A review from Northern Ireland of the linguistic devolution of primary school languages

Ian Collen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
93 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where children at primary school do not have a right to learn another language. This chapter presents a first scholarly review of the interplay between modern foreign languages, the indigenous Irish language and Ulster Scots variety, situated within the complex politico-linguistic landscape of Northern Ireland. In order to understand the situation, a clear explanation of the political context of Northern Ireland is presented. As well as examining policy and practice in relation to primary school languages in the UK nations, the chapter concludes that any move to include languages on the primary curriculum will need proper resourcing and careful navigation of the sensitivities between languages in this part of the world.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLanguage learning in Anglophone countries. Challenges, practices, ways forward
EditorsUrsula Lanvers, Amy S. Thompson, Martin East
PublisherSpringer International Publishing AG
Chapter7
Pages117-133
Number of pages17
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9783030566548
ISBN (Print)9783030566531
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Irish
  • Primary languages policy
  • Ulster Scots

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences
  • General Arts and Humanities

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