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Developmental
Bilingual Education:
A Closer look at the
Irish Language
Chris Hara, Lance Billingsley, Stephanie Lance,
Kelly Lin, Griselda Garcia
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Introduction to the Irish Language
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0v9LHgyRY
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Language Minority: Irish
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Language Majority: English
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Government Policy:
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Maintenance in the Galetacht
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Revitalization in all other states
Differences between the Gaeltracht
and the rest of Ireland
t
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Language Policy in Ireland
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Decline of Irish language began under English Rule
Official Language Act of 2003 – “all official documents of the
Irish Government must be published in both Irish and English
or Irish alone”
Irish-Medium school protested policy that would no longer allow
early-immersion education.
The 20 Year Strategy starts in 2010.
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GOAL: create a bilingual country by 2030
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Goals of the 20-Year Strategy
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Increase the number of families who use Irish daily
Provide linguistic support for the Gaeltacht as an Irish speaking
community
In public service, more and more people will do their business
in Irish, over time
Ensure that Irish becomes more
visible in society, both as a
spoken language by citizens and
also in signage and literature
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Irish Summer Colleges: Overview
and Goals
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The federation consists of 47 colleges located in
districts that consider the Irish language their
primary language
GOAL: To teach young people of Ireland the Irish
languages as well as the culture, that are not taught
in English-medium schools
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Gaelscoileanna (Irish-Medium
schools): Overview and Goals
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Currently, 40,000 pupils educated at Gaelscoileanna each year
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Language, Literacy, and Cultural GOALS:
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To develop and strengthen Irish as a living language of the Irish speaking
community and culture.
Enhance and extend ability in Irish more deeply and among larger numbers
of people
Reverse negative attitudes towards Irish language usage and foster positive
attitudes in their place
Expand the available opportunities for use of Irish within the education
system by extending Irish as a medium of instruction, as well as a subject,
and by linking school language learning to the informal use of Irish in
recreational, cultural and other out-of- school activities.
As a reinforcement of the social, linguistic, and educational benefits of
bilingualism
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Colleges
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Residential programs where students are immersed in the Irish
Language to become more appreciative and aware of their
heritage
Students are spoken to in Irish and expected to speak in Irish
Irish should also be spoken to their host family in the Island
homes, where they are placed.
Classes include music, sports, drama, art, and beach time
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Instructional Practices:
Gaelscoileanna
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Irish medium curriculum for primary and
secondary schools
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Mode of instruction is generally 100% immersion
in the heritage language
English is used only in some curriculum area
Irish is the language of instruction in the
school and the language of communication
between the staff, pupils and school
management
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Advantages of Irish Language
Development Programs
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Irish people can learn or re-learn their heritage
language
Developmental programs foster strong cultural
connections to the language, and it’s heritage
and history
Speaking two languages promotes tolerance
for other languages and cultures, and social
awareness
Cognitive abilities are improved with additional
language proficiency
úll
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Disadvantages of Irish Language
Development Programs
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Irish Colleges are primarily located in the Gaeltract; harder for
some students to access
Even with the recent growth in gaelscoileanna, there are still
only a small percentage of schools with Irish medium based
curriculum.
Programs that only have Irish as a subject only focus on oral
language, not full literacy
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Compulsory Irish in English medium schools has negative effects
Cost and resources
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Resources:
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http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/en/
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http://www.udaras.ie/en/an-ghaeilge-an-ghaeltacht/an-ghaeltacht/
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0v9LHgyRY
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http://www.concos.ie/about.htm
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http://www.colaiste.ie/location.asp?p=colaisti-chorcha-dhuibne-location
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Ofelia Garcia. Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: a global
perspective
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language
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http://www.colaistephobalchleire.ie/cursai.html