Transcript Using Gaelic and Edifying the Spirit

Alasdair MacMhaoirn, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle
of Skye, Scotland
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1) The Problem
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2) The Project
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3) Aims
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4) Fulfilling the aims
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5) Conclusion
It is apparent that few if any of the children
who have come through Gaelic Medium
Education (GME) use their Gaelic in the home,
or are speaking Gaelic to their own children.
As a consequence of this, intergenerational
transfer does not occur.
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It is apparent that there are not enough
activities outside of school to use Gaelic:
exercise groups, dance groups, music
groups, art groups and others are rare
through the medium of Gaelic.
This problem is worse for those children who
have no Gaelic at home. They will certainly
turn to English as soon as school is finished.
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“You must surround them with enriching
activities…” (J. Fishman, Inverness, 2004)
The children need a Gaelic environment with
the opportunity for activities and sports.
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…Stage 6, consisting of home-familyneighbourhood-community
reinforcement…constitutes the heart of the entire
intergenerational transmission pursuit…
(Fishman 1991, p.398)
…if this stage is not satisfied, all else can amount
to little more than biding time. (ibid 399)
What can be done outside of school that is broad
enough?
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Set up Gaelic medium martial arts classes –
Karate and Ninjitsu
There were two classes, one in Skye
associated with the college, and another in
Tain, Ross Shire.
Funding was received from the Gaelic
Language Board.
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The classes began in September 2008, and
continued until May 2009.
In Slèite, the children were between 5 and 9
years of age, while in Tain they were between
6 and 11. The classes were one hour each,
once a week.
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To raise the children’s confidence in Gaelic,
that they see Gaelic as being natural outside
of class, and that they are able to learn
something completely new through the
medium of Gaelic
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To increase their knowledge of Gaelic
(education)
To increase their cultural knowledge
(community)
To develop self-confidence through Gaelic
(personal connection to Gaelic)
For fun and exercise through Gaelic
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1) Improving their Gaelic – a) vocabulary
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Body parts, particularly the joints
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The children were fine with a few, but others,
ankles and hips for example, were new to
them.
The joints came up in the opening exercises
of every class, so they were heard often
enough to be remembered.
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Improving their Gaelic – b) ‘S e and Tha
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Gaelic has a split copula, ‘S for noun + nouns,
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THA for noun + adjective. The THA form is
often mistakenly used all the time.
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Wrong: Tha mi e. Correct: ‘S mise e.
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Tag/ Tip games corrected the problem.
This was a bigger problem in Tain than in Skye.
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Improving their Gaelic – c) the verbs
Gaelic uses the command form as a root
form. Instructions and subsequent forms are
a clear indication of verb patterns.
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Seas an àird, nuair a sheasas tu …
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Tog do glùn, nuair a thogas tu …
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Improving their Gaelic – d) ways of learning
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The children use their Gaelic outside of
school.
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They learn in an environment which is natural
to them, much like how they would pick up
words at home or in a play park.
Gaelic becomes a vehicle through which a
new and interesting skill is acquired.
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As the children are learning new techniques they
hear the same instructions over and over, such
as: brush, grab, strike; brush, grab, strike.
The children continued to use these words, as
the words aided the memory of the movement.
The words became like a mantra connecting the
movement with language. This is unlikely to
switch to English.
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Improving their Gaelic – d) as opportunities
arise…
As well as the usual language used during the
class, at times unexpected situations would
arise which were wonderful for social
language learning.
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In one class a boy was tripped by someone.
When I asked what happened he said, using
English structures: “Rinn e mi tuiteam.”
The incident gave the opportunity to use the
correct idiom: “Thug e orm tuiteam.”
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On another occasion the class was making
fun of one boy. When I asked what was going
on I was told that the boy had been picking
his nose, and having a snack!
They didn’t know the words in Gaelic, so I
told them because this was another
opportunity to teach that wouldn’t normally
occur in a formal setting.
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2) Cultural Knowledge
The children were involved in a situation
where physical actions reflected culture.
“Deiseil air gach ni”: sunwise for everything.
As often as possible we worked in circles, the
idea of a circle is deep within Highland
culture.
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Cultural Knowledge:
We didn’t use surnames, but rather personal
names and polite verb forms. In GME, English
naming systems are the norm. (For no good
reason that I know of!)
Working together: this is fundamental to a
Highland community
There were opportunities for stories which linked
with oral tradition.
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3) Self Confidence
Since the children are successful in their
martial art, and because they are learning
through Gaelic, it is hoped that they will
associate Gaelic with success.
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Self Confidence and the Family
A class was arranged along with a Kung Fu
class in Inverness, and the families were
invited.
Everyone went out to Rollerbowl and dinner
afterwards, which involved everyone.
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4) Fun and Exercise through Gaelic
The children found out quite quickly that
English was of no use in class – the main
instructor pretended that he had no English.
It was notable how the children would
translate for two children whose Gaelic was
not so fluent.
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The Letter Game:
This is a chasing game where the children have
cards with a letter. The cards are designed to
come together to create specific letter
combinations in Gaelic, such as: Bh, Ch
H can chase B, C, and when he catches the B, for
example, the B is frozen, until he says to a
referee the sound that B+H make.
The letter combinations can be taught very
quickly.
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It was realized that most language production
was being done by the teachers.
To rebalance this, children who were very
good at certain things were asked to
demonstrate and explain to the others,
thereby pushing their own language
boundaries.
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The project achieved its aims.
Child Care workers noted that there was an
obvious improvement in language use.
It is hoped to continue the programme and
extend into the High School years.