WEBINAR PROGRAMME

Tuesday 23 February 2021

8:00 Introduction Tanya Flanagan, OVFL Chairperson

8:05 Linguistic diversity in the primary school classroom

Dr. Lorraine Crean, St. Cománs Wood Primary School, Roscommon

8:25 Q&A

8:50 Closing Remarks TF

Lorraine is a primary school teacher in St. Cománs Wood Primary School, Roscommon and postdoctoral researcher in DCU. She previously worked as an Education Officer within the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) during the development of the Primary Language Curriculum. She is particularly interested in linguistic diversity in the primary school classroom and the maintenance of children's home languages.

Abstract

The significant number of children who speak a language other than Irish or English at home is a feature of Irish primary schools, creating a multilingual context for language learning. The Primary Language Curriculum acknowledges, appreciates, supports, and promotes the diversity of languages spoken in Irish primary schools today. It reflects linguistic diversity as ‘a big idea’ of the curriculum and includes many learning outcomes which refer to ‘other languages’ outside of English and Irish.

During this webinar, practical ideas for working with these learning outcomes in the classroom will be explored in a way that will enable teachers to identify ways in which they can foster a greater appreciation of languages in the primary classroom. The commonly perceived challenges and difficulties associated with the linguistically diverse classroom will also be examined, including teachers’ concerns around their perceived lack of knowledge of children’s home languages. Simple and practical ideas for promoting language awareness at both class and whole school level will be looked at in the context of implementing the new Primary Language Curriculum. Examples of good practice from primary schools in Ireland will be drawn upon with specific reference to how such practice can effectively link with the implementation of the curriculum.