This paper offers a reflexive account of research with students learning to speak Gaelic (Irish language). Although recognised by the Irish Constitution as the national language of Ireland, Gaelic is spoken on a daily basis by a minority of the population. The lingua franca throughout most of Ireland is English. Gaelic is compulsory in schools and was recognised by the European Union in 2007 as an official language. Nonetheless, students choosing to study it in university in Ireland do so mainly with the intention of teaching the language in primary or secondary schools.
Research in the language lab.:
Drawing upon my experience as a lecturer in the Modern Irish Department of University College Cork, I observed that many students find it difficult to convert language learned in tutorials or literature classes to spoken competence (possibly because so few people actually speak Gaelic in everyday contexts). The ‘language lab’ is seen as somewhere students can learn to pronounce Gaelic properly; thereby becoming more competent speakers.
Theoretical perspective:
Employing Goffman’s theory of ‘the presentation of self’, I argue that the concept of ‘front’ is particularly relevant in researching student performance in class room contexts. The students behave differently on ‘stage’ to when they are sitting in the class. As an audience they also act differently to when they are a ‘class’. There are many different dynamics at work. Students face a conflict between wanting to please their teacher on the one hand and not wanting to seem ‘too good’, ‘too much of a swat’ on the other hand. Pedagogically, the learning taking place in the language lab is Active Learning. For too long oral communication has been in a secondary position relative to grammar and translation in the teaching of Irish. Irish language students have been seen as passive recipients in classes where their voices have scarcely been heard. It is not unusual in Ireland to find that in ‘conversation classes’ the only one talking is the teacher who equates teaching with talking, his/her own talking.
