Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs)

Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs) is an inter-institutional project which investigates the range of language educator skills needed in higher education (HE). The purpose of the project is to develop an empirically-informed competence framework which is aligned with the National Forum for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’s National Professional Development Framework for all Staff Who Teach in Higher Education (2016). The framework will provide individual language educators and programme developers with a reference point and practical tools, based on a comprehensive profile of language teaching skills, to ensure that all HE language educators are appropriately supported in their professional development. The project is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’s enhancement fund.

Irish language self-efficacy beliefs and the Official Languages Act 2003

This study assesses the influence of sources of self-efficacy construction on Irish language abilities in civil servants working under the requirements of the Official Languages Act 2003. Through a series of focus groups within a Government department, participants with varying abilities and interests in the Irish language were assessed on the determining factors in self-assessing their Irish language skills. It was found that self-efficacy is a more accurate predictor of language beliefs than previous performances for Irish speakers, and that sources such as social persuasion and vicarious experiences have the potential to raise self-efficacy beliefs in non-Irish speakers. It was also found that the Act has not led to an increased engagement with the Irish language, but has only resulted in an increased deference to perceived expert language models.

Data in Forensic Phonetics from theory to practice

What are speech data? The question is not as trivial as it may seem: every day both theoretical and applied linguistic research come up against problems deriving from bad data management. This topic is particularly thorny in interdisciplinary approaches such as the speech forensics analysis, whereby the recorded speech can be exploited as legal clues, with important repercussions on public security and citizens’ rights. The datum does not exist in nature, being it a consequence of the human analysis of a given phenomenon. In fact, data extraction is based on explicit and implicit theories implemented by the researcher within the application of specific frameworks. Researchers and professionals working on empiric data should be more aware of these underlined processes in order to avoid data misuse and, indeed, maximize results. In this paper, we will briefly address the issue of the speech data epistemology with a particular focus on the interdisciplinary required in forensics among linguistics and engineering, by discussing examples from Italian real cases. The analysis of speech for forensic purposes requires a strong interdisciplinary approach, especially for what it concerns collection, classification, treatment of acoustic data, and their following transcription and analysis. Moreover, it must be clarified what different experts (e.g., lawyers vs. linguists) mean as “datum”.

Foghlaim ríomhchuidithe teanga-chliste agus teicneolaíocht na hurlabhra: Féidearthachtaí do theagasc/d’fhoghlaim na Gaeilge

Tá an córas sintéiseach téacs-go-hurlabhra, ABAIR (www.abair.ie), á fhorbairt sa tSaotharlann Foghraíochta agus Urlabhra i gColáiste na Tríonóide le roinnt blianta anuas agus tá na guthanna sintéiseacha ar fáil anois sna trí mhórchanúint – Canúint na Mumhan (baineann agus fireann), Canúint Connacht (fireann) agus Canúint Uladh (baineann). Tá obair thaighde ar siúl sa tSaotharlann le blianta beaga anuas chun féachaint ar na feidhmeanna ar féidir a bhaint as na guthanna seo. Tá an páipéar seo dírithe ar an úsáid a d'fhéadfaí a bhaint astu i réimse Fhoghlaim Ríomhchuidithe Teangacha-Chliste (FRT-Chliste) agus go háirithe ar an úsáid a d'fhéadfaí a bhaint astu i bhforbairt ardán a cheadódh don fhoghlaimeoir idirghníomhaíocht phearsanta a dhéanamh leis an ríomhaire, rud a chabhródh le foghlaim fhéinriartha na Gaeilge. Léirítear féidearthachtaí na teicneolaíochtaí seo i gcomhthéacs an ardáin phíolótaigh, An Scéalaí, atá á fhorbairt faoi láthair. Text-to-speech synthesis systems are being developed as part of the ABAIR initiative (www.abair.ie), in the Phonetics and Speech Laboratory in Trinity College Dublin. Synthetic voices are now available in the three major dialects - Munster (female and male), Connacht (male) and Ulster (female). This paper gives an overview of the Irish synthetic voices and focuses on their use in the context of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (iCALL) and in particular their use in the development of interactive language learning platforms for the self-directed learning of Irish. The potential of this technology is demonstrated in the context of a new iCALL platform, An Scéalaí (‘the Storyteller’), currently under development.

