Bilingualism and Pre-School Provision: Gaelic-medium Playrooms

Joanna McPakeUniversity of Strathclyde, Scotland

Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh, Alba

joanna.mcpake@strath.ac.uk

Key Questions

• What are the linguistic advantages and disadvantages of early years language immersion programmes?

• What are the educational advantages and disadvantages?

• What approaches maximise linguistic and educational benefits?

• How can early years practitioners best be supported to achieve the challenging goals they have been set?

Two Studies

Glasgow Gaelic SchoolSgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu

• 2008-9: Review of Gaelic Medium Early Education and Childcare (Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gàidhlig)

• 2010-11: Young Children Learning in Gaelic (British Academy)

Research Team:University of Stirling: Christine Stephen, Irene Pollock, Tessa Carroll University of Edinburgh: Wilson McLeodUniversity of Strathclyde: Joanna McPake

AimsReview• To map the current extent

of GM provision for early years education and childcare

Young Children• To investigate the everyday

experiences of children attending GM pre-school settings

MethodsReview• Mapping provision from existing

statistics• A survey of identified providers • Interviews with key informantsYoung children• Three case study settings, six

visits across the school year• Systematic observations• Structured conversations • Access to child profile records• Profile of language learning

environment in each setting

Gaelic Medium Education (GME)

• Gaelic speakers in Scotland:59,000 people = 1.2% of population

• Fewer than 1% of families with young children use Gaelic at home

• Just over 700 children enrolled in GM pre-school in 2008-9

• National Plan for Gaelic: aims for 4000 children starting GME by 2021

Gaelic Medium Pre-School Provision

• Scottish children entitled to two years of state-funded pre-school education, from age 3-5: 475 hours per year

• From the Review, we found 127 providers of GM early years education and care in 2008-9: state and private nurseries, playgroups and child-minders

Iochdar Nursery, South UistCroileagan An Iochdair

• The Review found GM pre-school provision in 14 of the 32 local authorities in Scotland, not only in the Gàidhealtachd

Gaelic Medium Pre-School Practitioners• Nursery staff may be ‘fluent

speakers’ or ‘learners’ of Gaelic• Educational qualifications range

from basic vocational qualification (SVQ2) to B.Ed.

• No pre-school or early years initial training is available in Gaelic.

• None includes a focus on bilingualism, language learning and teaching or principles and practice of immersion education.

• CPD for Gaelic medium pre-school and school practitioners is with English-medium colleagues, and in English. GM practitioners are expected to ‘translate’ this into GM practice.

A Language Immersion Model• c. 80% of children do not

come from Gaelic speaking homes

• Providers outside the Gàidhealtachd have very few Gaelic speaking children

• Non-Gaelic speaking parents choose GM provision for:- historical reasons- benefits of bilingualism- social reasons- small classes

• Gaelic-speaking parents often choose English medium education

Curriculum for Excellence: Early Years

• Active, experiential learning • Follows children’s interests and

motivations• ‘Play’ an important medium for learning• Holistic perspective on development –

cognitive, emotional, social, expressive and aesthetic and physical

• Learning is process of construction not transmission

• Process valued as well as product

Challenges

• To provide children with a positive start to their educational careers, meeting all the demands of Curriculum for Excellence

• To do this using a language unfamiliar to most of the children• To ensure that children develop competence in Gaelic, enabling

them to progress to GM primary education

An Cumachd

Ms Robertson: James, dè tha ann an cumachd? James: Rocket. Ms Robertson: Chan e. (Asks others.) Ms Robertson: Eil sibh ag èisteachd le na cluasan? Cumachd. ’S

e shape a th’ ann.

An Doctair

Two girls lie down and role play going to sleepMairi: I’m pretending in

the game that I’m ill.

Ms MacNeill: Dè tha ceàrr ort? Laura: They don’t know.Ms MacNeill: Dè tha an dotair

ag ràdh? Mairi: I don’t know.

Isaac Newton

Ms Blair: Cò bha Isaac Newton?

Shona: An apple fell on his head.

Ms Blair: Carson a thuit an ubhal?

Shona: Because there was gravity.

Am Burrais

Ms Blair: Dè thachair?Lisa: He was a mòr

caterpillar. Ms Blair: How long?Lisa: Dà weeks.

Gaelic Exposure and Use• In just over half the observation episodes for

target children across all settings the language they heard was Gaelic

• Children spoke English almost all the time• Overwhelming majority of instances of

Gaelic use were when singing or at story time (adult-led activities)

• Children clearly understood commands and polite phrases and sometimes embedded these in English (e.g. ‘tidy up’, ‘thank you’)

• They very occasionally embedded other single words in responses to practitioners

• Limited evidence that they were aware of emergent bilingualism or its purpose

Theoretical Perspectives• Sociology of childhood:

being and becoming- the being child: a social

actor in his or her own right, actively constructing his or her own childhood (present orientation)

- the becoming child: an adult in the making (future orientation)

Uprichard, E. (2007): Children as ‘Being and Becomings’: Children, Childhood and TemporalityChildren and Society, 22: 303-313

Conflicting Goals?

Being Becoming

Curriculum for ExcellenceEarly Level

Process-orientation:• Child-centred• Active• Play-based• Holistic

GM Pre-school and Primary Education

Goal-orientation:• Language

revitalisation-centred• Rapid, substantive

growth in numbers of Gaelic speakers

• Fluency

Some Answers

• Linguistic advantages and disadvantages

• Educational advantages and disadvantages

• Maximising the benefits• Supporting practitioners

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