English in Malta : from colonialism to heritage, from social differences to opportunity

Abstract

Maltese, a Semitic language, is the mother tongue of the vast majority of Maltese nationals and is used alongside a variety of English, known as Maltese-English. Although English in Malta is an inheritance of a colonial past, it is widely regarded to be of fundamental importance. Most regular users of English in Malta are normally of high socio-economic status, thereby creating a situation in which social difference can be manifest through language choice. While providing a description of the linguistic situation in Malta, I will focus on the structure of Maltese-English and place it within its sociolinguistic context. I will illustrate how this variety constitutes an example of ‘difference’ in a relatively small linguistic community and discuss the implications of this within Malta’s bilingual/diglottic context.