Foreign language education policy in Ireland: A discourse-historical analysis

This paper investigates the effects of contextual change on the body of education policy discourse in Ireland, and specifically on discourse pertaining to foreign language education. Discourse-Historical Analysis of key documents reveals a range of micro-, meso- and macro-environmental factors which have had a detrimental effect on foreign language policy discourse over the last twenty years. The objective of this study is to expose complex discursive strategies and tools which serve to convey the relationship between the micro-, meso- and macro-environmental factors and to investigate the effect of contextual change on the body of foreign language education policies. This will be achieved in two ways; firstly, by deconstructing the relevant documents in order to reveal how concepts, problems, causes, imperatives and inevitabilities are discursively framed; and secondly, by examining intertextual connections between texts which make up the discursive sample. It is anticipated that researchers and policymakers alike regardless of the capacity in which they deal with the body of foreign language education policy will find these findings of interest.

Principals’ attitudes towards the suitability of Irish language immersion education for children with dyslexia

This study explores principals’ attitudes towards the suitability of language immersion education (LIE) enrolment for children with dyslexia in Ireland. It also aims to examine the challenges faced by those in LIE settings working to include children with special educational needs (SEN), specifically dyslexia, in their schools. Participants include primary school principals working in Irish LIE settings across Ireland. The study follows a mixed methods approach including a focus group interview and a self-completion online questionnaire. Results indicate that principals believe that LIE enrolment is suitable for children with dyslexia and that these children can benefit from being placed in such a learning environment. However, the Irish immersion system faces considerable challenges in its aims to support children with dyslexia, namely the lack of an appropriate assessment system, the lack of sufficient research and training and negative attitudes held towards the Irish language.

Language policy-making in Ireland: A preliminary study of the consultation process of Languages Connect

This study aims to explore the policy-making process of Languages Connect - Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026. For that purpose, we concentrate on the consultation process adopted by the Department of Education and Skills. Drawing on a concept of foreign language competence as human capital, the aim of this study is twofold. On the one hand, we investigate the extent to which the submissions to the consultation process form a sequence with the final document, Languages Connect; on the other hand, we examine the Irish government documents and compare the submissions reflecting the government approach to language with those problematising such discourse. The former analysis reveals how a market-led valuing of languages is embedded in the government discourse. The latter analysis further shows that linguistic diversity did not receive as much attention as language competence. Bearing in mind that participatory and deliberative procedures are meant to provide legitimacy for policy decisions, the paper concludes by discussing some of the positionings taken in Languages Connect and the role of the procedural mechanisms employed in the consultation.

Múnlaí teanga na Gaeilge agus an idé-eolaíocht teanga

Cíorann an t-alt seo na múnlaí teanga atá i réim sa Ghaeilge .i. na spriocanna don teanga a nglactar leo sa lá inniu. Déantar anailís ar na múnlaí teanga atá intuigthe san anailís teangeolaíochta agus i gcáipéisí curaclaim na Gaeilge ón réamhscolaíocht go dtí an ollscolaíocht. Féachtar ina dhiaidh sin ar na hidé-eolaíochtaí teanga ar a bhfuil na múnlaí sin bunaithe agus ar na tuiscintí a chuireann siad in iúl maidir leis an rud is teanga ann. Ceistítear roinnt de na tuiscintí seanbhunaithe ar an rud is Gaeilge agus Gaeilge mhaith ann sa lá inniu. Ar deireadh, cuirtear moltaí i láthair maidir leis an tslí a bhfaighfí múnlaí teanga na Gaeilge a athshamhlú don aonú aois is fiche. This article examines dominant language models in Irish, i.e. the target language varieties of Irish that are deemed most acceptable today. The language models implicit in linguistic analyses and in Irish language curriculum documents from preschool to university level are analysed. The ideologies on which those models are based and the implicit understandings of what constitutes ‘a language’ are examined. Some long-established ideas about what Irish is and what good Irish should look like are questioned. Finally, recommendations are made about how language models for Irish might be reimagined for the twenty-first century.