This paper presents Irish-medium immersion (IMI) teachers' perceptions of their development of content knowledge of language (CK-L) and pedagogical content knowledge of language (PCK-L) as a result of engaging in form-focused professional development (PD) which combined both content knowledge and pedagogical learning outcomes. An intervention,…

The participation of multilingual children in minority language immersion programmes is under-researched internationally. The Republic of Ireland (RoI) has become a linguistically and culturally diverse society. In the RoI, parents have the opportunity to educate their child in English-medium or Irish-medium (IM) schools. However, the cohort of…

The aim of this study is to examine which predictor variables are related to literacy attainment in Irish (Gaelic)-English bilinguals. The participants were in their second (n = 115) and third (n = 125) year of schooling in Ireland and were drawn from both native speaker and new speaker backgrounds. The constructs of phonemic awareness, verbal…

Additive bilingualism has long been reported as a benefit of immersion education. Nevertheless, the suitability of this form of education and bilingualism for children with special educational needs (SEN) has been much debated. Recent studies show that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific speech and language disorder (SSLD), and…

Research has shown immersion to be effective, yet our understanding about the integration of language and content in Irish-medium immersion (IMI) pedagogy remains incomplete. This article reports on how the teaching of mathematics in the IMI elementary setting, supported pre-service teachers in bridging the language and content gap. The study…

There have been many instances when parents have been advised by educational professionals against bilingualism or immersion education for their child with special educational needs (SEN). Some parents follow the advice given and decide to use only one language with their child, mainly the majority language of the community. This study…

While research on Irish-medium immersion education (IME) has heralded benefits such as cognitive skills, academic achievement and language and literacy development, many studies have also identified challenges to its successful implementation. Immersion-specific research-validated tools can help school leaders navigate the school self-evaluation…

Little research exists in relation to the prevalence of special educational needs (SEN) in immersion education throughout the world. Parents are often dissuaded by educational professionals against this form of education and bilingualism for their child if they present with SEN. Nevertheless, some parents still choose to educate their child with…

There has been a long history of early Irish language learning in Ireland as a result of Government policy to promote greater use of Irish. All children learn Irish in school from age 4-18 years. The majority learn Irish as a subject, typically for 30-40 minutes per day, and the levels of competence achieved are mostly disappointing. Approximately…

Schools in Ireland vary in how they introduce reading in the two official languages, Irish and English. There is particular variability within immersion (Irish medium) schools. Some introduce Irish reading first (IRF) and others English reading first (ERF). This study compared the development of Irish and English skills in children attending…

This article focuses on qualitative self-report data from a mixed-methods study which investigated Grade 5 and 6 (n = 274), 11-12-year-old, Irish-medium (IM) immersion students' improvement in linguistic accuracy in response to an explicit-inductive approach to form-focused instruction (FFI). A series of typographically enhanced PowerPoint slides…

There is now consensus among researchers and educators that parental involvement in education is related to children's academic and social success at school. However, less is known about the reasons why some parents choose to become involved and others do not. In recent years, there has been a move towards developing theoretical models which can…

For the majority of people in Ireland, Irish is a second language acquired primarily through the schooling system. This study examined the reading strategies children used in response to English and Irish words (presented in isolation), through an analysis of their oral reading errors. Children in their 4th year of schooling attending…

During an investigation into the L2 proficiency and L3 acquisition skills of 10- to 12-year-olds in Irish primary schools, questions of metalinguistic awareness and cross-linguistic influence were raised. Do children who are more balanced bilinguals develop a higher sense of metalinguistic awareness than less balanced bilinguals? What evidence of…

Although the vast majority of people in Ireland have at least some knowledge of Irish, only a small minority speak it as a community language (in Gaeltacht areas in the west) or in the more widely dispersed Irish-speaking households in the large English speaking area. Primary schools have had a central role in language revitalisation since the…