In this assignment I report
on an action research project I undertook in an attempt to maximise students’
opportunities to interact through the medium of the target language (TL) during
formal teaching time on a part-time BA Honours Course in Modern Irish Language and Literature. The assignment involves
accreditation for a module entitled ‘The Professional as Researcher’, part of the
taught element of an EdD degree course which I am presently pursuing. Nevertheless, it is important to mention
here that reflection in and on teaching (Schon, 1983) and modifications of
practice have always been integral to my work as a nursery teacher (1984-87), a
primary teacher (1989-98), a teacher educator (1998-2002) and a third level
lecturer (2002-). On leaving the
primary classroom I published a series of reflective articles (Mac Corraidh,
1998a, b; 1999a, b, c, d, e) in the hope of illuminating their potential
contribution to professional discourse around the complexities of Irish-medium
education.
I feel that this action
research enquiry afforded me the opportunity to work in the direction of some
of my educational values. Firstly, I
feel that adult learners should have opportunities to explore their learning
during non-contact times and that learning should take place at all times and
in all contexts. Secondly, I believe
that a knowledge of the Irish language may provide adults and children in this
society with a much wider cultural and educational experience in much the same
way as Baker (1995, pp 10-1) wrote of the advantages of bilingualism as an
awareness of ‘different systems of behaviour, folk sayings,
stories, histories, traditions, ways of meeting and greeting’. The outcomes of this project have been
educative both to myself and to the students.
The educativity for me lies in learning which teaching
methods are least and most effective and for the students in realising that
second language learning is a marathon task.
The first section involves
the background to the project, my reasons for wanting to research second
language teaching and learning methods, personal and locational contexts of the
research and a review of some of the literature on this area. My engagement with the methodology of action
research, and the research design and ethical issues form the second section. I describe the project itself in section
three and findings are laid out in section four. My learning from carrying out the project and its significance
make up section five. Finally,
conclusions and a reflective consideration of the action research approach are
offered in section six.
1 BACKGROUND/CONTEXTS
1a Personal
It would be useful if I gave a short personal
history of my involvement in second language teaching. After graduating with an honours degree in
Celtic Languages and Literature in 1982, my first formal experience was to
supervise an Irish-medium nursery.
However my fascination with second language learning stems from
voluntary work I did as a teenager in the nineteen seventies in a society named
Cumann Chluain Ard established in
1936 for the promotion of the Irish language in the city of Belfast (Maguire,
1900, p 30; O’Reilly, 1999, pp 74-7). I
taught ab initio and advanced Irish
language courses to adult learners on a voluntary basis there for many years
(1975-1984). I wanted others to share
in the insights and educational advantages I had gained from having a knowledge
of this language. This society had an
enormous influence on both my personal and professional life. It
allowed me to bridge between generations and cultures as I, a teenager, was
teaching adult learners of different religious persuasions and
nationalities. It also gave me invaluable
practice in second language teaching through the medium of the TL a subject I
considered and discussed with experienced voluntary and professional teachers
at an early age. Most importantly, my experiences
in trying to teach and learn Irish as a second language enable me to recognize
the enormity of the task for an adult to learn a second language.
I spent three years in the Irish-medium
nursery (1983-86) and then went to teach a year-one class of six children in a
newly established Irish-medium primary school in Belfast (1986-87). I completed a PGCE course in primary
education, began a part-time master’s degree course in Modern Irish Language and Literature, and married in the following
year (1987-88) and was then appointed to teach a primary six transfer class in
a well-established Irish-medium school in Belfast from September 1988. Throughout this time I also taught GCSE
Irish at evening classes in a technical college and taught Irish also at the
three different levels offered in the continuing education department of a
university. These varied professional
experiences raised questions in my mind about how best the acquisition and
learning of a second language could be facilitated.
I taught for ten years in an Irish language
immersion transfer primary classroom (1988-98) and was initially astounded but
later fascinated by the grammatically inconsistent interlanguage the pupils
created in their attempts to communicate in the second language (Baker and Prys
Jones, 1998, p 702). These systematic,
intermediate and aberrant language forms created by pupils as a consequence of
receiving the curriculum through the medium of a second language remain my
biggest research interest. I was then
employed by a university college in Belfast as a teacher educator, teaching
curriculum studies and theories of bilingualism, bilingual education and second
language learning. I spent four years
(1998-2002) at this college and moved in January 2002 to another university and
to a completely different type of teaching responsibility.
