Ag foghlaim teanga trí chorpoideachas a iniúchadh sa bhunscoil Déirdre Ní Chróinín Siobhán Ní Mhurchú TJ Ó Ceallaigh Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál, Ollscoil Luimnigh.

Context Methodology Key Findings Overview of the presentation 2

Learning Attitudes To explore the impact of Irish language learning through the medium of physical education (PE) on: Purpose of the Research

"...the integration of particular content with language teaching aims...the concurrent teaching of academic subject matter and second language skills" (Brinton et al., 1989, p. 2). An Fhoghlaim Chomhtháite Ábhar agus Teangacha (FCÁT) Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

Brinton, D. (2005) Guiding Principles of CLIL  Integrated aims  Interests and needs of the learners  Language acquisition  Language use and communication  Authentic materials and tasks  Content-based  Input necessary but not sufficient  Balanced focus on fluency and accuracy

RESEARCH SAMPLE DescriptionNumber Fourth class teachers5 Leanaí Rang 45 Research Intervention Introductory workshop (2hours) Each class teacher delivered a unit of PE (4-8 lessons) through Irish.

 Focus group with the teachers  Teachers’ written reflections (each lesson)  Direct observation of lessons (research team)  Focus group with 3-5 children from each class  Final interview with each teacher Data Collection

Starting points First impressions Experiences of the process week-by-week Gaeilge: Learning and Attitudes PE: Learning and Attitudes Overview of the Findings

 Different levels of competence and confidence in Gaeilge & PE  Different rationale  Different motivation V  A willingness to get involved  A positive attitude  Some apprehension Starting Point - Teachers

‘Mar do chreid mé insan smaoineamh a bhí ann go bunúsach, agus tá an-shuim i múineadh na Gaeilge, agus chomh maith leis sin bhí saghas easpa smaointe agam do cheachtanna corpoideachais agus do thapaidh mé an deis chun an dá rud a dhéanamh. Agus bhí suim agam ann’ (Sadhbh). ‘I love the Irish language but I wouldn’t be very confident in my own ability’ (Fran) Rationale

 Negative attitudes towards the Gaeilge and a lack of confidence – “boring / hard to understand / don’t like writing / will I be able to learn the words” V  Positive attitudes towards PE “fun / games / run around / fresh air” But some thought our language was important! And they were willing and a tad excited to get involved. Starting Point - Children

 A shift in attitudes  An improvement in confidence levels  ‘I loved that because it…made me see that… it’s using Irish you know, using Irish that the children could understand. It gave me confidence in the games, and it let me see that the children didn’t need a massive amount of Irish to be able to participate and to enjoy the games’ (Fran). First Impressions - Teachers

Apprehension → Growth in confidence, enjoyment and success.  P1We weren’t kind of sure, and we were asking a lot of questions about it….  P2Well, she kind of told us more about it, and then we decided we’d just like try it, and then we just go to know it better, and we really enjoyed it (rang Tríona)  Tar éis an chéad rang dúirt mé, ‘Ó, an raibh sé deacair?’ ‘Ní raibh sé deacair’. ‘An raibh sé leadránach?’, “Ní raibh sé leadránach’. ‘An bhain tú taitneamh as?’, ‘Bhain mé taitneamh as’. (Tríona) First Impressions - Children

Experiences of the process week-by-week

 Planning  Pedagogical Approach  Learning Styles  Language Teaching – formal & informal  Developmental Integration  Assessment Aspects of Importance in that Process

Planning & Pedagogical Approach TPR  ‘at the start I suppose I did a lot of actions, and then I used to get one or two children to do an example, and then I’d just correct wherever they made mistakes so that everyone knew’ (Fran). Linguistic demands - communicative competence  I found that I needed to teach them quite a lot of the informal Irish (Laoise). The process: Teachers’ experiences

Developmental Integration I: Ar labhair siad Gaeilge lena chéile le linn na cluichí? Tríona: Uaireanta, ar dtús bhí an-chuid Béarla, agus ansin tar éis b’fhéidir trí nó ceithre rang, bhí siad an-chiúin ar fad, agus just you know getting nods of the head agus you know, ‘tá’, ‘sea’, ‘ceart go leor’, ach ní raibh siad ag caint le chéile mórán, so ceapaim go bhfuil siad ag smaoineamh, ‘ó maybe níl cead againn Béarla a labhairt, agus níl mé ró-chinnte conas é a rá as Gaeilge, so just beidh mé ciúin’ The process: Teachers’ experiences

Language Teaching / Modelling / Developmental Integration  ‘bhí sé ceart go leor mar do chaitheas roinnt ama ag an gclár bán, agus do mhúineas na rudaí, do mhíníos rudaí, do dheineamar cleachta, dheineas múinleoireacht os comhair an ranga faoi mar a dhéanfá b’fhéidir le heiseamláirí teanga sa … Gaeilge, but do dheineas é seo le liathróidí cispheile, agus liathróidí agus mar sin de, so bhí sé ceart go leor’ (Sadhbh). The process: Teachers’ experiences

