Over half of school-leavers in 2013 had no foreign language qualifications

Education minister Evarist Bartolo said the learning of languages was essential for education, the arts, the sciences and the economy, but also in the fields of innovation and creativity.

Addressing the “Languages is Fun” event at Dar l-Ewropa, in Valletta, Bartolo said that in order to ensure more widespread opportunities for the learning of languages, the ministry has launched the Subject Proficiency Assessment (SPA) programme.

The SPA programme being introduced as from September 2014 seeks to provide a clear description of what individuals can do with language in terms of speaking, writing, listening, and reading in real-world situations.

The programme will be piloted in Italian, but it is envisaged that other languages and subjects will be involved in the near future.

Bartolo described the current local situation in language certification among school leavers  as “not as positive as one would desire it to be”, as there are an increasing number of students with no accredited certification in foreign language skills as well as in English and Maltese, in spite of the fact that they have studied these languages for a number of years, both at Primary and Secondary levels.

In the SEC examination session of May 2013, 38.5% of students  sitting the examinations failed to register for any foreign language at SEC level, 19% failed to register for English language and 23.7% failed to register for Maltese.

Besides these students, another 12-15% of students either register but fail to turn up for the examinations or fail to make the grade.

“This means that half or more of the students aged 16 fail to obtain any kind of accredited certification in at least one foreign language and around 30% fail to get certification in either English or Maltese,” Bartolo said.

In the light of this situation, the home-grown certified proficiency exam in all languages, and eventually, in other subjects at levels 1, 2 and 3 (MQF) is being proposed. This programme, which will eventually be offered on a national basis, will initially target students who normally would be at great risk of not obtaining a level-rated certification at the end of compulsory schooling.  

The intention is to offer these students the possibility of obtaining proficiency qualifications and certificates as an alternative route concurrent with that of SEC. This home-grown curricular programme is being soft launched in two schools, namely, Maria Regina College Girls’ Secondary School, Mosta and St Ignatius College Boys’ Secondary School, Handaq.

Form 3 students will be offered a special programme of studies for Italian at Level 1 (MQF). It is envisaged that in September 2015 there will be a purposeful national roll out which will start addressing all languages, including English and Maltese. 

It is proposed that whilst allowing for contingencies, in September 2015 the programme will be extended to 5 other languages, namely French, German, Spanish, English and Maltese in a number of identified schools.  The SPA national implementation will also proceed in 2016 as complementary to the traditional Secondary Education Certificate (SEC). 

Form 3 students are being offered this programme on the basis of their demonstrated performance in the subject. Students will choose between SEC and SPA in consultation with their parents and teachers, although one track does not necessarily exclude the other.

The examinations, which will be set at the national level, will consist of four different papers, one for each basic language skill, namely Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. Each paper will receive a separate mark and students will have the opportunity to obtain a certificate indicating the marks and the Level obtained for each of the skills for each language being studied annually.

Students who reach proficiency level and obtain a pass mark in at least two of the four skills, will, at Form 4, proceed to SPA Level 2 (MQF) whereas those students who fail to do so, will, at Form 4, continue to follow SPA Level 1 in that particular language. 

The proposal intends to make the teaching & learning process “more personal and relevant to the students’ needs with particular attention targeted at the level, motivation and ability of acquisition of students taking SPA.”

Students will doubtless be pleased to hear that, due to the nature of the SPA programmes of study, there will be no traditional half yearly examinations. These examinations will be replaced by continuous assessment.

When and how particular grammar points and/or vocabulary lists need to be taught will be left to the discretion of the teachers. 

Bartolo said he expects the SPA programme will lead to a reduction in the number of students with no accredited certification in languages on leaving compulsory schooling, whilst offering an alternative route to obtaining certification in language / subject proficiency at levels 1, 2 and 3 of MQF.