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Glos, Voce, Voice

Minority Language Children Reflect on the Recognition of their First Languages in Irish Primary Schools

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The Changing Faces of Ireland

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Abstract

“My grandmother would kill me!” announced Laima, a Lithuanian student, one day during an English language support class. We had just been discussing some vocabulary. I asked her for a certain word in English and she did not know the answer. I asked her for the word in Lithuanian and noticed immediately the look of shock as she realised that the word, previously well-known to her, had disappeared from her repertoire. Earlier, at the start of the lesson, she had told me about how happy she felt that her grandmother had come to visit from Lithuania. It was this previous conversation which now prompted the revelation of a murderous matriarch! Laima’s comment, while made in half-jest, suggested a deeper issue with regard to her language, identity and family relations. It was this comment, this interaction, which drove me to examine further this area of first languages and minority language students in Irish schools.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Rory Mc Daid

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  1. Rory Mc Daid
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland

    Merike Darmody

  2. University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    Naomi Tyrrell

  3. George Fox University, Oregon, USA

    Steve Song

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© 2011 Sense Publishers

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Daid, R.M. (2011). Glos, Voce, Voice. In: Darmody, M., Tyrrell, N., Song, S. (eds) The Changing Faces of Ireland. SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-475-1_2

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