https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/55919 Thu, 09 Apr 2026 04:11:53 GMT 2026-04-09T04:11:53Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56137 Title: The Senglea family literacy programme Abstract: The National Literacy Survey of the Reading Attainment of Year 2 Pupils carried out by the Literacy Unit in March 1999 (Mifsud, Milton, Brooks & Hutchison, 2000) highlighted many interesting findings. Amongst these was the difference in attainment on both the Maltese and English tests by pupils coming from families of different socio-economic backgrounds and different regions in Malta. Thus, to act upon recommendations posited in the light of such fin4ings, the Senglea Primary School and the Senglea School Council took the initiative of contacting the Literacy Unit of the University of Malta requesting it to implement a Family Literacy Programme. The Family Literacy Programme studied here was 'two-generation, two-pronged' instead of 'three-pronged' as the programme did not include adult basic education for the parents. The Programme offered literacy teaching for children while improving the parents' ability to help their children with literacy. Thus, the main focus was the children and their literacy. Since the Programme was relatively short it was not possible to focus on the parents' literacy as well. Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56137 2000-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56097 Title: It-twaqqif tal-kunsill ta' l-istudenti fl-iskola Lorenzo Gafa Abstract: Hekk kiflejn tmiem is-sena l-ohra tl-iskola sekondarja tas-subien tal-Fortini wasal il- ktejjeb mahrug mid-Divizjoni ta' l-Edukazzjoni - Democracy In Schools - Setting up of Students ' Councils & Class Committees - zewg ghalliema avvicinaw lill-Kap ta' l-Iskola, is- Sur Horace Caruana, b'nurruu ta' proposti biex jitwaqqaf il-Kunsill ta' l-iStudenti. Il-Kap, min-naha tieghu accetta mill-ewwel u hatar Kumitat 'ad hoc' biex jibda jipprepara ghat- twettiq ta' din l-idea. Dan il-Kumitat kien iffurrnat m inn dawk l-ghalliema li wrew l-izjed interess f'dan il-progett- sitta b'kollox. Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56097 2000-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56096 Title: The professional development portfolio : towards the professional development of student teachers Abstract: The idea of introducing portfolios for student teachers arose out of the "Tomorrow's Teachers' Project" in 1997. Part of this project involved trying to find alternative ways of assessment for student teachers and one of the proposals suggested the development of student teacher portfolios. A short description of what portfolios were was included in an Assessment Guidebook published by the Faculty of Education in 1998. It was also decided during a Faculty Staff Seminar to pilot portfolios among second year B.Ed. (Hons.) students. This pilot project was in fact carried out between October 1998 and April 1999. During this period all second year students were asked to develop a portfolio. The students were then interviewed and asked to share their views about the relevance and usefulness of the portfolio. The students were in fact very positive about the experience and Faculty Board approved the introduction of student teacher portfolios within the Faculty of Education. In October 1999 the Dean appointed a committee which started to work on the introduction of the student teacher portfolios. The committee was made up of members of the Faculty of Education and the Education Division and proved to be a successful collaborative project. The committee set about identifying what the student teacher portfolio which they renamed "The Professional Development Portfolio" should include and preparing a guidebook for student teachers on how to prepare and develop the portfolio. This guidebook will be launched in January 2001. Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56096 2000-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56095 Title: The media and their impact on the acquisition of Italian in Malta Abstract: In Malta many people are regularly exposed to the Italian language via the media and this seems to be enough to justify the fact that it is taken for granted that in Malta Italian is understood well. This is also reflected by the declining figures of students in local Junior Lyceums who study Italian from Form 1. In fact many students in these schools start studying Italian, if they ever study the language, in Form 3 rather than in Form 1. Some students even sit for the SEC examination of Italian without ever having studied the subject at school. Some of these students sit for this examination after attending private lessons or evening classes for a few months, whereas others sit for the examination relying exclusively on the competence that they may have obtained after watching Italian television programmes for many years and after being exposed to the language through other means of communication. At times it is the Junior Lyceum students themselves who opt freely not to study Italian formally at an early stage of their Secondary schooling. In other cases it seems that parents exercise their influence on their children by encouraging them to study French or German in Form 1 and eventually to opt for Italian in Form 3- "it-Taljan tagln!ux minn Form 1, dak taqbdu mit-televixin! ("do not choose Italian at Form l level, you'll pick it up from television!") and other similar statements are frequently heard and though they rarely seem to be based on any theoretical insight or on any knowledge regarding language teaching and learning, they cannot go unnoticed. These and other such considerations were the triggers which in the early 90s motivated a group ofB.Ed.(Hons) students, amongst whom myself, to start exploring the issues regarding the language of the Italian media, that is the linguistic input that Maltese students receive from the media. It was evident then, as it is now, that the presence of the Italian media had breathed new life into a language, the active use of which in Malta had declined during the first decades of this century. Consequently, it is highly relevant to investigate the extent and the impact of this linguistic input on the individuals who are exposed to it. Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/56095 2000-12-01T00:00:00Z