1b Locational
Since January of this year I
have been teaching part-time adult learners on both Diploma and undergraduate
degree courses in Modern Irish Language
and Literature. The work I do now
is subject-based whereas my work in second language classrooms and in teacher
education had a multifaceted base. I
had gained a masters degree with distinction in Irish Language and Literature (1990) from the institution in which
I now teach. Therefore I was very
comfortable with the areas of study in modules I had to prepare and I was quite
confident in my teaching competence as well.
However I also recognised from my own teaching experience how enormous a
task it is for an adult to try to learn a second language. I also acknowledged the fact that these
learners have very few opportunities to engage with the Irish language beyond
the time they spend in formal learning.
Within the state of Northern Ireland there are no speakers of what is termed
'survival' or native Irish. There were small communities in mid and west Tyrone
(Stockman and Wagner, 1965), North Antrim (Wagner, 1969), and South Armagh (Sommerfelt, 1929) where Irish
survived into the 1950s but these small isolated language communities no longer
exist.
Presently, however there is
huge interest in the Irish language in the city of Belfast. This is indicated
by the large enrolments (around sixty in each year) on the diploma and honours
degree courses on which I teach and the demand for Irish language classes
generally. Nic Craith (1995, p 14)
reported the latest census figure of 142,003 people or 9.5 per cent of the
population of the state of Northern Ireland who indicated having ‘some knowledge
of Irish’.
Returning to my current position, there are
some fascinating sub-groups within the complex cohort I teach. There are those who attended controlled
schools and did not have the opportunity to learn Irish as it is not offered in
this sector, those who have been educated at primary level through the medium
of Irish and parents of children who attend such Irish-medium schools. Others work in various posts such as
secretary, and classroom assistant in Irish-medium education schools, and see
the need to improve their literacy skills in Irish. However there is also the driving force of employment in Irish
language industries such as tourism and translation at work.
Ellis (1996, p 16) acknowledged the complexity of second language acquisition and outlined a framework of interrelated factors in the investigation of the phenomenon. These are: situational factors, input, learner differences, learner processes and linguistic output. Pertinent to this assignment is age factor, which the author classifies as a key learner difference along with aptitude and intelligence, motivation and needs, personality and cognitive style. Baker and Prys Jones (1998, p 688-693) cited sustained motivation, materials tailored to the communicative needs of adult learners, teaching approaches, methods tailored to the requirements of adults, autonomy, responsibility, flexibility, and an environment that facilitates learning as the particular considerations in adult language learning. These considerations undoubtedly reflect the mammoth task of learning a second language as an adult but the same authors also claimed that there is essentially no difference between the way children and adults learn a second language as there is no evidence from research to indicate that adults do not learn languages as well as children do. Singleton (1989), (cited in Baker, 1996, p 84) in his comprehensive review of age factor in second language learning claimed that ‘there are no age related differences in the process of language learning. Younger and older second language learners tend to show a similar developmental sequence and order’.
Being aware of the ethical issues of protecting individual rights, preserving anonymity and gaining permission to do the research (see ethical statement in Appendix 1), I wrote to the students to ask for their assistance in the project (see Appendix 1b) and to my Head of School for permission to carry out the research (see Appendix 1a). Participants were kept fully informed of my intentions and progress and I took a sensitive approach throughout the enquiry, an absolute necessity when working with adults.
What
was my concern?
My concern was that students did not have
enough opportunities during formal teaching time to interact with each other and
with myself through the medium of the TL and also that they did not have many
authentic TL opportunities beyond the lectures. I discussed this concern with the group whom I kept fully
informed as research participants, central to the enquiry.
Why
was I concerned?
I was concerned because students need to gain
oral competence in Irish and they were not afforded opportunities to do so
beyond their experiences in the lectures and seminars. Therefore, I planned to change my practice
in order to maximise these opportunities during contact time with myself and
indeed to make it clear that language learning should permeate almost every
aspect of their lives.
What
did I think I could do about it?