Assessment ‘Sure bhí sé soiléir ar thuigeadar nó nár thuigeadar. Either ritheadar go dtí an cón dearg nó níor ritheadar, nó phreabadar an liathróid nó níor phreabadar, so bhí sé an-fhuirist é sin a fheiscint’ (Sadhbh). Mar a dúirt mé, na haghaidheanna. Like an bhfuil siad blank?, an bhfuil siad puzzled? nó an bhfuil yeah ceart go leor. Agus lean siad ar aghaidh, agus d’imir siad an cluiche gan treoir ar bith, you know, tuigeann siad na rialacha. Now tuigeann siad cad a bhí ar siúl, ach fós ní raibh siad ag baint úsáid as an-chuid Gaeilge, so b’fhéidir tar éis cúpla ceachtanna eile, agus níos mó ullmhúchán ar mo pháirt, beidh siad in ann níos mó Gaeilge a úsáid. (Tríona) The process: Teachers’ experiences

 Learning language / terms in the classroom  Writing these in a notebook  Teacher modelling  Teacher and classmates as supports  Lots of practice  Using language / terms in the classroom / yard Children’s experiences

Impact on Gaeilge Learning and Attitudes

 Language Learning Outcomes – Receptive V Productive  Gaeilge Neamhfhoirmiúil - improvement  Attitude & Confidence - improvement  Oral Language Foundation – stages having a positive impact  Enjoyment - success  Language Planning – more necessary Impact on Gaeilge learning

Formal Language is challenging Informal Language is lacking Lessons 1-2 Formal Language being used more consistently Informal Language is lacking Lessons 3-4 Formal Language needed to play the games Increase in use of iIformal Language Lessons 5+ Formal Language – specific vocabulary and the language necessary to play the game. Informal Language – language for communicative and interactive purposes.

Listening - Understanding - Speaking ‘the children don’t necessarily need to have a massive amount of vocabulary, so it’s working on their understanding, but then they, in spite of themselves, start coming out with some, and they start using the language’ (Fran). Impact on Gaeilge learning

‘when my cousins come down to my Granny’s, there’s the park beside it, so we play there, and by an accident I got mixed up with the English and the Irish, and I started to shouting out loads of Irish… and they were both staring at me going, ‘what is she saying?... I was saying, ‘Brostaigh’, and ‘Tabhair dom é’, and ‘Dúisigí’, and all these other words (rang Sadhbh). Impact on Gaeilge learning

‘an rud is mó a thaitin liomsa mar gheall ar an tionscnamh ar fad ná an dearcadh. An dearcadh dearfach, agus an spreagadh a thug saghas iad a bheith you know a tharraingt i dtreo na Gaeilge, mar is rud an- thábhachtach, is rud teibí é seo, ach is rud an- thábhachtach, más féidir leat dearcadh dearfach i leith na Gaeilge a chothú ins na páistí, sin ceann des na haidhmeanna atá sa churaclam. So bhí mé an-shásta gur bhain mé an aidhm sin amach’ (Sadhbh). The importance of a positive attitude

Affective nature of learning I:If the teacher said, ‘ok, next week now we go back to do PE as Béarla’. P1:I’d be really sad. ‘I was feeling very excited. I like doing Irish, so if I put PE and Irish together, I was thinking I’d really enjoy it. But then when I was after doing it, I got a bit confused and all of these words, but then I started to get the hang of it, and I enjoyed it’ (rang Sadhbh). Impact on Gaeilge attitudes

Impact on Physical Education Learning and Attitudes

 Being active/ participation was emphasised over specific skill learning  Teachers more focused on language development  Language limited feedback/ differentiation Impact on PE learning

Teachers more focused on language development I:Did you find it difficult now to teach the skills, the PE skills as Gaeilge? Laoise: That was actually one of the problems that I noted down… in particular, a lot of the game ones, I found I was more concentrating on the language towards the end than I was the actual skills. Impact on PE learning

Language limited feedback/ differentiation ‘do chonac go soiléir cuid des na cluichí you know, go raibh páistí laga agam ó thaobh you know bheith ábalta liathróid a láimhseáil ó thaobh slí amháin nó slí eile, but toisc go raibh an tionscnamh ar bun agam, ní fhéadfá saghas idirdhealú a dhéanamh idir na páistí láidre ó thaobh an chorpoideachais de agus na páistí a bhí b’fhéidir dyspraxia orthu mar shampla. Ní raibh tú ábalta an dá thrá a fhreastal’ (Sadhbh).

