/library/oar/handle/123456789/35694 2025-12-21T11:36:29Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/8748 Title: Explicating an English speaking examination : challenges and considerations Authors: Vella Briffa, Patricia Abstract: The assessment of speaking has become increasingly important in most language learning programmes. The Maltese postsecondary context saw the revision of the MATSEC Advanced English syllabus and the subsequent introduction of a speaking component as part of this high-stakes examination . The component's outline in the syllabus provided a degree of latitude but also had certain limitations; however, it was immediately clear that it required further refinement to guarantee a more rigorous speaking assessment. This article discusses the initiative undertaken by a group of lecturers of English at the University of Malta Junior College to explicate the speaking examination outlined in the syllabus. It illustrates how these lecturers positioned themselves as test developers in order to elaborate on the 'what' and 'how' of testing second language speaking at post-secondary level. In discussing various challenges and considerations, this article aims to illustrate some means of enhancing the high-stakes testing of speaking proficiency. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/8747 Title: II-Pater Noster bl-lisien Malti : storja lingwistika Authors: Cassar, Mario Abstract: The Pater Noster ('The Lord's Prayer) is undoubtedly the most widely-known prayer in the Christian canon. Beyond its theological import, many comparative linguists and travel writers in the past often used this formulaic prayer as a sample of the various languages under discussion, including Maltese. The vernacular version of the Lord's Prayer (known as Il-Missierna) is. here discussed from a historical linguistic and orthographic point of view. The various transcriptions documented since 1725 constitute an indirect reflex of the complex trajectory which written Maltese underwent until it achieved its present codified form. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/8729 Title: Mir-riforma socjali ghall-investigazzjoni tal-bniedem : ulied in-nanna Venut fl-Amerka ta' Gwann Mamo bhala allegorija tal-kundizzjoni ezistenzjali umana Authors: Bonanno, Stephen Abstract: Dan I-istudju huwa r-reazzjoni ghall-klassifikazzjoni tal-irwol ta' Mamo f'Ulied in-Nanna Venut fl-Amerka bnala riformatur socjali, gudizzju Ii jillimita I-valur estetiku tat-test billi jirrendih relevanti gnal zmienu biss. II-hrug tar-rumanz minn dan I-gheluq isir primarjament permezz tal-identifikazzjoni tal -funzjoni allegorika tar-rakkont, u kif tghin biex eventwalment tinbena I-vizjoni awtorjali. Ghal dan il-ghan it-test ta' Mamo jibda jinftiehem ahjar fil-kuntest tal-metafizika ta' Martin Heidegger. L-attenzjoni tinxtehet I-aktar fuq it -twebbil li jemigraw lejn I-Amerka, u kif il-mod Ii bih tittiehed id-decizjoni jirrifletti x'tip ta' karattri huma. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/8728 Title: 'Pacto canfraternitas fraternitatis' : the confederation of the Knights of St John and the Knights of St George : an overlooked episode in the history of the Order of Malta Authors: Freller, Thomas Abstract: The main purpose of the Order of St George -refounded in 1 729 -was to tie the leading members of the Bavarian nobility closer to the House of Wittelsbach and to create a strong esprit de corps. Taking up an older idea of the creation of a Bavarian Priory of the Order of St John there was also intended to provide another platform for military excellence and training for young Bavarian aristocrats. To achieve that was aimed a confraternity with the knights of St John and the employment in the Austrian wars against the Ottomans. To bring this project of the confraternity into gear in early 1731 Max Emanuel von Sandizell was sent to Malta as head of a delegation of knights of St George. Sandizell and his comrades of the Order of St George also should participate in the famous caravans of the Order's navy. The further history of the knights of St John and St George in the 18th century had several parallels. What might have contributed to the keenness of many Bavarian nobles to enroll into the Order was -most likely unconsciously the search to compensate symbolically for lost authority and influence. In this respect, the Orders of Malta and of St George shared an important issue in a period marked by new concepts of state, utility, and nascent nationalism. The political power in the then prevailing times of 'enlightened absolutism' had been long since moved from the nobility into the hands of the princes and the leading representatives of centralized administrations. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z