This study investigates the assessment methods used in Irish immersion schools to identify students for additional teaching support. An overview is provided of the percentage of students receiving additional teaching support in this context and whether there is a higher rate of students accessing additional teaching support in Irish immersion schools than English-medium schools. The challenges of assessment through Irish as a second language are evaluated. In addition, this study investigates the language used by educational professionals when assessing and/or providing interventions for these students. A quantitative research approach was adopted for this investigation, with a random stratified sample of 20% (N = 29) of Irish immersion schools in the Republic of Ireland completing an online questionnaire. SPSS was used to analyse the data. The findings of the present research contribute to the limited body of knowledge available on the types of assessment used in immersion education to identify students for additional teaching support. These findings are significant as there has been limited research undertaken on this aspect in immersion education and the findings of this study may have implications for immersion education contexts in other countries.
Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has been defined as an educational approach where content is taught through the medium of a second language. The focus is on the learning of content rather than on the language. Much of the underlying theory for CLIL draws on the research from immersion education. The Irish Government’s 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 proposes to improve the proficiency in Irish of primary school pupils by offering CLIL to all pupils. This paper examines the role of CLIL in initial teacher education and the contribution that it can make to improving student teachers’ proficiency in Irish and in preparing the student teachers to teach in Irish-medium schools. While a CLIL approach has become quite common at school level in many countries, the number of empirical studies on the effectiveness of CLIL approaches on learners’ language achievement is relatively small. This paper reports on a study in St Patrick’s College, Dublin City University, where 29 Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Primary) students opted to study a number of curricular areas through the medium of Irish utilising a CLIL approach.
There has been a long history of early Irish language learning in Ireland as a result of Government policy to
promote greater use of Irish. All children learn Irish in school from age 4–18 years. The majority learn Irish as a subject,
typically for 30–40 minutes per day, and the levels of competence achieved are mostly disappointing. Approximately 6.7% of primary
school children learn Irish in an immersion context, however, and these children achieve a high standard of communicative
competence. In this paper we examine the impact of Government policy on the transfer of linguistic competence from the classroom
to wider society in the context of a minority language that is becoming increasingly marginalised. We draw on data from three
studies to explore the relationship between Irish-medium school attendance and the desire and opportunity to use Irish outside of
school while attending school, and later as an adult. The first study also investigated students’ attitudes towards learning and
using Irish. All three studies examined parents use of Irish in the home and the influence that the language spoken in their home
during childhood and the language of their schooling had on their current language practices. Overall, Irish-medium schools are
very successful in educating proficient speakers of Irish who have very positive attitudes towards Irish. These positive attitudes
and proficiency do not necessarily transfer to use of Irish in the home. While attendance at an Irish-medium school as a child has
a positive effect on later use of Irish, when former students become parents, the effect is quite small. The perennial challenge
persists in transferring competence in a minority language acquired in school to the home and community.
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