Agreeing with Krashen’s (1984) ideas that
immersion in the TL and comprehensible input aid language acquisition, I
prepared short light topics for conversation for use in break times based on
language and literature topics and structured my teaching in order to afford
students more opportunities to interact with each other through the medium of
the TL. Lectures on language began at
six o'clock with a break at 6.50 until 7.05. Then began a lecture on an area of
literature with a break at 7.50 until 8.05 when a seminar took place on either
a short story or a novel. Having
identified the concern, I looked at my own practice and planned some action in
a facilitating fashion, intervening only to provide vocabulary, and idiomatic
expressions when demanded. I also
shifted the emphasis in my teaching from being teacher-dominated to one that
encouraged more student-student interaction. This was achieved through
discussion groups, immediate use of learned material and students teaching
fellow students (see Appendix 2).
How
did I show the situation as it was?
While assessing the group's oral competence
in the first semester, I had found that the majority of the students struggled
to survive both in general conversation and in responding to set
questions. I had discussed this area of
the students’ learning profile with my colleague who had also assessed the
students and had noted some of his comments.
He had also identified a deficit in oral skills: ‘they
appeared very nervous and were finding it hard to find words to respond to
verbal stimuli based on work in the module.
We really need to work on this area. They are lacking in basic
vocabulary and are uneasy about conversing in Irish’. I believed that the results of that
assessment also clearly indicated a need for improvement in this area. Students indicated to me in discussions with
them that I should provide more active class participation for them through
oral work in small groups, because as one of them remarked, ‘students can learn from each other as well
as from the teacher’.
I asked the group of twenty-one students to
give a written response to the question:
'How can I improve my practice so that you spend more time communicating
with myself and with each other in the TL?'
There were four responses, which was an indication of the students'
satisfaction with my teaching, as one wrote, ‘I don’t see how you could improve your practice’. Another student expressed the opinion that I
was not ‘extracting opinions on
literature from the students and that there was too much teacher-talking’ and
indicated that her main concern was ‘oral/aural
competence’. She
proposed an ‘informal, relaxed,
unassessed structure’ for people to practise speaking. Another student felt that ‘my teaching style had begun to acknowledge
the maturity of the group’ but that I should, ‘ascertain the knowledge already within the group, draw it out and
proceed from there’. Finally it was
suggested that I should ‘discuss with the
students how we feel our learning experience could be improved, monitor
progress of students and evaluate their learning’.
What
kind of data-gathering techniques did I use?
I identified two students who would have
indicated to me that they were struggling in oral skills in Irish and asked
them to keep a reflective journal until the end of the module. One of the
students did not keep the journal but the other diligently did until he
realised that it was eating into his studying time, which was
sparse
enough as he is a teacher, parent and part-time adult learner. The journal indicated the frantic efforts of
an adult, part-time student trying to find time to engage with Irish through
listening and reading, ‘nothing. Too
tired. At school until 7.30’. Reading or listening was usually done early Saturday morning,
while travelling in the car, or late at night when everyone else was asleep, ‘managed to spend an hour revising in my
parents’ home in Roscommon when everybody else had gone to bed’; ‘did
not do anything for the rest of the evening-domestic matters prevailing ‘time
won’t give me time’’. It was an
eternal struggle between domestic chores, family commitments and study. Real dread of the oral examination was
clear, ‘the less said about that the
better’. When I mentioned it, he
asked, ‘where did those twelve weeks go?
Tempus fugit’. He indicated that
passive activities such as watching football on television were a real
distraction. On April 29th
he decided to stop keeping the journal, ‘this
journal is eating into my time – de thairbhe sin, stopfaidh mé (because of that
I shall stop)’.
I also kept a reflective journal (Appendix
2), which I consider below. It has two
major features: planning and
reflecting. I divided the three hours
into periods of time which facilitated introduction of objectives,
collaboration in pairs, discussion, collaboration in pairs with new partner,
break conversations, lecturing, larger group discussions, reporting back to
whole class, seminars and recap. Each
week I planned for light conversations on linguistic and literary themes and
used the themes to facilitate the activities just outlined.
The oral work on language started very
successfully with an authentic news item from the Irish language channel
TG4. The students really applied
themselves to the task. Our consideration
of learners’ spoken and written errors, ‘brought
smiles to their faces’. However, it
also, ‘brought a realisation…that they
had still to work at them to eradicate them’.
