Young immersion learners’ language use outside the classroom in a minority language context

IF 1 Q2 LINGUISTICS
AILA Review Pub Date : 2019-12-31 DOI:10.1075/aila.00023.dui
Pádraig Ó Duibhir, Laoise Ní Thuairisg
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Abstract 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.
幼儿浸入式学习者在课堂外的少数民族语言语境中的语言使用
由于政府政策促进爱尔兰语的更多使用,爱尔兰的早期爱尔兰语学习历史悠久。所有孩子从4-18岁开始在学校学习爱尔兰语。大多数人把爱尔兰语作为一门学科来学习,通常每天学习30-40分钟,而他们的能力水平大多令人失望。然而,大约6.7%的小学生在浸入式环境中学习爱尔兰语,这些孩子达到了高标准的交际能力。在本文中,我们研究了政府政策对语言能力从课堂转移到更广泛社会的影响,在少数民族语言日益边缘化的背景下。我们利用三项研究的数据来探索以爱尔兰语为媒介的学校出勤率与在校期间以及成年后在校外使用爱尔兰语的愿望和机会之间的关系。第一项研究还调查了学生对学习和使用爱尔兰语的态度。这三项研究都调查了父母在家中使用爱尔兰语的情况,以及他们童年时在家中使用的语言和上学时使用的语言对他们目前使用的语言的影响。总的来说,以爱尔兰语为媒介的学校在培养对爱尔兰语持积极态度的熟练的爱尔兰语使用者方面非常成功。这些积极的态度和熟练程度并不一定会转化为在家里使用爱尔兰语。虽然小时候在爱尔兰语学校上学对以后使用爱尔兰语有积极影响,但当以前的学生成为父母时,这种影响就很小了。将在学校习得的少数民族语言能力转移到家庭和社区,这是一个长期存在的挑战。
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来源期刊
AILA Review
AILA Review LINGUISTICS-
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
9
期刊介绍: AILA Review is a refereed publication of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée, an international federation of national associations for applied linguistics. All volumes are guest edited. As of volume 16, 2003, AILA Review is published with John Benjamins. This journal is peer reviewed and indexed in: Scopus
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