Department of Language and Literacy Education
https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/13
Roinn na Teanga agus Oideachas Litearthachta2024-03-28T22:05:31ZRepresentations of race and racism in the textbooks used in southern black schools during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, 1861–1876 (Pre-published version)
https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/3306
Representations of race and racism in the textbooks used in southern black schools during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, 1861–1876 (Pre-published version)
During the American Civil War and Reconstruction era, 1861–1876,
formerly enslaved men and women demanded access to education.
Aided by northern white missionaries, free blacks and some southern
whites, freed men and women throughout the American South built
schoolhouses, hired teachers and purchased textbooks. Some of these
textbooks were specifically created for the freed people, otherwise
known as freedmen’s texts or textbooks. Others were the same as those
that were typically used in antebellum northern common schools.
This article analyses the textbooks that were used in southern black
schools between 1861 and 1876. In particular, it investigates how black
people were portrayed in the textbooks and to what end. Ultimately,
this article finds that in both sets of textbooks, black people were
portrayed as racially inferior to whites. This, I argue, was principally
done to maintain white supremacy. Recognising that textbooks are
reflective of societal attitudes and values, such a portrayal suggests
that the white Americans of this period subscribed to the notion
that mankind was naturally divided into distinct racial groups and,
more significantly, that whites were the inherently superior race. It
also suggests that the powerful white Americans of this period were
committed to perpetuating the racial subordination of black people,
both before and after the Civil War period.
2016-08-30T00:00:00ZAn teagasc ábharbhunaithe trí mheán na mionteanga: iniúchadh criticiúil ar chreidiúintí, tuiscintí agus cleachtais an mhúinteora eacnamaíochta baile san Iar-bhunscoil ghaeltachta
https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/3169
An teagasc ábharbhunaithe trí mheán na mionteanga: iniúchadh criticiúil ar chreidiúintí, tuiscintí agus cleachtais an mhúinteora eacnamaíochta baile san Iar-bhunscoil ghaeltachta
Bhí sé mar aidhm ag an taighde seo iniúchadh criticiúil a dhéanamh ar chreidiúintí, tuiscintí agus cleachtais an mhúinteora Eacnamaíochta Baile san iar-bhunscoil Ghaeltachta. Bíodh is go bhfuil raidhse leathan litríochta sa ghort a thráchtann ar na castachtaí oideolaíochta roimh mhúinteoirí tumchláir, is beag taighde atá déanta ar an bhfeiniméan céanna i gcomhthéacs an oideachais Ghaeltachta, go háirithe an taighde sin a nochtann fíorthaithí mhúinteoirí ábhair iar-bhunleibhéil ó theacht i bhfeidhm an Pholasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta. Chuige sin, díríodh aird an taighde seo ar pheirspictíochtaí iarbhír seisear rannpháirtithe i gcúig iar-bhunscoil cláraithe faoin Scéim Aitheantais Scoileanna Gaeltachta.
D’fhonn guth a thabhairt don taithí bharántúil rinneadh iniúchadh ar ábhar an staidéir trí lionsa na paraidíme bunathraithí. Chuathas i muinín modhanna measctha taighde agus an taighde feidhmeach mar dhearadh taighde agus baineadh úsáid as raon fairsing d’ionstraimí bailithe sonraí. Ar a bharr sin, reáchtáladh idirghabhálacha taighde ar bhonn timthriallach leis an éabhlú sa chleachtas agus sa smaointeoireacht a éascú. Cuimsíodh meonta, bonn eolais agus modhanna múinte rannpháirtithe san anailísiú ar shonraí agus thángthas ar dhá mhórthéama taighde, ina measc, Creidiúintí agus Tuiscintí Ábharbhunaithe mar aon le Cleachtas Oideolaíoch Ábharbhunaithe.
Sonraíodh i bhfianaise na dtorthaí taighde cé go raibh rannpháirtithe báúil don lántumadh, gur beag tuisceana a léiríodh i dtaobh choincheap an chomhtháthaithe ábhar agus teanga i ndáil lena chur i bhfeidhm sa chleachtas teagaisc; narbh ionann inniúlacht sa teanga agus na hinniúlachtaí éigeantacha leis an oideolaíocht theangabhunaithe a chur i ngníomh; go raibh an múnla teagaisc faoi chomaoin fhorlámhas an ábhair acadúil agus nach raibh cianteagasc na héigeandála sláinte COVID-19 ina choinníoll fhabhrach le haghaidh an dea-theagaisc ábhairbhunaithe a chur chun cinn. Ar deireadh, eascraíodh moltaí ón staidéar a bhain le cleachtas agus le beartas ar mhaithe leis an idé-oideolaíocht chomhtháite a chur chun cinn thar achar an chontanaim oideachais lán-Ghaeilge.
