Pádraig Ó Duibhir presented on bilingualism in Irish education. He provided background on the status of the Irish language, including that 41.4% of people can speak it but only 1.8% use it daily outside of education. The historical context established Irish as an important part of Ireland's identity after independence, though immersion schools decreased from 300 in the 1930s to just 11 in the 1970s. Currently, 7.5% of primary students are in Irish-medium education, growing to over 41,000 students across 174 schools. Immersion education provides fluency in Irish with no detriment to other subjects. The government has a 20-year strategy to increase daily Irish speakers to 250

1. Bilingualism in Irish
Education
Pádraig Ó Duibhir
padraig.oduibhir@spd.dcu.ie
6th May 2013

2. Outline of presentation
 Biography
 Background to Irish
 Current situation in schools
 Structure of schools
 Government
strategy

3.  Primary school teacher – Irish-medium,
immersion
 In-service coordinator
 Lecturer in L2 methodologies
for Irish
 St Patrick’s College
◦ 1,200 BEd 600 BA students
◦ 130 Graduate diploma
◦ Masters, PhD, EdD
St Patrick’s College, DCU

5. Background to Irish language
• Irish is an official language
(minority)
• Students in all schools study
Irish from entry to completion
According to 2011 Census:
• 1.77m (41.4%) able to speak
Irish
• Only 77,185 (1.8%) daily
speakers outside education
• Schools in ‘Gaeltacht’ (Irish-
speaking) & Irish immersion
(all-Irish) schools throughout
the country

6. An Ghaeilge agus Muintir
na hÉireann (2009)
 1,015 – 40-minute
interviews
 93% in favour of Irish
◦40.9% revive
◦52.5% preserve
◦6.6% discard
 Irish people very
sympathetic to Irish

7.  on endangered language list
 intergenerational transmission is decreasing in
‘Gaeltacht’ areas
 current generation may not experience complete
acquisition
 Stage 5: Language is still very much alive and
used in community.
 Stage 4: Language is required in elementary
schools.
 Elements of Stage 2 apply - Irish language
television www.tg4.ie and radio stations
www.rte.ie/rnag.ie
Fishman's eight stages of
language loss

8.  1922 – Twenty-six of the 32 counties of Ireland
gained independence from United Kingdom
 Irish was seen as critically important in forging a
separate identity
 revitalisation was the objective
 Irish was given a central role in education
 all elementary schools were to teach through the
medium of Irish as far as possible and particularly in
Kindergarten – CLIL/immersion
 1930 – 300 elementary ‘immersion’ schools
 1972 – only 11 elementary ‘immersion’ schools
 Government policy changed to one of bilingualism,
CLIL deceased greatly in 1960’s
Historical background to Irish-
medium education (immersion)

9.  all students learn Irish as a subject throughout
elementary and high school, typically 14 years
 results are disappointing – ‘drip-feed’ approach
30-40 minutes per day
 7.5% of elementary students in Irish-medium
 tremendous growth over last 40 years
 parent-led movement
 174 elementary schools and 40 high
schools on island of Ireland
 approx. 41,000 students
Current situation

10. Source: www.gaelscoileanna.ie

12.  early total immersion
 approx. 85% of school day through Irish and this
remains constant to end of schooling
 very successful in achieving fluency in Irish at
no loss to English or Mathematic skills
 additive bilingualism – students enjoy benefits
of bilingualism
 grammatical inaccuracies in productive skills
 use of Irish outside of school setting is a major
challenge
Immersion education

13. Schooling Ages & Phases
 Compulsory attendance 6 – 16 years
 First Level / Primary School 4 – 12 years
◦ National (State) Schools
◦ Special Schools
◦ Private Schools
 Second Level / Post-Primary School 12 – 18 years
◦ Voluntary Secondary Schools
◦ Community and Comprehensive Schools
◦ Vocational Schools
◦ Special Schools
◦ Further Education 17 + years

14. Primary School
A Brief Description of the Irish Education System Page 9
www.education.ie
4/5 Junior Infants
5/6 Senior Infants
6/7 First Class
7/8 Second Class
8/9 Third Class
9/10 Fourth Class
10/11 Fifth Class
11/12 Sixth Class

15. Second Level / Post-Primary School
A Brief Description of the Irish Education System Page 13
12/13 years 3 year Junior Cycle
13/14 Junior Certificate Examination
14/15
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
15/16 Transition Year (optional)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
16/17 2 year Senior Cycle
17/18 Leaving Certificate Examination

16. Straitéis 20 Blain don Ghaeilge
Government 20 year strategy for Irish
2011 2030
Strategy
Number of people speaking Irish
everyday outside education system
77,185 250,000
Number of people speaking Irish
every week outside education
system
110,642 ????

17. Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge:
Government 20 year strategy for Irish
 Partial immersion (CLIL) in infants– teach
some subjects through the medium of Irish
 Teach some subjects through the medium of
Irish on teacher-education courses
 We are implementing this in St Patrick’s
College
 Investment will be provided!! – in-service,
online courses, education centres
 Wide range of materials will be supplied

18. Curaclam
na Bunscoile
(1999)
Primary School Curriculum
www.curriculumonline.ie

19. Go raibh maith agaibh
Muchas gracias
Thank you
padraig.oduibhir@spd.dcu.i
e