Downgrading Irish wrong option

Matt Cooper’s suggestion (Opinion, Feb 24)) that making Irish optional for the Leaving Cert would improve the teaching of German is not well-founded.

When he correctly praises Nordic countries’ language teaching, he neglects to mention that ‘compulsory’ Finnish and Swedish are central to primary and post-primary education in Finland. Students are also expected to, and do, acquire two additional languages.

A people with little regard for their own language are unlikely to respect the languages of others. Irish people, according to the European Commission, are the lowest achievers in 2nd and 3rd language acquisition. Irish medium schools buck this trend.

Downgrading Irish will re-enforce the ‘English only’ mentality, which has become a hallmark of the Department of Education and will lead to less, and not more, language teaching and learning.

Languages are not like other subjects. Practice and ongoing effort is needed, that is why they are seen as difficult subjects and fair badly in circumstances where students can opt out.

Since languages were made optional for GCSE in England the pressure to do more ‘rewarding’ subjects has resulted in downward trends and only 44% of students there now learn a language, mostly in fee paying schools where languages remain compulsory.

The number of students taking A levels in languages is appalling: just 13,196 students took an A-level in French in 2011 — down by 5% in a year. German entries slumped by almost seven per cent to 5,166, making it one of the fastest declining subjects in Britain.

If Irish were made optional for the Leaving Cert, numbers would certainly decline sharply. More and more students would take pass or foundation level Irish for the Junior Cert, as they would not plan to continue with Irish thereafter.

Time spent and results achieved in primary schools and in teacher training colleges would be similarly impacted and the point of no return would soon be reached.

If we are to follow the Finnish model, a model born out of post-war austerity, we need to reverse decades of neglect and invest in language teaching and learning. The Finns after centuries of foreign rule have revived their language and their economy and we can do the same.

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh BL

An Leabharlann Dlí

Na Ceithre Cúirteanna

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