“…For those subjects where English is the intended formal medium of instruction, in most Maltese school contexts "there is continual interaction between the written text in English as the basic point of reference, and the oral discussion in Maltese (with codeswitching) [through which] participants reason out problems for themselves, and find their ways to the solutions required" (2013, p. 4). Through a review of some studies (Sollars 1988, Ventura 1991, Farrell and Ventura 1998, Farrugia 2009) focusing on the Maltese bilingual classroom mostly for scientific subjects where the formally intended medium is English, Camilleri Grima 2013shows that there is a clear orientation in the significance of their results: resorting to Maltese alleviates difficulties of understanding, readability, and written performance, especially in the case of lower achieving students. On the contrary, imposing an English-only policy equates to silencing the students, who refrain from expressing their needs.…”