ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:2 November 2020 (Irish-medium Education)

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ETBI Journal of Education November 2020 to participants, it is often expected that they will have achieved equal proficiency in both languages, but that this may not always be the case, particularly as it applies to the high register of English in academia. As a result of the time spent in Irish-medium education, at primary and post-primary level, students often have a particular Irish-language terminology reinforced in their minds, and it takes them some time to adjust to the new terminology in English. Third level institutes are encouraged to organise a formal system to gather information about the linguistic backgrounds of the students and develop a specific support programme for academic English for those who have a reasonably high ability in English, but who recieved their education through Irish or another language. THE COMMUNITY OF PAST STUDENTS FROM IRISH-MEDIUM POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS Around 16,000 students are understood to be attending Irish-medium post-primary schools in Ireland, but it is not clear where they go when they leave school. Although all participants had a strong connection to the Irish language, not only as a cultural symbol but as a language of communication and socialising, participants had little connection with Irish networks outside of the education sphere. Indeed, post-primary students wish to extend their use of Irish beyond the education sphere as they look to be able to ‘keep it up’ in their personal lives in the future. It is clear from the experience of third level students that this does not happen. Due to a lack of opportunities to use the language outside of the education sphere, their connection with Irish and ability in the language is gradually eroding. We would encourage Irish language organisations to revisit their strategies for maintaining networks of young Irish speakers. We recommend the design of a strategy which aims to promote use of Irish outside of the education setting and develop a network of Irish speakers from Irish-medium and English-medium schools. Gaeltacht and Irishmedium post-primary schools are encouraged to found alumi associations, with a database of contact details for past students. It would be hugely advantageous for language planning to be at the centre of such databases too, in order to create networks in which Irish could be used as a social language, at home, and to encourage learning. CONCLUSION This research gives cause for optimism that participants associate more advantages than disadvantages with Irish-medium education, and that these advantages continue into the future. Any disadvantages reported, such as adjusting to a high register of academic English, are moderate and short-term in nature. These results should help parents to be more confident about choosing Irish-medium post-primary education for their children and reassure them that they need not worry about any long-term disadvantages. Questions are raised about the use of English in Irish-medium education which warrant further investigation. PAGE 96
ETBI Journal of Education November 2020 REFERENCES Bialystok, E. (2009). Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(1), 3-11. Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Ryan, J. (2006). Executive control in a modified antisaccade task: Effects of aging and bilingualism. Journal of experimental psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(6), 1341. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.6.1341 Ní Thuairisg, L., & Ó Duibhir, P. (2016). An leanúnachas ón mbunscoil go dtí an iar-bhunscoil lán- Ghaeilge i bPoblacht na hÉireann. Gaelscoileanna. http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/files/An-Lean-- nachas-on-mbunscoil-go-dt---an-iar-bhunscoil-l--n-Ghaeilge-_MF-2016.pdf Nicolay, A.-C., & Poncelet, M. (2015). Cognitive benefits in children enrolled in an early bilingual immersion school: A follow up study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition., 18(4), 789-795. https:// doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000868 PAGE 97
Page 1 and 2:
Journal of Education Volume 2 Issue
Page 3 and 4:
ETBI Journal of Education November
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46: ETBI Journal of Education November
Page 95: ETBI Journal of Education November
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
show all

ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:2 November 2020 (Irish-medium Education)

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?