Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Debates surrounding linguistic heritage in Northern Ireland have primarily centred on Irish (Gaelic) and Ulster-Scots. However, closer analysis suggests that there have long been other languages spoken in the region. Cantonese, Mandarin, Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese are all spoken throughout Northern Ireland as the region experiences large-scale inward migration for the first time since the arrival of Scottish settlers in the 1600s. The fact that many of the new arrivals have come with little or no English language skills has implications for a number of public services, not least education. This paper will discuss how schools have responded to the needs of an increasingly multilingual environment by analysing new procedures and by drawing on interviews conducted with stakeholders in the area.

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