Changing Government Policies towards the Teaching of Irish(Gaelic)
"Changing Government Policies towards the
Teaching of Irish (Gaelic)"
Brian Ó Broin
William Paterson University, NJ
Paper delivered at the conference of the International
Linguistics Association, Columbia University, New York City
Saturday, April 25th, 2015
The teaching
of Irish (Gaelic) in Irish schools has been controversial since the foundation
of Saorstát Éireann (The Irish Free State) in 1922. Cultural zealots, most of
them second language speakers themselves, appropriated the Irish education
system to revive the Irish language, but insisted on reviving an artificial,
archaic, classical version of Irish that they imagined had been spoken several
centuries earlier before Gaelic hegemony was broken by English invasion.
Elementary-level teachers,most of them unable to speak or read the language
themselves, were expected to speak nothing but Irish to their pupils, but were
given little or no support. The curriculum and examination system prized a
knowledge of grammar, classical Irish literature, and memorized essays, and the
result was an angry, demoralized nation with a hatred for the language and
virtually no spoken abilities.
Anti-Gaelic
sentiment spread through the highly post-colonial nation in the sixties and
seventies, leading to an almost complete disestablishment of the Irish language,
and the language has only gradually crept back as a medium of instruction since
then. Close to 10% of Irish schools now cater to native speakers or provide an
immersion system for English-speaking families.
The curriculum
has not kept pace, however. Although the country's new Primary School
Curriculum (Grades K-6) recognizes the need for curricula that cater to both
English speakers (for whom Irish will be a target language) and Irish speakers
(for whom it will be a language of instruction), and provides said curricula,
the Secondary School Curriculum is a complete failure. The curriculum, and its
two closely-connected state examinations, the Junior Certificate and the
Leaving Certificate, cater only to learners of the English language, meaning
that native speakers and immersion students are treated like simpletons, being
awarded high marks for simply being able to form basic sentences.
A separate
curriculum and examinations system is required for these schools, but this
raises difficulty. Will native speakers actually choose such a curriculum,
given that more work will be required of them, particularly when university
entrance is highly competitive and depends greatly on points gathered through
the examination system? Or will they continue to take exams that do not
challenge them in any way, knowing that they will pick up easy points for
college entrance? A possible solution is to make a native-speaker curriculum
more valuable for college entrance, but English speakers will likely respond to
this by declaring that such a proposal discriminates against them.
Labels: curaclam, curriculum, gaeilge, Ireland, irish, junior cycle, leaving certificate, naisiunta, national, primary, roinn oideachais, secondary
posted by sacsanua @ 6:14 PM
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