{"id":1204,"date":"2018-04-10T13:39:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T11:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=1204"},"modified":"2018-04-10T13:39:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T11:39:05","slug":"ghandna-bzonn-insahhu-l-malti-sergio-grech","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/ghandna-bzonn-insahhu-l-malti-sergio-grech\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe need to strengthen the Maltese language\u201d \u2013 Sergio Grech"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The controversy surrounding the fact that the national language will be taught as a foreign language in our country has not yet died out.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it continues to rage, particularly among academics and civil society, following insistence by the Minister of Education that the Maltese language should no longer be used as the language of instruction in schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice of the Workers spoke with Sergio\u00a0Grech, educator and author of\u00a0various publications to get his reaction on this controversy. In comments he made on his own personal behalf, he expressed his concern that this was a move towards lowering the level of the Maltese language in our country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Malta has a\u00a0long\u00a0history\u00a0of disrespect shown to the Maltese language by the education system. This is a strange when you consider that every\u00a0country in the world\u00a0prioritises\u00a0its language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn\u00a0a globalised world, with the influx of several foreigners in our country, we need to highlight the importance of the Maltese language,\u201d said Sergio\u00a0Grech.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said that the idea of applied Maltese is strange, abstract and something no one has understood.\u00a0Therefore, we need to strengthen the teaching of the Maltese language and continue to invest in pedagogy and resources. Maybe the authorities and the parties involved in strengthening the Maltese language are not\u00a0advertising these resources enough.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One must\u00a0ask whether this idea of Maltese for foreigners is going to become an excuse for Maltese speakers whose Maltese language abilities are not up to scratch and therefore would choose the easier option to gain their education certificate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sergio\u00a0Grech\u00a0said we\u00a0should not evaluate the issue from a political perspective or we will come to a dead end. People who mean well, have their feet on the ground and wish to address this issue seriously should ensure that the\u00a0teaching of the Maltese language as well as of the English language be approached in the best way possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that the majority of teachers\u00a0subscribe to\u00a0this\u00a0view\u201d,\u00a0said Sergio\u00a0Grech. He understands the frustration currently felt in primary schools where there are a number of foreign students and the schools are not reaching their targets. \u201cWe are not teaching Maltese to them alone; they are usually part of a bigger class \u2026 I understand that there is this reality and this is something we have got to address,\u201d said Sergio\u00a0Grech.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked to comment about the Government\u2019s plan and the direction\u00a0it is planning to take, Sergio\u00a0Grech\u00a0said that there are still a number of unanswered questions. He said that his personal argument is the same argument made by the associations and interested parties, that is that the Maltese\u00a0as a foreign language\u00a0certificate not\u00a0he\u00a0given the same level\u00a0(MFQ3).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think that this is acceptable\u201d, said Sergio\u00a0Grech, adding that \u201cat the end of the day\u00a0it would be stripping away the dignity of the Maltese language and of the exam as it is being set today\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that \u201cit is also not acceptable to me personally that the Maltese exam be split into two papers, a paper on the language and a paper on the literature\u201d. Sergio\u00a0Grech\u00a0emphasised that if this is done we will ultimately be losing out on the learning experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The controversy surrounding the fact that the national language will be taught as a foreign language in our country has not yet died out.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it continues to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1201,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[53],"issuem_issue_categories":[9],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1204"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1204"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1206,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1204\/revisions\/1206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=1204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}