Malta scores high in foreign language competence survey

Maltese students classified second in a survey commissioned by the European Commission on language competences.

The European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC) is an initiative by the European Commission to support the development of language learning policies across Europe.

The Survey shows that for the first foreign language, the proportion of students reaching the level of independent user varies from 82% in Malta and Sweden (English) to only 14% in France (English) and 9% in England (French).

Malta also classified fourth in its second language (Italian) competence.

The government said these results are down to the educational reforms carried out in recent years, including the use of the latest technologies and the ability and dedication of Maltese teachers.

The results from the ESLC confirm that English is the most widely adopted first foreign language learned by European pupils and it is also the one perceived as the most useful and, for the majority of tested pupils, the most easy to learn.

The purpose of the survey is to provide participating countries with comparable data on foreign language competence and knowledge about good practice in language learning.

It is also intended to be an indicator to measure progress towards the objectives of improving foreign language learning.

Fourteen European countries took part in the survey: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Greece, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and UK-England. Belgium's three linguistic communities participated separately to give a total of 16 educational systems.

The survey tested the two most widely taught European languages (from English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) in each country from a representative sample of pupils in their final year of lower secondary education.

The survey assessed students' proficiency in listening, reading and writing. A sample of 54,000 pupils was used.

1075 male students and 1200 female students in Malta participated in the survey. English and Italian proved to be the two most widely used foreign languages in Malta.

The results from the survey highlight challenges which need to be tackled by the Member States and the EU in order to improve language competences in Europe.

The conclusions reached say that language competences still need to be significantly improved, and educational systems must step up their efforts to prepare all pupils for further education and the labour market.

It says language policies should "promote informal learning opportunities outside school, and consider the exposure to language through traditional and new media, including the effects of using dubbing or subtitles in television and cinemas."

The survey also points out the importance of the English language as a basic skill and as a tool for employability and professional development requires concrete actions to further improve competences in this language.

It adds that while all languages are not equally relevant when entering the labour market, linguistic diversity remains vitally important for cultural and personal development.

"Therefore, the need to improve language skills for employability in a globalised world must be combined with the promotion of linguistic diversity and intercultural dialogue," the report says.