Some students took a while to cross the
communicative barrier and I used this knowledge, ‘to target those individuals’. The
challenge of the, ‘massive variance in
second language competence and knowledge of language and literature generally’ was
partly overcome by collaborative learning and more frequent interventions on my
behalf. The few students who really
struggled did, with, ‘assistance, praise
and practice get to their destination’.
Having to answer language and literature
questions in the TL worried some students however I believe I calmed them with
the knowledge, ‘that I was the assessor
of their knowledge, knew what the domain of the tests was and that all that
they needed to show was creativity and originality’. Nevertheless the gaps in the students’ knowledge of
Irish grammar indicated that these students would benefit from straight grammar
lessons in future modules.
The final week brought two very different
types of evidence. One of the students
said that The Course Director had noticed a discernible improvement in her oral
Irish. However once again students’
fear of tests was also clearly evident, but ‘I tried to put the whole question into perspective by saying that they
represented only half of all the available marks and that they had already
successfully completed the other half’.
The most successful aspect of the oral work
on literature was the reading aloud of excerpts from the prescribed texts, ‘in the larger groups I witnessed more able
students taking on a teaching role in explaining words and phrases’; ‘those students who would usually interact
through the medium of the TL did so on this occasion but others who don’t, set
about the task I felt with a renewed determination’.
Levels of language in the autobiographical
writings from the Donegal Gaeltacht proved
very suitable for the students and consequently, ‘ this will mean a change in plans for next year in that this type of
writing will be used as an introductory text’.
Discussions on literature took place enthusiastically with little
intervention and gave the appearance that student confidence was growing. The plan in seminars to pair people with a
student with whom they had interacted minimally was a rewarding exercise for
the students. I saw it as, ‘a magnificent learning exercise for both
parties’.
I believe that students
benefited from the breadth of the literature we considered. The investigation of aspects of the Munster
dialect in Machnamh Seanmhná (An Old
Woman’s Reflections) by Peig Seyers was highly entertaining – an essential
ingredient in successful learning.
Nevertheless one student remarked that, ‘we had not delved deeply enough into the literature’. I
agreed and indicated that, ‘ I would be
decreasing the quantity in order to facilitate that deeper consideration’.
I asked the students for written responses as
to the approach I adopted and asked them to consider whether my modified
practice had resulted in them having more confidence to communicate in the
TL. I got eighteen written responses
from a total of twenty-one students and the following issues arose in them,
which I unpack below:
·
progress in students’ spoken Irish;
·
group work;
·
tutor intervention;
·
reading texts aloud;
·
gaps in students’ knowledge;
·
tests;
·
translation work;
·
error analysis;
·
writing;
·
literature;
·
break conversations.
The vast majority of students indicated that
they now felt more confident in speaking Irish. Some declared this without qualification, ‘confidence has improved during the year’; ‘outside of class now it
seems more natural to talk Irish to anyone I know, can and wants to – I will
have more confidence for this oral’. Others, however while recognising some improvement
still had their doubts, ‘I think I am
more confident in spoken Irish but would still need a lot more practice’; ‘I
feel a bit more confident in oral Irish but there are plenty of gaps due to my
own limitations’; ‘I feel more confident in a way but this year has made me realise
how much more I have to learn to become fluent’.
A small number of students claimed that they
had not gained more confidence because of such intrinsic factors as reticence, ‘I find it difficult sometimes still trying
to speak in Irish. The words are there but still it is quite
difficult’; ‘At present I don’t feel much more confident. My
spoken Irish is still my biggest concern.
I always feel I have to prepare well for orals rather than conduct a
conversation naturally’; fear of erring, ‘Personally,
I am reluctant to speak in the language unless I feel that what I am saying is
accurate in that language so it probably is a good thing where one is compelled
to speak’; and comparing performance to more fluent learners, ‘I have not gained confidence for oral
because I compare with others’. One
student was clearly undecided, ‘more
confident? - not too sure’. Another
was intimated by the formality of the oral examinations, ‘I think I would feel more relaxed if it was not in a classroom. I feel I might be able to express myself
better’ while finally one student had reconciled himself to being on a
journey, ‘I found that the language we
were using was very difficult to understand but I did understand that it was
part of the learning process’.
