A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARENESS PROGRAMME (FLAP) IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS- WHY AND HOW

Being able to communicate in more than two languages is an asset in today's world. In the 21st century, foreign language competence and proficiency and intercultural understanding are no longer considered as optional but have become an essential part of being a citizen. In any society and within a global economy, an increasingly important characteristic is the ability to understand and communicate in other languages. Pace (2015) argues that such a characteristic not only contributes to the cultural and linguistic richness of our society but increases personal fulfilment and promotes global citizenship. Today monolingualism seems to be the exception rather than the rule given that a multitude of languages are spoken in most classrooms. This makes it essential to determine ways of addressing issues that arise with diverse populations and multilingual and multicultural settings within the language classroom. Cultural diversity poses a pedagogical and social challenge to educators. Teachers as well as students bring into the classroom their own personal cultures, institutional cultures, and even cultures from specific social realities, and it is no easy challenge for the teacher to somehow integrate all this into a "class culture" to produce an environment that is conducive to learning. The Council of Europe, in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (CEF) (2001) repeatedly states that teachers should search for more effective international communication with respect for identity and cultural diversity. Dobson (2006) on his part argues that learning to value different languages and those around us help us in the study of new additional ones since they all form part of our global communicative competence. This has led to the formulation of the FLAP programme being piloted as from January 2017, with the intention of introducing it in all Primary schools in Malta as from Scholastic year 2017-2018. The programme is developed in such a way as to reflect and implement the principles of plurilingual and intercultural education in the teaching of languages. The programme recognises the importance of linguistic diversity and supports language learning as a lifelong task, essential for economic competitiveness and inclusive societies.