Minority-language Education in a Situation of Conflict: Irish in English-medium Schools in Northern Ireland

Eugene McKendry

11 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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Multilingual Education and Policy Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies Second Language Learning and Teaching

Abstract

While Irish-medium education has developed strongly over the last 20 years, most Irish speakers in Northern Ireland learn the language in English-medium schools, which currently provide the majority of teachers in the bilingual Irish-medium sector. This paper discusses the background to Irish in Northern Ireland from the plantation of Ulster to the aftermath of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Linguistic Atlas of Ireland and census returns provide demographic data. The position of Irish in the education system must be evaluated in the context of languages provision in the curriculum in general, not only in Northern Ireland, but in the UK as a whole. The lower status that Irish had in the European Union until recently has relegated it to a disadvantaged curricular position, where schools can only offer the subject after provision is guaranteed for major mainland continental languages. Examination entries figures are analysed to trace trends in uptake. Curriculum reviews in Britain and Northern Ireland that make languages optional from age 14 in a more crowded curriculum are discussed. While Irish should remain a reasonably popular choice for pupils, the future of the language in English-medium schools in Northern Ireland is not assured

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References

1998Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education 1984The Most Contrary Region: The Bbc in Northern Ireland 1924-1984 1999The Irish Language in Northern Ireland 1958Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects 1969Discovery of the true causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued 2004Protestants and the Irish Language: Historical Heritage and Current Attitudes in Northern Ireland 2001Chapter 8. Irish Language Production and Reproduction 1981–1996

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2008Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland 2012Irish medium education : cognitive skills, linguistic skills, and attitudes towards Irish 2020Language Education Policies and Early Childhood Education 2018THE PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES OF MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN ABKHAZIA

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