Group work attracted a lot of comment which
centred on the success of the paired group work and students’ clearly expressed
satisfaction with it, ‘I would like to
see more pair work and small group work as it is easier to speak out and
express yourself in small groups -–very successful’; ‘working in pairs was very helpful especially when you are
struggling with sentences or phrases, the other person can help you out’. Students had divided opinions of the work in
larger groups of six. Some students
felt intimidated by the more fluent students, ‘the large groups sometimes can be difficult as the people with a lot
of Irish can be a little daunting’; ‘I enjoyed working in pairs but I didn’t
gain practice in speaking in bigger groups because of higher level of ability
but I did gain from listening’. Others
thought it a beneficial exercise, ‘work
in pairs helpful but work in groups was better so the conversation always moves
along. More ideas to share so more talk
generated’; ‘working in larger groups introduced a variety also which helped to
keep the interest going’.
Tutor intervention proved to be satisfactory
and was described as, ‘sensitive’; ‘helpful’;
‘enthusiastic’; ‘about right’; ‘’adequate’; ‘minimal, tolerant, not
discouraging and therefore correct’. One
student indicated that there should be more general discussion on literature ‘not led or generated by the teacher’ while
another expressed frustration with the amount of intervention directed at her
personally, ‘I need a lot of time,
probably more than my share and I can’t process language quickly enough for
accurate spontaneity required by speech…like being pushed up against barriers
of learning, personal barriers of language’.
During literature seminars
we read aloud together excerpts from prescribed texts. Students’ comments deemed it very edifying, ‘reading aloud helped me a lot’; ‘it was the
most beneficial and influential part of the course as regards the oral aspect’;
‘reading out loud has been very useful for pronunciation and
comprehension’.
Three students commented on gaps in their
knowledge but all indicated overall improvement in linguistic competence. One student, on the struggle to make space
for himself, stated, ‘there is simply not
enough time for us to speak Irish in two classes per week’. A student noted the disparity between the
approach I had taken during this enquiry and ‘examination formula’. One
student commented on how informative it was to consider the translations
authors did and to compare them to their own efforts to see, ‘how the mind of the writer worked’. I was surprised that only one student
expressed an opinion on the sessions we held on common errors learners of Irish
make. However she made an astute remark
about spoken and written language, ‘much
of our spoken Irish is reflected in what we write. I found the session on common mistakes we were all making very
useful.’
Writing essays in Irish was reckoned by one
student to be, ‘very good practice’. Literature seminars inspired another student
to read literature beyond the prescribed texts, ‘feedback on literature gave me an interest in other authors not so far
covered and I got ‘An Chéad Chloch’ out of the library as a result’. Only one student expressed an opinion on
the break-time conversation topics stating that it was often, ‘difficult to concentrate on an allocated
topic at break. Conversation tended to stray.
Enough to say, ‘talk in Irish at break’.
How
did I judge progress?
I had to find some evidence to show that the action
I took in improving my practice actually had an influence on the oral
competence of the students. I asked a
student to keep a reflective diary (Data Archive 1) and requested written
comments on progress from students (Data Archive 2). I also kept a reflective diary, weekly plans and reflections, on
each teaching session (see Appendix 2).
I believe that progress can be judged by the student’s reflective
journal, from the written responses of the group and from comments in my own
reflective journal. I also believe that
self-confidence and a realisation that their oral language skills would not be
perfected overnight are key factors, which I hoped to build over the weeks.
How
did I make sure that any statements I made were reasonably fair and accurate?
I wrote to The Course Director, to The Co-coordinator of Teaching and
Learning in another school in the university and to the Head of Irish in a university college asking them to validate my
claims to knowledge as a result of the action enquiry (see Appendix 1c). The
Course Director supported my enquiry from the beginning and has agreed that
we will use the findings to restructure our oral language work in the coming
years. I described the nature of the
enquiry to The Co-coordinator of Teaching
and Learning in another school in the university and he agreed to validate
my claims to knowledge. The Course
Director is familiar with the kind of improvement in language teaching that
I am trying to bring about and with the problems adults face in their strenuous
efforts to acquire fluency in Irish.
The Co-coordinator of Teaching and
Learning would be aware of generic teaching and learning issues but not
those specific to language teaching. I
looked for validation of my claims in the form of their comments.
The Course
Director noted (see Appendix 1d) that I had ‘a
very healthy appetite to be a reflective practitioner’ and wrote of my ‘strong and worthy conviction’. He commented that we were both ‘unswerving in our objective to improve the
quality of our classes.’ He had
noticed a ‘monumental improvement’ in
students’ oral competence, a result of my ‘patience
with adult learners’.
