Прохорчук В.А. Білінгвальна освіта в Ірландії: сучасні тренди та тенденції

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Прохорчук В. А. – студентка Педагогічного інституту Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка, спеціальність « Дошкільна освіта», кафедра іноземних мов і методик їх навчання Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка

Анотація: У статті автором окреслено особливості білінгвальної освіти та охарактеризовано білінгвальну освіту в Ірландії. Головною метою цієї статті є висвітлення місця і ролі білінгвальної освіти в системі освіти Ірландської республіки. Автор аналізує білінгвальне навчання як сучасну освітню тенденцію. Визначено різні способи та форми білінгвальної освіти, які характерезують систему освіти в Ірландії.

Ключові слова: білінгвальна освіта, система освіти, тенденції білінгвальної освіти, двомовне навчання

Аннотация: В статье автором обозначены особенности билингвального образования и охарактеризовано билингвальное образование в Ирландии. Главной целью этой статьи является освещение места и роли билингвального образования в системе образования Ирландской республики. Автор анализирует билингвальное обучение как современную образовательную тенденцию. Определены различные способы и формы билингвального образования, которые характерезуют систему образования в Ирландии.

Ключевые слова: билингвальное образование, система образования, тенденции билингвального образования, двуязычное обучение.

Annotation: The article shows the broad-ranging outcomes from bilingual education and names the key characteristics of the bilingual education sector in Ireland. The central purpose of this article is to highlight the nature, place and role of the bilingual education in the system of education of Irish Republic. In order to do so, a general overview of bilingual education is presented. The concepts of bilingual education and development are also discussed. The various ways and forms of bilingual education that can affect the system of education in Ireland are mentioned.

Key words: Bilingual education, education, social needs, children development.

Problem setting

Education in all of its forms fosters engagement with children, society and the world around us. Bilingual education has been an educational option in many countries for over 50 years but it remains controversial, especially in terms of its appropriateness for children.

Analysis of recent achievements and publications

Bilingual education is widely examined on the international level by R.Bostwick, M.Ritchie, Anne-Marie De Mejía. The history, nature and the tendencies of development of bilingual education in the Republic of Ireland are described by Irish researchers: S.Devitt, T.O'Donoghue, C.Baker, B.Gaeilge.

The objective of the article

The objective of the article is to provide a discourse review and case study of the role of bilingual education in Ireland. On the basis of the objective of the essay the following tasks are distinguished: 1) to provide an analysis of the nature of bilingual education in the Irish Republic; 2) to explore the relationship between bilingual education and child education in the country; 3) to identify the outcomes from bilingual education.

The statement of the fundamental material

Bilingual education began in the 1960s as a method to teach non-English-speaking students. The term bilingual education may also be used in reference to teaching English-speaking students a foreign language. [3, p.169]

Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model [7]. Bilingual education can be organized into the following four categories: cognitive development, affective development, linguistic growth, and cultural enrichment.

Bilingual education means that learners study typical school subjects – for example, maths or geography – through an additional language (such as English) and some subjects through their first language, or they may study the same subject through two languages.

In a bilingual education classroom, all the students in the class speak the same language. The teacher also speaks this language. The way that a bilingual education class generally works is that the teacher teaches in both English and the students' native language, eventually switching over to teaching only in English. The switch over is done gradually to give the students time to adjust. Bilingual classes also are geared more toward having the students eventually speak both languages fluently and to hold on to their culture [4].

G.Blanco notes that the consensus of experts in the field of bilingual education is that its primary goals are in the area of cognitive and affective development rather than linguistic and cultural realms. From this, one could surmise that the primary goal of bilingual education is not necessarily to teach English or a second language, but to teach children concepts, knowledge, and skills through the language they know best and reinforce this information through the second language.[5] T.Anderson and M.Boyer emphasize this strategy in their definition of bilingual education; that reads that bilingual education is a new way of conceiving the entire range of education especially for the non-English child just entering school. Bilingual learning necessitates rethinking the entire curriculum in terms of a child's best instruments for learning, of his readiness for learning various subjects, and his own identity and potential for growth and development [1, p. 43–44].

We are going to investigate the bilingual educational sector in Ireland, as this country is bilingual using the English and Irish lanuages. Irish, An Ghaeilge, is the first official language of Ireland, and English is recognised as the second official language. However, English is the mother tongue and language of daily use of the vast majority of the population. In this country Irish is spoken as an everyday language by approximately 55,000. [6, p.1] The history of bilingual education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales tends to reflect different influences and interests. However, a common theme in the history of education in all three countries has been colonisation by the English. Before the institution of the Irish Free State in 1922, the colonising English had asserted the power, prestige, emancipating and empowering qualities of the English language [2, p.128-129].

