Intercultural Education in the Post-Primary School - National Council ...

LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURALISM 8LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGEMost children learn to speak their firstlanguage, the language of theirenvironment, as part of a natural processthat combines their language learning withtheir general cognitive development andtheir gradual socialisation. Depending onthe environment in which they live,children will differ from one another intheir early experiences and this will affecttheir language acquisition, for example inrelation to the words they know, how theyform sentences and how they use grammar.Second language acquisition on the otherhand, is quite different.• Unless it begins in early childhood,second language acquisition is not partof the learner’s primary cognitivedevelopment.• In most cases learners have much lesstime for second language acquisitionthan they had for first languageacquisition.• The later second language acquisitionbegins the more it is necessarily aconscious and intentional process.• The later second language acquisitionbegins the more it is influenced byconscious motivational factors.• All learners of second languagessubconsciously transfer grammatical(lexical, syntactical, phonological)properties of their first language to theirsecond language.• Compared with native speakers, secondlanguage learners’ internalisedgrammatical knowledge is incomplete,particularly at the early stages oflanguage learning. (Adapted fromIntegrate Ireland Language and Training,Language Training Manual.)Experience of a second language is thoughtto have a number of benefits for pupils,including enhancing cognitive developmentand increasing the capacity for learningsubsequent languages (Baker, C. and PrysJones, S. 1998).In post-primary schools in Ireland, Irish istaught both as a first and as a secondlanguage. There are many similaritiesbetween the teaching of English and Irishas second languages. The key featuresoutlined for the teaching of Irish as asecond language can also be applied to theteaching of English as a second language.These include• ensuring that learners are sufficientlycompetent to participate in the bilingualsociety• developing self-confidence through aguided understanding of Irish cultureand heritage and developing culturalawareness to inspire creativity, enterpriseand innovation• enhancing cognitive development withgrowing bilingual competence• developing understanding of the natureof language and language learning• furthering learners’ personal and socialdevelopment;• imbuing learners with an understandingof the nature of communication• developing learners’ abilities ofimagination and creativity throughresponding to a variety of literary andcultural texts, materials and activities• developing learners’ understanding ofculture and native songs.(Translated from Junior Certificate Gaeilgesyllabus 66-67.)GaeilgeThrough the interaction of language andexperience students learn how to nameevents and ideas, and in doing so, learnhow to make sense of the world aroundthem. The recognition of the normality andvalue of diversity will be dependent on thelanguage the student learns to apply toIntercultural Education in the Post-Primary School 105