Tears, teachers, tension and transformation?:
minority language children reflect on the
recognition of their first languages in Irish primary
schools
McDaid, Rory
(2009)
Tears, teachers, tension and transformation?:
minority language children reflect on the
recognition of their first languages in Irish primary
schools.
Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
This dissertation examines the feelings, experiences and understandings of minority
language children in the Irish primary education system with regard to the nonrecognition
of their first languages in school. Data was collected with 13 Romanian
and Polish speaking children during a four day Trilingual Literacy Camp rooted in
Emancipatory Participatory Action Research. Data sources include dual language
texts, which were used as child-developed codifications, focus group contributions
and participant observations.
It is argued that these children are constructed as linguistic outsiders within their
schools by pedagogues who prioritise the development of English language
proficiency. Within this context, the children display a complex set of linguistic
practices. They possess a strong belief in the transformative potential of learning
English and make calculated investments in their immediate and long-term future
through practices, which they feel will help them to learn English. In addition to this,
however, they are also firmly committed to maintaining their own first languages, as
exemplified through their continued use of these languages within their family and
social arenas. The children also engage in low-level acts of resistance against the
imposition of English as a dominant language through the continued use of their
languages at strategic times in school.
These findings highlight an issue of real importance for policy makers and
pedagogues in relation to the inequalities experienced by minority language children
in Irish schools