Jacqueline Żammit

Despite increased interest in learning Maltese as a foreign language (MFL), there is a lack of research and large-scale studies on the acquisition of MFL. The research question of this study is: Can a pattern be observed over time in the acquisition of verbal tense/aspect by adult learners of Maltese as a foreign language? The aim of my research is to understand what is going on in a learner’s mind when acquiring Maltese verbal tense and aspect as a foreign language (FL). The study is guided by Chaos/Complexity theory (C/CT), which focuses on the non-linear learning curve, the initial conditions of the butterfly effect and fractal patterns in language learning, and considers learning to be unpredictable, chaotic and complex (Larsen-Freeman, 1987; 2011). My research is based on the epistemological approach of pragmatism and includes both cognitive and sociocultural perspectives of second language acquisition (SLA). A longitudinal research design and a mixed method approach focusing on methodological triangulation are adopted, as they are the most suitable for answering my research question. From a target population of 39, with a 95% confidence interval and a margin of error of 4%, a convenience sample of thirty-five adult participants attending three Lifelong Learning Centres to learn Maltese as a foreign language participated in this study from March 2016 until May 2017. Structured Timed Grammaticality Judgment Tests (TGJTs) and verb conjugation tasks were used to investigate the learning curve of the students, and hence to explore any learning patterns over time. The results indicated that all participants exhibited a non-linear learning pattern, except for three learners who exhibited an ogive learning curve. The main learning pattern was an increase in learning (vertical axis) over time (horizontal axis). The findings are consistent with Chaos/Complexity theory, which postulates that learning is complex, chaotic and unpredictable and, as in nature, it is impossible to find a true, logical pattern in the foreign language learning process.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted millions of people’s lives around the world. This included the lives of teachers and learners in educational institutions because schools were thought to be hotbeds of infection, and shutting them down between March and June 2020 was therefore deemed to be inevitable. Educational facilities, private tutoring, and lifelong learning centres all have had to comply with the government’s directive at the time to suspend, postpone, and/or cancel in-person classes. One group particularly impacted were non-native adults living in Malta, many of whom were learning Maltese as a second language (ML2). Like other educators, many teachers offering ML2 instruction to adults had to shift to an online mode (from mid-March through to the last week of May) in order to complete the 2019–20 ML2 programme. The current study reports on the benefits and challenges encountered by 17 ML2 teachers while teaching online during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and physical school closure. The research applied a qualitative method consisting of one-on-one interviews with 17 ML2 adult educators conducted online. Using the adaptability theory, the researcher sought to investigate the appropriateness of adaptions of ML2 teachers to distance learning approaches during the school shutdown.

Adult learners experience challenges when learning a second language (L2), and educators must think of potential teaching strategies to overcome these challenges. This study explores the learning challenges that adult participants experienced while learning Maltese as a second language (ML2), including some of the teaching strategies which they indicated were effective. This study applied a pragmatic epistemology and a longitudinal, qualitative research design to clarify the complex phenomenon of second language acquisition (SLA) and comprehensively address the research question. Thirty-five adult participants in an ML2 class sat for two timed grammaticality judgement tests (TGJTs) and verb conjugation (VC) tasks, picture interpretation tasks six times over a 15-month period and reflective journals. For post-hoc analysis, the participants participated in an interview and a stimulated recall session. Despite participants’ learning difficulties, which were collected through reflective journals and interviews, they indicated that the acquisition of the Maltese verbal tense and aspect did take place over time, although this was a particularly challenging area of ML2 acquisition. The participants recommended teaching strategies that could facilitate ML2 learning.