Articles written by

Frank Ventura

Volume 10-Issue 2: December 2016

Language and Achievement in Science in a Bilingual Context: A Maltese Perspective

The great majority of international studies on language in science education relate to oral interactions in monolingual settings. Only a few local studies focus on the bilingual setting of Maltese science classrooms. This paper reviews a small number of research studies on the influence of language on the Maltese students’ performance in science tests and examinations. The research includes a study of correlations between achievement in English language and in a science examination at Ordinary level, an investigation of the Cummins thresholds hypothesis that proficiency in both Maltese and English produces differences in achievement in a Physics examination, and an extensive study of the influence of students’ passive and active English language skills on their performance in Advanced level Physics. Another two studies investigate the effect of setting tests in a different or modified language. In one study, three versions of a science test with questions set in English, in English and Maltese side by side, and in modified English were randomly distributed to 380 Form 5 students. The other study set a Maltese and an English version of a carefully designed Integrated Science test to a sample of 284 Form 1 students. The implications of these studies are discussed.
27 min read
Volume 16-Issue 2: December 2022

Relative Difficulty of Subjects at Secondary Education Certificate Level

It is commonly held that an examination body should maintain a standard level of difficulty across different years, tiers, and subjects. Grade setting does depend, to a certain extent, on expert judgement and, not surprisingly, different studies have suggested that the same standard of difficulty is not maintained across different examination boards and subjects. In this study the level of difficulty of subjects is measured by comparing the mean general ability of candidates who obtain the same grades in the different subjects at Secondary Education Certificate (SEC), which are offered by the MATSEC Examinations Board of the University of Malta. The research method and the ensuing results are explained in detail and discussed. The outcomes show that although some differences between subjects are present, with one subject in particular being flagged as being possibly graded much easier than other subjects, differences between most subjects were not significant enough to allow a clear ordering in terms of difficulty.