2023-10-27T00:00:00ZUsing CLIL to support teacher language awareness in the Irish language in English-medium primary schools: an analysis of the impact on second language teaching and learning competency
https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/3125
Using CLIL to support teacher language awareness in the Irish language in English-medium primary schools: an analysis of the impact on second language teaching and learning competency
This study sought to examine CLIL as a mechanism to enhance teacher language awareness (TLA) in English-medium schools in the Republic of Ireland. The potential of this enhancement of TLA is to support teachers’ own language proficiency together with their second language teaching and learning competency. The benefits of a CLIL approach for the learner have been clearly established across international research including studies undertaken by Fernandez-Fontecha (2014); Dalton-Puffer (2007, 2008); De Diezmas (2016); Gierlinger and Wagner (2016); Harris and Ó Duibhir (2011) and Morton (2015). The benefits of employing a CLIL approach are less clear for teachers. This is not only a deficit in current research but also a significant missed prospect in the exploration and promotion of CLIL and its associated opportunities for the development of successful language teacher identity as well as related improvements in second language learning classroom practice overall.
The research aims of this study were realised through the application of a pragmatic lens employing a case study research design to explore the coupling of CLIL with the Irish language and the subsequent implementation efforts in primary classrooms in the Republic of Ireland. Five primary school teachers’ interactions with CLIL were documented. A mixed methods approach was utilised to collect data and included the use of self-assessments, formal assessments, focus groups and reflective exercises to chart the journey of participants as they engaged with CLIL approaches in their classrooms. Participant-informed perspectives provided a context as to what the impact of employing a CLIL approach was for the teacher as well as what is achievable for Irish language CLIL-based teaching and learning within the English-medium school context.
Five distinct themes emerged from the data collected from this study. The first three themes explored the influence of employing CLIL in the classroom on teachers’ own language self-efficacy as well as their professional beliefs. The final two themes explored firstly the essential knowledge base that is required by teachers to successfully implement CLIL practices before finally discussing the needs as well as the opportunities to support the development of this essential knowledge base across the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of a teacher’s ecosystem.
Conclusions supported a series of recommendations grounded in achievable and realistic proposals that are based on the informed perspectives of participants of this study. The advantage of employing a CLIL approach to the development of appropriate teacher language awareness is clear. Benefits of employing a CLIL approach include a positive influence on teachers’ language self-efficacy as well as a strengthening of professional identity emergent from the enhancement of teachers’ professional beliefs which support improved language classroom practices. The possibilities for CLIL implementation across the primary school system are grounded within the participant-informed perspectives collated from this study. A host of current education processes currently in use by schools in the Republic of Ireland are opportune for the support of CLIL implementation on a larger scale, the result of which would undoubtedly support improved Irish language teaching and learning experiences together with learner outcomes.
2023-09-26T00:00:00ZInvestigating language corpora as a grammar development resource
https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/handle/10395/3119
Investigating language corpora as a grammar development resource
The digital era has brought new concepts and transformations into language development and has given rise to technology-based approaches to learner autonomy. It has shifted the focus from deductive to inductive learning, where the concept of ‘noticing’ (Schmidt, 1990) language forms is promoted. Literature suggests that this type of student-centered self-discovery of lexico-grammatical patterns can be greatly aided by corpus linguistics methods, specifically ‘Data-Driven Learning’ (DDL) (Johns, 1986; Braun, 2005; O’Keeffe et al, 2007). It reports on the valuable potential of DDL for developing learners’ multi-literacies and cognitive strategies, particularly raising their awareness of lexico-grammatical patterning (O’Keeffe and Farr, 2003). However, insights from corpus-based studies have not been widely applied in teaching practices (Reppen, 2022; Zareva, 2017). It has also been proposed that DDL enhances accurate representation of language, raises cultural understanding, provides learners with the freedom to explore and discover the language, and fosters learner autonomy, thus making them more effective language learners (Flowerdew, 2015).
This affordance led to the design of a longitudinal experimental study which aimed to provide useful skills and processes in the use of language corpora as a grammar development resource in the pre-intermediate EFL classroom in an Armenain context outside of higher education. The evaluation data included pre-, post-, progress-, delayed post-test data, and Learner Autonomy Profile (LAP) form, the statistical analysis of which revealed the beneficial impact of the computer-based inductive approach of DDL on the learners’ grammar competency, independent learning skills, as well as the contribution of cognitive strategies to proceduralization of knowledge. It also included semi-structured interview data, which uncovered the learners’ increased engagement in the learning process, the positive change in their attitudes towards their own learning, and the ways of demonstrating autonomous abilities in working with concordances. These data also brought to light some of the fears and challenges of using DDL, as well discussing its theoretical and pedagogical underpinnings aligned with psychological processes of learning.
The findings will serve all the participants of this hugely important ELT sector - researchers, language educators and learners. They will gain insights as to what is necessary to tap learners’ implicit long-term knowledge, to prepare them both psychologically and practically for independence so that they can be armed with confidence, interest in discovering the language, knowledge about their own learning, and understanding of how to make use of their learning styles and strategies.
Keywords: conventional/technology-enhanced EFL classroom, corpus linguistics, data-driven learning (DDL), inductive/deductive grammar learning, direct/indirect written feedback, explicit/implicit knowledge, language awareness, learner autonomy.
2023-09-25T00:00:00Z