In the written communication from The Co-coordinator of Teaching and Learning (see Appendix 1e) the very apt verb ‘energise’ was used to describe my
attempts at maximising TL use. He
questioned the rigour of my research and the generalisibilty of my
findings. In discussions with him, I
explained that I and my learning were the focus of this action research
project, that the results were for this small group of adult learners only and
that I was not claiming generalisibility.
The Head of Irish
wrote
(see Appendix 1f) that my claims to knowledge were based on direct experience
coupled with a readiness to question my professional practice and accept
constructive criticism. It
was stressed that I had illuminated methods, which are successful in adult
learning.
I believe that there are a number of
significant findings from this enquiry.
The adult, part-time learner faces massive problems in finding space to
study due to domestic commitments and responsibilities. The greater interaction through the TL
during teaching time has increased oral competence in the majority of cases but
features of personality such as natural reticence can impede performance. Oral work in pairs with a minimal and
unintimidating audience was a very successful teaching strategy and although
work in larger groups was flowing, rewarding and interesting it intimidated
weaker students. My level of
intervention and response seems to have been well measured although there is
always room for improvement. Reading
texts aloud was conducive to improving oracy skills and was entertaining for
students. An examination of common
errors was very illuminating for students, reflected their efforts and
indicated what was still to be achieved.
Answering questions and writing essays in the TL, although initially
daunting was rewarding to students in the end.
Authentic language occasions such as listening and responding to news
items appeared to facilitate application to task. Autobiographical texts contain suitable, comprehensible input for
these part-time students and the consideration of these texts was found to
augment motivation. Finally the enquiry
illustrated the importance and effectiveness of appropriate planning,
reflecting and modifying in language teaching.
6 CONCLUDING REMARKS, REFLECTIVE
CONSIDERATION OF ACTION RESEARCH APPROACH
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Bilingualism, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
Baker, C. (1996) Foundations of Bilingualism and Bilingual
Education, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
Baker, C. and
Prys Jones, S. (1998) Encyclopedia of
Bilingualism and Bilingual Education,
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Elliott, J.
(1991) Action Research for Educational
Change, Buckingham: Open University
Press.
Ellis, R. (1996) Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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M. (1995) Action Research for Health and
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Action Research, in Keeves, J. (Ed) Educational
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An International Handbook, Oxford:
Pergamon, pp 42-9.
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(1998a) Sainchúrsa Gaeilge do mhúinteoirí i nGaelscoileanna (A Specialised
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(1998b) Tús ar dhíospóireacht ar an bhunscolaíocht Ghaeilge, An tUltach, 75 (12), pp 14-6.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999a) Saintréithe an churaclaim ag eochairchéim a haon (Characteristics of
the curriculum at keystage one, An
tUltach, 76 (1), pp 20-2.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999b) An mhatamaitic sa bhunscoil (Mathematics in the primary school), An tUltach , 76 (2), pp 16-8.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999c) An Ghaeilge sa bhunscolaíocht Ghaeilge (Irish in Irish language primary
education), An tUltach, 76 (3), pp
10-2.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999d) An eolaíocht sa bhunscolaíocht (Science in primary education), An
tUltach, 76 (3), pp 10-2.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999e) Sainchúrsa Gaeilge do mhúinteoirí i nGaelscoileanna: achoimre (A
specialised course in Irish for teachers in Irish-medium Education: a
synopsis), An tUltach, 76 (5), pp
14-5.
Mac Corraidh, S.
(1999/2000) Cúrsa inseirbhíse i mBéal Feirste don Ghaeloideachas (An
in-service course for Irish-medium education in Belfast), Teangeolas, 38/9, pp 36-47.
Maguire, G. (1990) Our Own
Language, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
McNiff, J. with
Whitehead, J. (2002) Action
Research: Principles and Practice, London: Routledge Falmer.
Nic Craith, M.
(1995) The symbolism of language in Northern Ireland, in Kockel, U. (Ed) Landscape, Heritage, and Identity: Case Studies in Irish Ethnography,
Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
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(1999) The Irish Language in Northern
Ireland: London, Macmillan.
Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner,
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Singleton, D.
