Report on ELL award system in Ireland. Delivered at NELLIP project meeting in Florence, Italy 913.11.2012)

1. ELL National Report: Ireland
Nellip Project Meeting
Florence 13.11.2012
ULS: Dr. Alan Bruce

2. Contexts
 Two official languages: English and Gaelige
 Historic position of the Irish language and national identity
 English as vernacular and global lingua franca
 Schooling and curriculum structures
 Official concerns on monolingual mindsets
 Partitioned island
 Demographic transformation
 Globalization, innovation and the EU

3. ELL operation in Ireland
 Administered by Léargas (NA) – link to DES
 Themes and policy priorities:
 Excellence
 Innovation
 Creativity
 Serving as a model for others

4. ELL Aims
 Assist development of professional skills of teachers and trainers
 Stimulate Irish schools, individuals, authorities, employers and
training initiatives to focus on innovative projects in the field of
multilingualism and to enhance range and quality of additional
language sills acquisition
 Promote awareness and visibility of European school supports and
to embed transnational perspectives on identification and sharing
of resources and best practices.
 Reach non-traditional learner groups and acknowledge their role
and development in a vastly changed socio-demographic
paradigm.

5. ELL Promotion in Ireland
 Target institutions and agencies:
 Language centers
 Schools
 Language associations,
 Education Centers
 Teacher training colleges
 Universities
 Libraries
 Specialized language initiatives.

6. Promotional activities
 Publication of ELL information brochures and leaflets
presenting the European Language Label
 Publication of newsletters explaining ELL activities in the
Irish national context
 Organization of seminars and events to disseminate
information about projects and initiatives that were awarded
the European Language Label.

7. ELL Award Process
 Comprehensive nature of the initiative: including how learner needs
are identified and met, range of people involved and methodologies
employed.
 Improvement (qualitative and quantitative) and added value:
dimensions of the objective and expected results with an emphasis on
added skills.
 Enhanced motivation produced
 Innovation and originality: technologies employed, methods and
creativity
 European added value and citizenship
 Transferability to other environments and adaptability.

8. Impact and promoter motivation for ELL
 Secure greater visibility for language projects
 Obtain official European recognition
 Enhance national recognition
 Develop motivation for students and teachers in language related
projects
 Enhance project sustainability
 Demonstrate innovation and best practice
 Position themselves for future activities.

9. Logistical dimensions of best practice
 Interculturalism and ethnic diversity
 Migration
 Type of institution
 Population
 Ratio of languages to class size
 Adequacy of teacher training in area of second language
competence
 Importance of European identity

10. Policy dimensions of best practice
 Informing teacher initial and in-service training in second
language acquisition
 Realistic curriculum aims and objectives
 Providing occasions to use a second language in response to
real communication needs
 Encouraging knowledge exchange between teachers of
second languages
 Providing opportunities for intercultural development

11. Cultural and socio-educational dimensions
 Applying concepts of cultural awareness and intercultural
competence in relation to second language teaching
 Strategic focus on the role of cultural awareness
 Involving the extended community in activities to facilitate
awareness of new cultures
 Assessing classroom and mediated learning (ITC or blended
methodologies)
 Serving holistic needs of the learner in the context of family
and community

12. Recommendations
 Benefits of ELL are anecdotal, not systematically researched
 Lack of funding for sustainability or exploitation of results
 Inadequate research focus
 Need for enhanced linkage to employers, ICT and innovative
community engagement
 Focus on quality required
 Operating in crisis conditions: uncertainty and strategic
planning