Review of Languages in Post-Primary Education

The current review involving modern languages as well as English and Gaeilge is a continuation of a number of NCCA initiatives relating to these languages in the curriculum.

In November 2003, the NCCA published the discussion document Languages in the Post-primary Curriculum .  This paper, produced by Professor David Little of Trinity College Dublin, provided the basis for the first phase of a consultation process.

The consultations concluded with the publication in the spring of 2005 of a report Review of Languages in Post-Primary Education: Report of the First Phase of the Review.  All of the documents can be accessed on the NCCA web site.

A Languages Board of Studies oversees the current phase of the work and course committees have been meeting to work on the review of the individual languages and on a common agenda across languages.

To date the work has focused on writing learning outcomes for the syllabuses and on embedding the key skills in those outcomes. In this process all the languages link to a common subject template.

The work is also addressing the need to update the current syllabus content to reflect developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The next phase of the work will involve consideration of issues pertaining to assessment.

The current phase of review has also provided the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of current provision and practices.

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