione concreta, in questo percorso di innovazione metodologica. Il lavoro affronta il Blended Language Learning (BLL) non già come una combinazione estrinseca o una banale ibridazione erogativa tra didattica tradizionale in presenza e moduli d’istruzione a distanza, bensì come un impianto formativo organico, ovvero un ambiente acquisizionale strutturato la cui architettura risponde a precise ed esplicite esigenze cognitive, sociali e affettive.

2027-01-01T00:00:00Z