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GFAMS Election Wish List
Our association maintains that the multilingual nature of Gibraltarian society is a precious treasure that we must cherish and watch over. Not only is it a fundamental aspect of our intangible heritage, but it is an essential element of our cultural expression as well as the key that has opened many doors, both at a professional and at a personal level, for different generations of Gibraltarians. Nonetheless, we have taken this priceless legacy for granted for far too long. Consequently, we are inexorably heading towards a monolingual future unless we react as a community to ensure that upcoming generations of Gibraltarians can also benefit from the many advantages that multilingualism brings with it. This requires a collective effort, where every individual has an important part to play, including our politicians. We believe that, as policymakers, they have special responsibility for introducing the necessary measures and providing the appropriate educational and cultural setting to preserve and promote multilingualism in our community. For this reason we urge those elected to the next Gibraltar Parliament to:
1. Recognise language loss as a real and serious threat to the fabric of Gibraltarian society and address it immediately.
2. Commission a thorough and exhaustive study into the current linguistic situation in Gibraltar with the aim of:
a. ascertaining the level of multilingualism within the community
b. identifying the main causes of language loss
3. Devise and fund a national strategy to promote and preserve multilingualism in order to reverse the current trend towards monolingualism.
4. Introduce a sustainable language policy for Gibraltar in the form of a Languages Act that includes:
a. recognition of Llanito/Yanito as an indigenous language born of Gibraltar’s particular mix of cultures and used by a large proportion of the population as a daily means of expression
b. provision for the creation of an independent statutory Llanito/Yanito Language Board or equivalent body, with responsibility for monitoring and guiding its linguistic evolution
c. assigning a more prominent role to Llanito/Yanito in the public and cultural life of Gibraltar
d. acknowledgement of the important role played in Gibraltar’s diversity by the other community languages used on a daily basis within certain groups of Gibraltarians, to include, among others, British Sign Language, Hebrew, Moroccan Arabic and Sindhi
5. Review language teaching provision in schools and adopt education policies that would best cater for the needs of a multilingual society, with a particular emphasis on:
a. creating awareness of our multilingual heritage and encouraging the use of our different languages within the school environment
b. improving the teaching of standard Spanish across all the school sectors by increasing the time allocated to it within the curriculum and ensuring this is delivered by Spanish language specialists
c. providing opportunities for children to learn the language of their particular community group
d. increasing the provision of foreign language learning as well as prioritising this as a crucial 21st century skill in line with what is happening across the rest of the developed world
6. Recognise the essential role that multilingualism plays in the creation of wealth in an economy that is increasingly reliant on international business, foreign investment and tourism, and promote a multilingual culture both within the public and the private sectors.
7. Make the necessary investment to equip the local workforce with the multilingual skills which would allow them to compete for jobs on an equal footing with those who come from abroad.
8. Acknowledge the huge advantages for Gibraltarians to acquire not only a high standard of English, but also of Spanish at a time when Gibraltar plays a greater role on the world stage in the domains of sport, culture and international relations.
Executive Committee
Gibraltarians for a Multilingual Society
Our association maintains that the multilingual nature of Gibraltarian society is a precious treasure that we must cherish and watch over. Not only is it a fundamental aspect of our intangible heritage, but it is an essential element of our cultural expression as well as the key that has opened many doors, both at a professional and at a personal level, for different generations of Gibraltarians. Nonetheless, we have taken this priceless legacy for granted for far too long. Consequently, we are inexorably heading towards a monolingual future unless we react as a community to ensure that upcoming generations of Gibraltarians can also benefit from the many advantages that multilingualism brings with it. This requires a collective effort, where every individual has an important part to play, including our politicians. We believe that, as policymakers, they have special responsibility for introducing the necessary measures and providing the appropriate educational and cultural setting to preserve and promote multilingualism in our community. For this reason we urge those elected to the next Gibraltar Parliament to:
1. Recognise language loss as a real and serious threat to the fabric of Gibraltarian society and address it immediately.
2. Commission a thorough and exhaustive study into the current linguistic situation in Gibraltar with the aim of:
a. ascertaining the level of multilingualism within the community
b. identifying the main causes of language loss
3. Devise and fund a national strategy to promote and preserve multilingualism in order to reverse the current trend towards monolingualism.
4. Introduce a sustainable language policy for Gibraltar in the form of a Languages Act that includes:
a. recognition of Llanito/Yanito as an indigenous language born of Gibraltar’s particular mix of cultures and used by a large proportion of the population as a daily means of expression
b. provision for the creation of an independent statutory Llanito/Yanito Language Board or equivalent body, with responsibility for monitoring and guiding its linguistic evolution
c. assigning a more prominent role to Llanito/Yanito in the public and cultural life of Gibraltar
d. acknowledgement of the important role played in Gibraltar’s diversity by the other community languages used on a daily basis within certain groups of Gibraltarians, to include, among others, British Sign Language, Hebrew, Moroccan Arabic and Sindhi
5. Review language teaching provision in schools and adopt education policies that would best cater for the needs of a multilingual society, with a particular emphasis on:
a. creating awareness of our multilingual heritage and encouraging the use of our different languages within the school environment
b. improving the teaching of standard Spanish across all the school sectors by increasing the time allocated to it within the curriculum and ensuring this is delivered by Spanish language specialists
c. providing opportunities for children to learn the language of their particular community group
d. increasing the provision of foreign language learning as well as prioritising this as a crucial 21st century skill in line with what is happening across the rest of the developed world
6. Recognise the essential role that multilingualism plays in the creation of wealth in an economy that is increasingly reliant on international business, foreign investment and tourism, and promote a multilingual culture both within the public and the private sectors.
7. Make the necessary investment to equip the local workforce with the multilingual skills which would allow them to compete for jobs on an equal footing with those who come from abroad.
8. Acknowledge the huge advantages for Gibraltarians to acquire not only a high standard of English, but also of Spanish at a time when Gibraltar plays a greater role on the world stage in the domains of sport, culture and international relations.
Executive Committee
Gibraltarians for a Multilingual Society