A needs survey of overseas Irish language learners

Abstract

The vast majority of endangered languages are expected to have vanished from community use within one to two generations (Lackaff & Moner, 2016). One such language, Irish, may die out as a vernacular within a decade in the Irish-speaking regions of Ireland (Ó Giollagáin & Charlton, 2015). However, there is growing interest in the Irish language overseas, particularly in the USA (Schwartz, 2020). In this study, a survey was conducted with 92 respondents to identify the needs of learners living outside of Ireland. The findings of this needs assessment suggest that overseas Irish learners would benefit from the provision of an online Irish language community that connects members through communicative and collaborative language activities. Positioned in the context of similar developments and innovations internationally (e.g. Henry, Carroll, Cunliffe, & Kop, 2018), this research builds on existing literature in online sociocultural language learning.