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Literacyand L1 Speakers of Irish

Matt Mac CárthaighFios Feasa

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Literacy and L1 Speakers of Irish

Approaches to teaching IrishThe curriculumLanguage planning (standardisation and corpus development)Appropriate teaching resources

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Approaches to Teaching Irish

As a language As culture

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Approaches to Teaching Irish

As a language As culture

Like English

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The New Curriculum

Heavy emphasis on spoken languageInfluence of new approaches to teaching language (Communicative)Structural recognition of L1 and L2 schools L1: Gaeltacht and Gaelscoil L2: Other schools

Initiation of literacy in Irish at different stages

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Problems with Curriculum

L2 comes firstVery little other follow-throughSchool centred, not child centredNo structured recognition of L1 childrenNo parallel structures in English curriculum

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Quotes from Curriculum“Is ar chumarsáid agus ar úsáid na teanga mar ghnáth-theanga bheo a leagtar béim sa churaclam Gaeilge.”“Cuirfidh foghlaim na Gaeilge ar chumas an pháiste cumarsáid a dhéanamh in dhá theanga.”“Cuirfear béim ar leith ar thuiscint na teanga mar chéim thábhachtach i bhfoghlaim na teanga.”“(Is é is aidhm don churaclam) an Ghaeilge a shealbhú.”

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Snáitheanna an Churaclaim

ÉisteachtLabhairtLéitheoireachtScríbhneoireacht

“Tá sé mar aidhm ag an gcuraclam Gaeilge go mbeidh an páiste in ann Gaeilge a labhairt ar fhágáil na bunscoile dó/di fiú mura bhfuil ann ach labhairt go simplí.”

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The Strands of the Curriculum

Receptiveness to languageCompetence and confidence in using languageDeveloping cognitive abilities through languageEmotional and imaginative development through language

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The Strands of the CurriculumReceptiveness to language

“Be aware of nuances of language” “Assimilate what they hear and read”

Competence and confidence in using language “Ability to use language as a speaker, reader, writer”

Developing cognitive abilities through language “The child learns through lang, … uses lang to

facilitate the cognitive organisation of concepts and ideas”

“Knowledge is extended”

Emotional and imaginative development “A better understanding of themselves and their

relationships with others” “Glimpse the infinite possibilities of the human

condition”

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An Appropriate Curriculum

What we have: English curriculum, one size fits all Irish curriculum, for L1 and L2 schools

What we should have: An L1 curriculum

Irish for Irish speaking children English for English speaking children

An L2 curriculum in Irish for English-speakers An L2 curriculum in English for Irish-speakers

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Standardisation: What is it?

Standardising spellingStandardising grammarStandardising lexicon (corpus development)TerminologyPublic vernacular

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Conflict

Standardisation of major languages tied to prestige dialectsIf not to prestige dialects, at least to language use by prestige groupsXish languages tend not to have such dialects or groups: the prestige group speaks YishVarious dialects of Xish have equal prestige, and equal practical claim to recognition

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Conflict

Standardisation work in Xish languages tends to be done by language activists, who are primarily second language learnersThis has linguistic implications: Learner language errors Stealth linguistic influence of Yish Suitability for learners prioritised Learners prioritised as a community

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Made-up Words

New words come from two primary sources:BorrowingManufacture

Borrowing is natural and preferred by native speakersMade-up words are preferred by language learners

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Made-up Words

The curriculum has a section entitled “Caint Nádúrtha”It stresses the importance of natural answers to questionsIt also includes these examples:“Ní maith liom borgaire!”“Is fuath liom borgaire!”“Tá an ghráin agam ar bhorgaire!”

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Grammar

Grammatical standardisation is separate from corpus developmentThere are many problems with current “standard” or “official” IrishConcentrate on the noun phrase:Genitive of adjectives / qualified

nounsCompound nounsPosition of the article

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1. Genitive of Adjectives

Gúna na mná bigeForbairt na teoirice coincréidíTeorainneacha na dúthaí áitiúlaModh na Lánfhreagartha Gníomhaí

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2. Compound Nouns

“A house dog” vs “a dog house”“Hippopotamus” (vs “Potamohippos”)“Breithlá” vs “la breithe”“Scoilbhliain” vs. “bliain scoile”“Feirmbhreac” vs. “breac feirme”“An clódhath” vs. “dath an chló”

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3. Position of the Article

An Roinn OideachaisAn Roinn Gaeltachta vs Údaras na GaeltachtaFeidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse SláinteWhich is “right”? Forbairt an earnáil turasóireachta? Forbairt an earnáil thurasóireachta? Forbairt na hearnála turasóireachta? Forbairt earnáil na turasóireachta!

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International Context: Basque

“… this drive for linguistic purification and isolation had probably gone too far; native Basque speakers couldn’t understand the language that the Basque purists were advocating.”

R. Marie Thatcher

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International Context: Quechua

“… unfamiliar words are another obstacle to popular acceptance of the new standard varieties. In standardised Quechua, Spanish borrowings are purged. Lexical gaps are filled by archaic terms, metaphorical extension, or neologisms.”

Aurolyn Luykx

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International Context: Maori

“The Commission has brought a Trojan horse into the semantic citadel, and in the name of protecting the purity of the language in effect hastened its colonisation:”“I still tend to use words like Hanuere for January rather than Kohitatea when I write letters, because it’s more familiar to me... I’m not denying the place of these new words, but it’s a form of Māori that I’m not comfortable with. I suppose I’ll get used to it and start saying them. When we lose our old people who are native speakers, this form of Māori language will eventually be used more widely. This is the Māori langauge of the days ahead. ”

(Māori)

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International Context: AAVE

“When a five year old has his language system treated as inferior from his first day of school, the resulting psychological damage is inevitable. Once this barrier is raised by school officials, the child begins to withdraw and his learning performance suffers.”

Plaintiff lawyer in a Detroit court case about AAVE

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ConflictThe fact that second language learners do most standardisation work also has sociolinguistic implications.Who owns the language?Who has the authority to say what’s

“right” and “wrong”, “better” or “worse”?Who has control over the process?Who is the prestige group?

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ConflictThis conflict can even have negative implications for the language revival movement itself. Sitgmatised native speakers aren’t going to

switch to standard language, but they may well switch to Yish

Native speakers may be excluded from higher domains

The value of diversity which underlies efforts to preserve the language is belied by such developments within the language community

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Conflict: Quote

“Movements to save minority languages ironically are often structured around the same received notions of language that have led to their oppression. Minority language activists often find themselves imposing standards, elevating literate forms and uses, and negatively sanctioning variability in order to demonstrate the reality, validity and integrity of their languages.”

Kathryn WoolardLanguage Ideology as a Field of Inquiry

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Appropriate ResourcesRecordings for pedagogical purposes should always be of native speakersDialects must be embraced, not disgracedAuthentic language should be favoured over artificially manufactured languageEnglish assistance should be available as an option (turn it on or off)Creative original work should be favoured over translationInculturation (“turnap” instead of “uiscemhealbhán”)

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Approaches to Dialects

Standard text and non-native speakersChoose one dialect as a prestige dialectUse native speakers, but mix dialects

(Séideán Sí)Make dialectical versions (Fios Feasa)

With books they have to be alternative versions

With technology, they can be offered on the same CD or website, with user choice at the click of a mouse button

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Conclusion

Education for L1 speakers of minority languages is similar to education for any minority group. It only works if it is centred on them, their needs, their priorities.