‘Well, at first we played like kinda babyish games in Irish, but then when we got like… we understood it more, we got to play funner games and stuff’ (rang Tríona).  I:And did it make the games more fun that you were doing it in Irish, or did it make it less fun, or did it make any difference?  All:It didn’t make any difference (rang Triona). Impact on PE learning

 P1:We did this game where there it says something on the card and you have to match it to this picture but it was all in Irish.  I: Ok, so were you practising Irish there, or were you practising PE skills, do you think?  P1:Irish.  I:Irish. So in the classes, did you practise more Irish or more PE, do you think?  P1:More Irish.(rang Fran) Impact on PE learning

Not all students were challenged? ‘I like PE, but it’s fun. I prefer it in English because we do better games, and it’s better because we do funner games, and in Irish … we do easier games’ (rang Fran).  I:Ok, it was good because it was instead of Irish but if it was instead of PE in English…  P1:I wouldn’t like it as much but it would be still fun, cos in Irish we did simpler games.  I:Ok, and what makes the other games you play in English PE harder, tell me.  P1:there’s more instructions, and there’s more games…(rang Fran) Impact on PE learning

‘Bhuel, I suppose an tuiscint a bhí agamsa ar an bpróiseas ar fad ná go bhfoghlaimeodh na páistí Gaoluinn agus iad i mbun corpoideachais ag an am céanna, but is dócha chun a bheith macánta go n- éireodh leat níos mó scileanna corpoideachais a dhéanamh sa chéad teanga, now, admhaím san, ach ó thaobh na Gaoluinne de, you know, b’fhiú go mór é’ (Sadhbh). Impact on PE learning

‘I thought it was fun because we learnt it, and like we would… it made us better in Irish like, it was like being in the classroom doing the Irish, except we were outside getting fit while using the Irish, so we were learning and exercising at the same time’ (rang Sadhbh). Impact on PE attitudes

‘is breá liom an corpoideachas agus an Ghaoluinn a chur le chéile mar tá gníomhaíocht i gceist, agus tá spórt i gceist, agus tá spraoi i gceist…ar shlí, luíonn corpoideachas agus an Ghaoluinn le chéile go han-mhaith, mar múineann tú saghas na focail like, ag bogshodar, ag rith, ag léim, ag scipeáil, ag máirseáil. Múineann tú iad san ar aon nós, nuair a bhíonn tú i mbun oibre ag brath ar an téama a bhíonn á dhéanamh agat. Múineann tú an trealamh spóirt ag déanamh b’fhéidir an téama caitheamh aimsire, so níl an-chuid oibre breise i gceist’ (Sadhbh). Gaeilge agus PE le chéile?

‘Absolutely…Because it has made Irish enjoyable for me too, and I see that it can be… you know it can be alive for children and they can understand and it makes it so much more alive for them, and that they have fun with it, and it’s great. It’s great to see that’ (Fran). Would you like to do it again? Teachers

‘B’fhiú go mór é chun aghaidheanna na bpáistí a fheiscint, saghas ó thaobh iad a bheith níos dearfaí i leith na Gaeilge. Saghas, nuair a dúirt tú, “right táimid chun Gaoluinn a dhéanamh amuigh sa chlós, agus na haghaidheanna agus iad ag preabadh as a gcraiceann, I mean b’fhiú go mór an rud a dhéanamh toisc an méid sin’ (Sadhbh). Would you like to do it again? Teachers

‘fuair mé smaointe nua don chorpoideachas, you know, so bhí… sin bonus mór agus ansin like, bhainmíd go léir taitneamh, agus thug sé seans dúinn níos mó Gaeilge a labhairt lasmuigh den rang, you know, nuair atáimid ag léamh an leabhar, ‘tháinig na páistí abhaile, agus shuigh siad síos, agus thosaigh siad ag féachaint ar an teilifís’, arís is arís is arís, agus tá sé leadránach, ach nuair atáimid lasmuigh den rang, tá seans againn you know an teanga atá ar eolas againn a úsáid agus you know, feiceann na páistí an méid atá ar eolas acu, an méid a thuigeann siad, so I think tugann sé muinín do na páistí, yeah (Tríona). Would you like to do it again? Teachers

 I:Has it made Gaeilge very, very difficult, or has it made Gaeilge easier?  P1:I think it has made it easier, because when you’re having fun it’s easier to learn things (rang Meadbh). Would you like to do it again? Children

 Gaeilge - Positive impact on :  Teacher and Pupil learning  Teacher and Pupil attitudes  PE - Neutral impact on PE attitudes (children) and activity levels  Impact on PE skill learning (?) Summary of Findings

 Attitudes   Learning   Strategies?  Insight into their experiences of this approach lays foundations for future CLIL initiatives in Irish primary schools. Next steps

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