During the compulsory period of education (6-16 years of age) pupils must study two languages, Irish and English. Outside the Gaeltacht the language of instruction is mostly English, except in all-Irish schools, Gaelscoileanna, in which all subjects are taught through the medium of Irish. The fact that all pupils must study Irish and English from entry into primary school until the end of compulsory schooling has profound effects on the issue of the teaching of other languages. For primary pupils European languages do not form part of the curriculum, and can only be taught outside normal school hours. In second-level the number and range of languages that schools can offer is limited by the fact that Irish is a compulsory subject. For the vast majority of pupils, Irish is not spoken at home and is not to be found much in the immediate environment. The learning of Irish for most pupils is, therefore, in some respects much the same as the learning of a foreign language. However, other factors, historical, cultural and psychological, mean that the Irish language maintains a special place in the Irish psyche, which in turn affects attitudes towards learning it. Only four modern languages apart from Irish and English are available in Irish second-level schools. The figures in brackets indicate the rough percentages of the school-going population that study that language: French (60%), German (30%), Spanish (3%) and Italian (0.5%). The fact that all students study Irish means that foreign languages begin as third language studied [6, p. 1-3].

In an attempt to elicit varying perspectives on bilingual education in Irish-medium primary education which is examined by some foreign scientist C.Dunbar, J.Dunn, J.Ferguson, D.Mitchell. Adopting such an approach facilitates an insight into how people understand phenomena within a particular setting. The case studies were carried out in 25% of Irish-medium primary schools. These schools were chosen at random and differed in size, type and location. Methods included observations of the pupils’ and teachers’ use of bilingualism during various lessons; environmental audits of classrooms with a focus on the use of the two languages; semi structured individual interviews with language coordinators and/or principals; focus interviews with groups of Key Stage Two pupils and questionnaires to parents. A multi-method (qualitative and quantitative) and multi-source (principals, parent, language coordinators) approach was deemed necessary in order to investigate the aims of the project and to provide methodological triangulation [7].

The research indicates that pupils have English as their first language but are immersed in Irish for their first three years at school. English literacy is not introduced formally until the final term of “Year Three” when pupils are secure in using the Irish language. The children are then taught literacy in English daily; this expands to other subjects as the pupil progresses in school. It appears that the majority of pupils react positively to the formal introduction of English and have little difficulty in learning to read providing the transferable reading skills are already in place. The classrooms observed revealed a combination of commercially produced and teacher prepared materials in both Irish and English. Pupils and parents reveal that Irish is rarely spoken outside school with English recognized as the important language for post primary education and later life [7]. Given the specific linguistic situation that exists in Ireland, bilingual education would generally be associated with the teaching of content subjects through Irish. Other types of bilingual education are not an issue in Irish education at this time. There is, therefore, a general need to raise the awareness of those involved in language education at all levels to the nature and potential of bilingual education as it is understood in other European countries. A major programme of information will be required before any consideration can be given to the possibility of introducing such an approach to language teaching on a wide scale.

Conclusion and the prospects of the above research

The conclusion is that there is no evidence for harmful effects of bilingual education and much evidence for net benefits in many domains. So, the examination and analysis of the nature of bilingual education in Ireland is a great interest and value for the improvement of the national system of education. The present review examines research evaluating the outcomes of bilingual education for language and literacy levels, academic achievement, and suitability for students of different ages. The focus as well as the emphasis is done on bilingual education in Irish contexts which has persuaded us on its importance and necessity.

References

1. Anderson T., Boyer M. Bilingual Schooling in the United States. / Southwest Educational Development Laboratory / Austin. — Texas, 1970. — 589 p.
2. Baker C., Bilingual Education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales University of Wales Bangor Wales / Baker Colin // Retrived from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-011-4531-2_13. Title from the screen. — Date of retrieving: 15.03.2018
3. Bardes B., American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials. / Cengage Learning, Inc / Belmont, CA. — USA, — 2008.
4. Bilingual vs. ESL // Copyright 2009 - 2013 - 5MinuteEnglish.com is an ESL (English as a Second Language) Resource. — Retrived from: http://www.5minuteenglish.com/bilingual-vs-esl.htm. Title from the screen. — Date of retrieving: 20.02.2018
5. Blanco G., Bilingual Education: Current Perspectives / Arlington,Va.: Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC. — USA, — 1977. — 158p.
6. Devitt S., Language Teacher Training and Bilingual Education in Ireland / Devitt Sean // European Language Council / University of Dublin, Trinity College, School of Education. — Retrived from: http://www.celelc.org/projects/Past_Projects/TNP_Languages/TNP1_resources/SP6NatRepIE.pdf. Title from the screen. — Date of retrieving: 05.03.2018
7. Dunbar C., Bilingual Education in Irish-medium Schools / Dunbar Carol // ECER 2009. — Retrived from: http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/2/contribution/2608/. Title from the screen. — Date of retrieving: 25.02.2018