Celtic in Higher Education Provision
Undergraduate Degree Students
Undergraduates tend to be taught in two groups:
(a)
Those who have taken the Celtic Language (CL) as a school subject or
who are native speakers of the CL
(b)
Those who take the CL ab initio at third level
Examples of the former would be students of Irish in the Republic of Ireland, many
students of Welsh in Wales, some students of Breton or Scots Gaelic in Brittany and
Scotland respectively. Examples of the later would be students of Welsh in Ireland,
students of Irish in Brittany and to a smaller extent, some students of Welsh in Wales,
some students of Irish in Northern Ireland or Great Britain.
The nature of our students dictates the method of delivery and, to a smaller extent, the
content of courses.
Course content
Students of group A take a degree in Language and Literature. While the modern
language is a central component of that degree it does not have to be its only
component. Students may be expected to read and to deal with a wide range of literary
texts and to confront material from earlier stages of the language.
As students are expected to have competence in the CL on choosing it as a
degree subject. In many institutions teaching and correspondence with students is
carried out through the medium of that language. However, students’ experiences in
learning the CL at second level or before entering university can vary greatly. In the
best cases they will have been taught through the CL for most of their time in
secondary school. They may also have carried out linguistic analysis of the language
again through the CL. In the worst cases, students have been taught almost entirely
through English or French and their communicative and receptive skills are
considerably underdeveloped. This may result in the use of another language for the
purposes of instruction.
With regard to Irish, and probably other languages as well, the syllabus at
second-level is based on the communicative approach. This can result in students
acquiring different levels of spoken competence, but have little linguistic awareness
and knowledge of grammatical terminology etc. We must add to this the fact that the
range of ability of students entering is quite broad. Such mixed ability teaching can
cause difficulties for the teacher in Higher Education
Course delivery:
With regard to language teaching, courses are delivered by the CL department aided
in some cases by a Language Centre. For the written language students may have
formal lectures each week (for the duration of their degree) on language. A
curriculum has been set out and students deal with grammatical terminology, rules
and etc. are dealt with in such lectures. A certain degree of this course may be
devoted to rectifying inaccuracies and other infelicities of speech that poorer students
may have acquired at second level. The justification for using traditional grammatical
terminology etc. in these lectures is (a) students have to consult handbooks and
grammars, most of which are written with such terminology (b) such terms are
required for dealing with texts from earlier stages of the CL
In addition to formal lectures, students may attend language tutorials each
week. This involves small-group teaching. Numbers are usually 10-15, and students
do written exercises based on the formal lectures on language. Small-group provision
is liekwise made for oral language. Students may be divided into small groups,
according to ability or dialect, and follow graded courses. Taped and video
conversations, role play, drills and exercises are all used. In addition, students may
make use of self-learning facilities and other audio-visual equipment in the Language
Centre.
Lectures on literature and other aspects of the culture associated with the CL
play an important role in language teaching. As they are delivered through the CL
students must develop their comprehension skills. In addition, students are required to
attend literature tutorials on a weekly basis. As with the language tutorial, these are
typically small groups. Students are expected to contribute to discussion and to submit
written work on various literary topics.
Some institutions offer courses in language and literature by distance learning
either through correspondence or through the web.
Ab initio teaching
Such courses are offered for students who have no previous knowledge of the
language. As most students in the Republic of Ireland are required to take Irish for
their final secondary-level examinations, ab initio courses are not taught at third level.
In Northern Ireland, where a different education system obtains, both UU and QUB
offer ab initio courses in Irish. Most CL are taught ab initio outside of their native
countries, e.g. Welsh in Ireland, Irish in Brittany etc.
Course content and delivery
A variety of teaching devices may be used. Typically such languages are taught to
small groups and a considerable part of the curriculum is devoted to language
teaching in the first year. Lectures on literature or civilisation may also be added to
this.
Resources and texts differ according to the language taught. For some, up-todate textbooks and audio-visual aids are obtainable. Resources may be more modest
in the case of others.
Students can expect to obtain a degree of competence in the written and
spoken language. However, if earlier stages of the CL are also studied (e.g. Old Irish,
Middle Welsh) the amount of time devoted to the modern CL is diminished. Students
are generally recommended to spend a period of residence in the country of the CL.
Ab initio courses may also be offered to adult learners. These may be given as
extra-mural courses, or form part of a part-time or correspondence degree. Students
taking this degree are normally older students who have not had the opportunity to
enter university directly after school. These courses are aimed at enhancing their
skills. As many may have taken the CL at school, some students on these courses turn
out to be ‘false beginners’.
Assessment:
A number of methods of assessment are used.
 Continuous assessment. Students are assessed on a weekly basis and are given
marks for participation in tutorials, written work and attendance. This work
may also include class tests.
 Final written examinations. Formal written examinations held at the end of
each Semester
 Final oral examinations. Students may be asked to talk on a variety of topics.
Their pronunciation skills may be tested by being asked to read a short
passage in the CL. More complicated and abstract material may be dealt with
at higher levels.