Bilingual Education in Irish-medium Schools
Author(s):
Denise Mitchell Jim Ferguson Jill Dunn Carol Dunbar
Conference:
ECER 2009
Network:
7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Format:
Paper

Session Information

07 SES 03 B, Social Justice: Language Policies and National Identities

Paper Session

Time:
2009-09-28
14:00-15:30
Room:
HG, HS 32
Chair:
Yvonne Leeman

Contribution

It can be argued that bilingual and immersion education is an international occurrence and there are examples from many countries of children being educated through the medium of several languages (see Verdugo & Flores, 2007, Trueba, 2002, and Swain & Johnson,1997). Hickey (1999) describes how there are different aims for the development of bilingualism ranging from economic reasons such as preparing workers for specific jobs to a desire to increase minority language speakers. It has also been argued that bilingualism brings cognitive advantage. May et al. (2004) discuss Cummins’s (2000) three explanations for the cognitive advantages of being bilingual. Firstly, because bilinguals operate in several languages and cultures, they may have a greater wealth of experiences to draw upon in situations than those who communicate within one system. Trueba (2002) refers to the ‘cultural capital’ acquired through biliteracy and bilingualism and how this will become invaluable in the rapidly changing 21st century. Secondly, more flexible thinking may be developed because bilingual children move between several languages. Comhairle Na Gaelscolaíochta (http 1) also recognizes that bilingual children in having several words for ideas and objects ‘may develop the ability to think more flexibly’. McRory, (2006) agrees that there are advantages for cognitive development in having the ability to think in two or more languages. Thirdly, through the process of ‘objectification’, the various languages may be thought about, compared and contrasted and bilingual children may become alert to the semantic and syntactical differences within their languages. Northern Ireland has witnessed a growth in bilingual education with Scott and Ní Bhaoill (2003) reporting that over the last 30 years in Northern Ireland the number of Irish-medium schools has steadily increased from 1 school to 31 units. Included in this number are preschools, primary and post primary schools. The growth in Northern Ireland has been in rural areas and provincial towns as well as the cities of Belfast and Derry. There is a growing popularity for children being educated both in Irish and English or what Mac Póilin (1992) refers to as Irish-medium education for English speaking children. This paper seeks to inform the international debate on bilingualism by examining how bilingualism is developed within the Irish-medium sector of education. Questions are asked about the teaching methods employed, the status and use of both languages, the response of the pupils, their attitude and those of their parents to bilingualism.

Method

In an attempt to elicit varying perspectives on bilingual education in Irish-medium primary education a case study approach was used. Adopting such an approach facilitates an insight into how people understand phenomena within a particular setting. The case studies were carried out in 25% of Irish-medium primary schools. These schools were chosen at random and differed in size, type and location. Methods included observations of the pupils’ and teachers’ use of bilingualism during various lessons; environmental audits of classrooms with a focus on the use of the two languages; semi structured individual interviews with language coordinators and/or principals; focus interviews with groups of Key Stage Two pupils and questionnaires to parents. A multi-method (qualitative and quantitative) and multi-source (principals, parent, language coordinators) approach was deemed necessary in order to investigate the aims of the project and to provide methodological triangulation

Expected Outcomes

Findings indicate that pupils have English as their first language but are immersed in Irish for their first three years at school. English literacy is not introduced formally until the final term of Year Three when pupils are secure in using the Irish language. The children are then taught literacy in English daily; this expands to other subjects as the pupil progresses in school. It appears that the majority of pupils react positively to the formal introduction of English and have little difficulty in learning to read providing the transferable reading skills are already in place. The classrooms observed revealed a combination of commercially produced and teacher prepared materials in both Irish and English. Pupils and parents reveal that Irish is rarely spoken outside school with English recognized as the important language for post primary education and later life.

References

Coady, M.R., (2001) Attitudes Towards Bilingualism In Ireland. Bilingual Research Journal, 25 (1&2). Clark, A. and Moss P. (2001) Listening to Young Children: the mosaic approach. London: National Children’s Bureau and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Cummins, J. (2000) Immersion Education for the Millennium: What have we learned from 30 years of Research. Available at http://iteachilearn.com Accessed 29/03/06. Department of Education for Northern Ireland (1996) The Northern Ireland Curriculum, Key Stages 1 and 2. Belfast, HMSO. Gómez, L., Freeman, D., Freeman, Y. (2005) Dual Language Education: A Promising 50-50 Model. Bilingual Research Journal, vol.29 no 1. Available from www.brj.asu.edu. Accessed 29/03/06 Hickey, T (1999), ‘Parents and Early Immersion: Reciprocity Between Home and Immersion Pre-school’. Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, International, vol.2, 1999. Mac Póilin, A. (1992) Irish-medium Education A Preliminary Report. Belfast: ULTACH Trust McRory, G., (2006) Bilingual Language Development: what do early years practitioners need to know? Early Years, 26 (2), pp.159-169. May, S. Hill, R. & Tiakiwai S. (2004) Bilingual/Immersion Education: Indicators of Good Practice, Final Report to the Ministry of Education. Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, School of Education, University of Waikato. Available from http://minedu.govt.nz. Accessed 29/03/06 Ní Bhaoill, M. & Ó Duibhir, P. (2004) Emergent Literacy in Gaeltacht and all-Irish Schools. Available from http://cogg.ie. Accessed 29/03/06 Scott, M. & Ní Bhaoil, R.(2003) Introduction in Gaelic Medium Education Provision: Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Available at http://bslcp.com. Accessed 29/03/06 Swain, M. & Johnson, R.K (1997) Immersion Education: International perspectives. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Tough, J. (1977) Talking and Learning, London. Schools Council Publications. Trueba, H. (2002) Multiple ethnic, racial and cultural identities in action: from marginality to a new cultural capital in modern society. Journal of Latinos and Education vol., 1, no. 1, 7-28 Van Morgan (2006) Language Ppolitics and regional nationalist mobilization in Galicia and Wales. Ethnicities, 6, 451-475 Verdugo, R.R. & Flores, B. (2007) English - language learners: Key issues. Education and Urban Society, 39, 167-193 Walsh, G.; Dunn, J.; Mitchell, D.; McAlister, M. and Cunningham, J. (2006) Giving Young Children a Voice: accessing the views of 3-4 year old children in playgroups. Representing Children, vol., 18, no.2 Wiley, T.G. & Wright, W.E. (2004) Against the undertow: language-minority education policy and politics in the ‘age of accountability’. Educational Policy, vol., 18, no.1, 142-168 Internet sources http 1 www.Wikipedia.com, accessed 13/06/2006 http 2 www.nicensus2001.gov.uk accessed 29/03/06 http 3 http://comhairle.org accessed 13/06/2006 http 4 http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/ accessed 18/07/2006 http 5 www.gaelport.com accessed 16/05/06

Author Information

Denise Mitchell
Stranmillis University College
BEd Primary
Belfast
Jim Ferguson
Stranmillis University College, United Kingdom
Jill Dunn
Stranmillis University College, United Kingdom
Carol Dunbar
Stranmillis University College, United Kingdom

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