Submission by the Department of Education and Skills
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection
Multilingualism
Opening Statement
17 April 2013
Introduction
Provision for languages is spread out over the Irish education system. At primary
level the focus is on acquisition of the two national languages. Beyond the primary
level, the focus expands to include not only English and Irish but also other
languages.
The EU Context
The Barcelona European Council meeting in 2002 identified language competences as
an essential component of a competitive knowledge-based economy.
The EU has advocated that education systems should seek to promote competence in
the mother tongue plus two foreign languages from an early age. In Ireland, both Irish
and English are national languages and both are taught at primary and second-level.
Accordingly, while the vast majority of students in Ireland study three languages at
second level, only the third language is counted in the European indicators on foreign
languages.
The Commission’s Communication “Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for
better socio-economic outcomes” (November 2012) again emphasises the
importance of language learning for jobs and mobility.
The latest edition of the Eurobarometer Special Report on Europeans' foreign
language competences and attitude to foreign languages (June 2012) shows that
Ireland registered a notable increase in the proportion of respondents saying that they
are able to speak at least one or two foreign languages well enough to hold a
conversation.
National languages Strategy
Last year a report by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (Key Skills for
Enterprise to Trade Internationally June 2012) recommended the development of a
National Languages Strategy with a 5 to 10 year horizon. A Working Group has
developed a draft languages policy for internal submission to the Department
preparatory to a wider consultation phase.
Overall provision in the educational system
1
Primary Education
As detailed in the Government's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (2011),
the policy is to strengthen the development of English and Irish at primary level. An
integrated language curriculum which will focus on the transfer of skills between both
languages at primary level is being developed by the NCCA.
Post Primary Education
Post-primary builds on the foundation established at primary level by offering not
only English and Irish but also a range of foreign languages. French, German,
Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Arabic are available on the curriculum – and
examinations are also offered in a number of other non-curricular EU languages for
native language speakers from EU Member States1.
Junior Cycle
The new Framework for Junior Cycle (2012) will support schools in fostering
practical language-learning skills. It will give all students the opportunity to study at
least one language in addition to Irish and English2. Revised syllabuses of modern
foreign languages are scheduled for implementation in 2016.
Schools will also have the flexibility to offer short courses of 100 hours duration i.e.
in a second language, including languages not currently offered in the junior cycle
curriculum. The NCCA is currently developing a short course in Chinese, which will
also be available to schools from 2014.
Transition Year
A Transition Year module in Chinese was launched last year, having already been
piloted by over 20 schools across Ireland. For many years now, Japanese has been
offered in a number of TY programmes, and has resulted in a follow-on uptake of
Japanese to Leaving Certificate level, which in 2012 reached 239 students.
Senior Cycle
In 2012, over 30,000 students sat a European language for the Leaving Certificate,
including around 26,000 in French, 6,700 in German, 4,000 in Spanish and 700 in
Polish, with smaller numbers taking other languages such as Italian, Japanese and
Russian and Arabic.
The Post-Primary Languages Initiative
1
For the 2012 Leaving Certificate Examination there were 1,495 entries for 16 such European
languages.
2
One of the 24 statements of learning, which must be met for all students in all schools is that the
student reaches a level of proficiency that is appropriate to his or her ability in L2 (i.e. the student’s
second language, which is Irish for most students) and one other language in reading, writing, speaking
and listening.
2
The post-primary languages initiative is broadening its remit to provide support for all
teachers of modern foreign languages, through the provision of materials on its
website. It offers support to schools who wish to introduce Spanish, Italian and
Japanese and Russian.
Higher Education
Prospective students have access to a wide range of foreign language courses at third
level that can be taken as core subjects or in combination with a range of other
disciplines across business, the arts, the humanities and the sciences. Language
programmes are also an important part of Further Education provision across both full
time and part time courses. A number of language programmes have also been
selected for funding through the Springboard skills initiative which was launched in
May 2011. Preliminary data from the HEA research on the provision of foreign
languages indicates that some 9,000 third level students are studying a foreign
language.
The EU’s Erasmus initiative has played a key role in enhancing the language
proficiency of Irish graduates. 28,000 Irish students have benefited from this
programme over the past 25 years. Irish participation in Erasmus has risen
significantly in recent years, including an 18% increase last year – the fourth highest
growth in Europe.
Conclusion
While there is a very significant level of language provision delivered by the
education system, it is also evident that less than a third of school leavers elect to
develop their language competences further in higher education and far fewer
graduates opt to pursue careers using their language skills.
While the education system can make provision for language, it is for wider society
including enterprise and communities to highlight the advantages that studying
languages can bring.
3