Technical Committee for Literature

within the National Council for the Maltese Language

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Go to:

• Maltese Language Act (pdf)  •  Loi Sur la Langue Maltaise

• Fundamentals about the Maltese Language Act

• Technical Commission within the National Council

• Technical Committees within the National Council

• Members of the Technical Committee for Literature (2005-2007)

2004
 

To establish the National Council for the Maltese Language in order to promote the National Language of Malta and to provide the necessary means to achieve this aim.

The Act states that:

1. Maltese is the language of Malta and a fundamental element of the national identity of the Maltese people.

2. The Maltese Language is an essential component of the national heritage, being constantly developed in the speech of the Maltese people, distinguishing the Maltese people from all other nations and giving the same people their best means of expression.

3. The Maltese State recognises the Maltese Language as a strong expression of the nationality of the Maltese, and for that purpose acknowledges its unique importance, and protects it from deterioration and perdition.

4. The Maltese State shall make provision in such manner that the study of the Maltese Language in its linguistic, literary and cultural manifestations shall always be given primary importance in both state and other schools from the very first years of education of all Maltese citizens.

5. The Maltese State shall promote through all possible means the widest use of the Maltese Language in education, broadcasting and the media, at the law courts, and in political, administrative, economic, social and cultural life.

6. The Maltese State shall lead in the creation of all possible opportunities for the development of the National Language and to assert its merited dignity.

7. The Maltese State recognises, within the wider context of the Maltese diaspora, that the Maltese Language should remain known by and considered as a binding element of the Maltese people.

Technical Commission

Article 7

The Council shall appoint a Technical Commission to be composed as follows:
(a) a chairman; and (b) the Heads of the Technical Committees established under article 8. The Executive Director shall be the non-voting Secretary of the Commission.
 

Functions of the Commission:
 

The Commission shall

1. observe, analyse and evaluate the position of the Maltese Language in the context of the language situation in Malta;

2. draft the linguistic policy and recommend it to the Council;

3. encourage maturation in the study of linguistic planning with suitable courses in higher education, and also through study grants to promising young people, visits by overseas planners and the setting up of a specialised library on the subject.

Technical Committees

Article 8

1. The Council shall appoint technical committees in sectors of specialisation as may be necessary and shall define their terms of activity.

2. Each Committee shall be a consultative organ for the discussion of the linguistic policy to be adopted in specialised sectors, such as specific terminology, translations, the media, linguistic research, orthography, literature and the development of Maltese in information technology, and shall be composed of:

1. a Head of Committee who shall be a person learned in such speciality, to be proposed from among qualified persons recommended by L-Akkademja tal-Malti and by the Department of Maltese at the University, with the choice of the person to be made by the Council;

2. an expert to be proposed by the Commission on the advice of the Head of the relevant Committee;

3. two members selected for their contribution in the particular sector of activities in relation to which the Committee is set up, to be proposed by the Commission on the advice of the Head of the Committee.

3. The Committee may co-opt other persons as observer members with the right to attend and participate in the discussion but who shall not have a right to vote.

Functions of the Committee

4. Every Committee shall -

1. observe the situation of the Maltese Language, discuss all necessary measures for its development, and draft the linguistic policy for its respective field;

2. give its opinion to the Commission about issues connected with the respective field for which it was set up.