Maltese readers in year 1 : relevance of content to pupils' experience

Abstract

Maltese readers in the formal teaching of the mother-tongue language have been the same for almost twenty years. The relevance of these readers to today's technological era has prompted us to carry out this research work. This study concentrates on analysing the subject content of Id-Denfil as the most used Maltese reader in the first year of formal schooling at primary level. Relevance is considered in terms of pupils' everyday experiences in contact with other individuals, surroundings and situations. The research methods adopted for this study were characterised by random sampling in 4 state, 3 church and l private school. Questionnaires were distributed to 420 parents of pupils in Year 1 classes and to all the 32 teachers of Year 1 classes in the schools visited. Interviews were carried out with 160 pupils in the participant schools. Our study determined that the Maltese reader is relevant to pupils' experience in terms of the main topics treated in the text, with due consideration to the limited validity in specific items of the subject content of ld-Denfil.