PPLI Primary Guidelines REVISED EDITION - Flipbook - Page 5
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Language and Languages in the Primary School Some guidelines for teachers by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan
Introduction
The vision of Languages Connect is that “Ireland’s education system will promote a society where the ability to learn
and use at least one foreign language is taken for granted, because of its inherent value for individuals, society and
the economy”. 1 The Language Education Policy Profile developed collaboratively by
the Department of Education and Skills and the Council of Europe and published
“
in 2008 offered a similar vision: that Ireland should “move away from ‘an official
Ireland’s education
but lame bilingualism’ to become a truly multilingual society, where the
system will promote a society where
ability to learn and use two and more languages is taken for granted and
the ability to learn and use at least one
fostered at every stage of the education system and through lifelong
foreign language is taken for granted,
because of its inherent value for
“
education”. 2 Immigrant communities “are providing Ireland with a rich and
individuals, society and
diverse source of new languages”, 3 in society at large but also in our schools,
and the success of the Languages Connect strategy depends in part on ensuring
the economy
that immigrant languages flourish, to the benefit of those who speak them and to
the enrichment of our society and culture.
The primary sector has an essential role to play in the national strategy, for three reasons. First, the successful learning of
Irish from the beginning of primary schooling provides fertile ground for the learning of additional languages in due
course. Second, the introduction of a modern foreign language (MFL) in stages 3 and 4 of the primary curriculum adds
a new element of diversity and prepares pupils for the multiple language learning opportunities offered at post-primary
level and beyond. And third, Languages Connect is committed to the development of immigrant languages as a
national resource, and this is a process that should begin in primary school:
“The Primary Language Curriculum recognizes that ‘most schools and classrooms include children whose
home language (HL) is a language other than English or Irish’. Proficiency in their HL contributes
to these children’s development of proficiency in the language of instruction.” 4
It is important to add that respect for and affirmation of HLs is a precondition for social
“
cohesion. If HLs are disrespected or denied, the identity of the individual is also
Success of the
Languages Connect strategy
depends in part on ensuring that
disrespected or denied. This is likely to give rise to resentment that in future years
will come back to haunt Irish society.
immigrant languages flourish, to the
In their practical dimension these guidelines draw on classroom practice
benefit of those who speak them
developed by Scoil Bhríde (Cailíní), Blanchardstown, of which Déirdre Kirwan
and to the enrichment of our
was principal from 1987 to 2015. The school received its first immigrant pupil in
“
society and culture.
1993, after which the diversity of its pupil cohort increased steadily. By 2015, 80 per
cent of the school’s 320 pupils spoke a language other than English or Irish at home,
and most of them had little or no English when they started school in Junior Infants.
1
2
3
4
Languages Connect. Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education, 2017–2026, Dublin: Department of Education and Skills, 2017, p. 7.
Language Education Policy Profile: Ireland, p. 51.
Available at https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Education-Reports/Council-of-Europe-Language-Education-Policy-Profile.pdf
Languages Connect, p. 14.
Languages Connect, p. 30. The Primary Language Curriculum, Dublin: Department of Education and Skills, 2019, is available at
https://curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/2a6e5f79-6f29-4d68-b850-379510805656/PLC-Document_English.pdf
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