(1989) Language Acquisition,
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Sommerfelt, A. (1929) South Armagh Irish, Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, Suppl. Bind V111.
Stockman, G. and Wagner, H. (1965) Contributions to a study of Tyrone Irish: some aspects of the vocabulary, grammar and phonology of Tyrone Irish, with texts, in Sommerfelt, A. (Ed) Lochlann: A Review of Celtic Studies, 3, pp 43-236, a monograph reprinted from Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, Suppl. Bind V111.
Wagner, H. (1969) Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects, Vol. 1V, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
These are my ethical
statement and letters of consent, which were sent to the Head of School, to
students involved in research and to the validation group.
I am a university lecturer, teaching adult
learners on a part-time honours degree course. During this research, I will observe the
highest possible ethical standards.
Data gathering will be performed with integrity.
I will fully acknowledge the work of others
and will report my findings honestly and truthfully. This research project will benefit both my students
and myself. While
acknowledging the rights of all the research participants, I retain the right to
report, providing that I have carried out the research in a consistently
ethical manner.
Letter to my Head of School
Head of School,
Phone Number.
Dear Mr G
As part of my EdD studies, I intend to carry out an action research
project in order to investigate how I can improve my practice in affording
opportunities for students to interact with each other and with myself through
the medium of the target language. I am writing to ask your permission to carry
out this research with my second year group. None of the students will be
identified. Your name will not appear in
any document and I shall be happy to share new knowledge with other staff in
the school
Yours,
Seán
Dear student,
I intend to investigate how I can improve my teaching so that you are
afforded more opportunities to interact with other students and with myself
through the medium of Irish. This will
form part of my studies on an EdD course. If you agree to this proposal please
sign below. No student will be
identified in the assignment.
Is mise,
Seán
Dear colleague,
I am writing to ask you for some assistance with research I am carrying
out. I am investigating my practice in
language teaching in order to improve it by affording students more
opportunities to interact with each other and with myself through the target
language, Irish. I would be grateful if you would give me permission to use
your feedback on my efforts. Any
information you offer will be handled in confidence. Your name will not appear in any published documents without your
consent and prior viewing of the context.
Yours,
Seán
Appendix 1d: Written comments of The Course Director:
The initial thought for your project indicates a healthy appetite to be a reflective practitioner and I have a strong sense that your approach is very student-centred. You show a strong and worthy conviction and the emphasis on extra-curricular learning is excellent. You could have said more about the mature nature of the cohort. The modules of the part-time BA basically follow that of the full-time BA where most students enter after seven years of Irish. We must now restructure in the light of our direct experience and interaction with mature students to tailor it more to their needs (e.g. Use of TL in second year in order to build confidence. I am extremely pleased to have you as a colleague as we are both unswerving in our objectives to improve the quality of classes we provide. It was unfortunate that the approach did not apply throughout the module.
The students’ written responses represent monumental improvement. I certainly noticed a big difference in competence of students at end of module. The emphasis on oral work is something, which the Diploma students continually ask for. We are now making oral count for 33% of year two rather than 16.6% in order to meet that demand by the students.
We should with your permission look at the comments in detail and use them as central planks in revising plans for the new course layout. As tutor for two years previous, I could confirm that their oral competence and confidence has been through your patient strategies.
Appendix
1e: Written comments of The Co-coordinator of Teaching and Learning:
Your paper explains in a straightforward way your attempt to ‘energise’ oral competence. My main concern would be, is it rigorous enough research to make significant claims for improvement? As it stands it reads very much in a narrative, descriptive style rather than systematic and analytical mode. Should you explain ‘action research’ at the outset? Would four responses from sample group of twenty-one students be statistically significant? Can you generalise from opinions of two students?
Appendix
1f: Written comments of The Head of Irish in a university
college:
Your claims are based on experience as a teacher from nursery to third level in second language teaching and immersion teaching and therefore reflect accurately your impressions of the needs of students and of your own strengths. The fact that you asked the students shows that you can take on board constructive criticism and are prepared to question your own professional practice. The fact that you are thinking about publishing this further demonstrates your own professional critical attitude and your openness to accept criticism and not hide behind your professional mask. You show that reading aloud really works well with adult learners. This is very interesting as in my experience with male A level students this would not have worked. These students make a big investment and you are trying to cater for all sorts of needs, all of which you have to cater for.