Literacy in Malta : the 1999 national survey of the attainment of year 2 pupils

Abstract

The Maltese Islands in the Mediterranean Sea have two official languages. Maltese, a Semitic language, is the native tongue. English is used widely and is taught from early on at school. For Malta and Gozo, it is the Language of Wider Communication (LWC). In primary schools, oracy skills in English are introduced early on alongside Maltese at the kindergarten level and the beginning of Year 1 (five- and six year-olds) of formal schooling. Literacy skills in English are introduced later on in Year 1. In Year 2 (six- to seven-year-olds), further oracy and literacy work is carried out in both Maltese and English. Increasingly, as children move from primary to secondary and then into tertiary education, English gains in importance. Literacy in both languages is therefore essential; hence the decision of the Ministry of Education and the University of Malta to carry out this national survey of literacy attainment in March 1999. It was decided that this, the first national survey of educational performance undertaken in Malta, should focus on the reading attainment of Year 2 pupils, in both Maltese and English. This survey was preceded by a pilot study. The pilot study took place in early June 1998 and the report on that study (Mifsud et al., 1998) served also as a consultation document for refining the planning of the survey. The Ministry of Education commissioned both studies from the Literacy Unit of the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta.