Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position in regard to the teaching of modern languages. There is considerable investment by the Department in language provision across all levels of education and officials are currently working on the development of a language strategy which will address language learning at all levels of education, including primary level.

At primary level, the Department's policy, as detailed in the Government's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2011, is that pupils will learn two languages, English and Irish. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is currently developing an integrated language curriculum for primary schools, in the context of the national literacy and numeracy strategy. A consultation on the draft curriculum from infants to second class is under way and will remain open until 11 July.

The new curriculum is drafted in the belief that language plays a vital part in the expansion of the student's conceptual framework and growth of the student's conceptual knowledge, dispositions and skills. The draft curriculum underlines that language learning is a developmental process, in which students engage at their individual rate or pace. Learning languages, whether at home, in an early years setting, in school or in community settings enables children to extend their linguistic experiences and to deepen their understanding of and connection with culture and heritage.

Within the draft language curriculum, integration is defined in terms of interaction between the three strands of oral language, reading and writing; connecting language across the curriculum; and the transfer of skills learned across languages. Although discrete language skills associated with each strand are essential, engaging with all three strands together enables the child to become a more effective communicator. In this context, it is important to note that Ireland is a linguistically and culturally diverse country which has two official languages, English and Irish. However, most schools and classrooms include children whose home language is a language other than English or Irish.

Languages, by their nature, are interconnected and developing skills in one language will help children develop similar skills in another language, provided they have adequate exposure to the language and adequate motivation and opportunities to engage with the language. An explicit focus on integration between languages enables children to make cross-lingual connections and to develop an awareness of how language works, which leads to learning efficiencies for students. The intention is that the new integrated curriculum will provide primary students with an excellent base to transfer to learning modern foreign languages in post-primary school.

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