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Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland
Philip McDermott a a Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK

To cite this Article McDermott, Philip(2008) 'Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of

Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland', Current Issues in Language Planning, 9: 4, 483 500 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/14664200802354443 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14664200802354443

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Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland
Philip McDermott Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK
Debates surrounding linguistic heritage in Northern Ireland have primarily centred on Irish (Gaelic) and Ulster-Scots. However, closer analysis suggests that there have long been other languages spoken in the region. Cantonese, Mandarin, Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese are all spoken throughout Northern Ireland as the region experiences large-scale inward migration for the rst time since the arrival of Scottish settlers in the 1600s. The fact that many of the new arrivals have come with little or no English language skills has implications for a number of public services, not least education. This paper will discuss how schools have responded to the needs of an increasingly multilingual environment by analysing new procedures and by drawing on interviews conducted with stakeholders in the area. doi: 10.1080/14664200802354443 Keywords: language-in-education planning, Northern Ireland, community languages, English as an additional language, linguistic diversity, multiculturalism

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Introduction
Northern Ireland is synonymous throughout the globe with division and conict between two peoples of distinct cultural, religious and political traditions. The Protestant community is generally supportive of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, which ensures that Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom (Parliament of Northern Ireland, 1956). In contrast, the majority of Catholics regard themselves as Irish by nationality and would prefer that Northern Ireland be part of a united Ireland governed from Dublin, not London (Arthur, 2000; Bew et al., 1996; McKittrick & McVea, 2000). Concerns about both the political and cultural relationships between these two communities were at the heart of the Northern Ireland troubles. Although the primary language of the two main communities in Northern Ireland is English, the issues surrounding indigenous minority languages have long been of major importance for both unionist and nationalist communities. For instance, the Irish language has long been regarded as a symbolic marker of national, cultural or political afliation for many nationalists in the region, solidifying their link to the south (Goldenberg, 2002). Consequently, the Irish language has come to be viewed with suspicion by many members of the unionist community. It was only in the late 1980s that the rst tentative
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recognition of the language was given by the British government in the form of a preliminary report and survey on the use of Irish in Northern Ireland (Nic Craith, 1999: 495). Recognition also came from the broadcast sector with the rst television programme broadcast in Irish in 1991 (McDermott, 2007: 115). In parallel with the recognition of the Irish language has been the development of an Ulster-Scots cultural movement which is more closely associated with the unionist community. Many unionists can trace their ancestry to those who had migrated from Scotland in the 1600s, and as a result the cultural and linguistic connection with Scotland has remained strong. Supporters promote the idea that the Scots language was brought to the region by those who migrated in the seventeenth century, and that the variety of this form of speech, now known as Ulster-Scots, is still in use throughout Northern Ireland today. However, the status of Ulster-Scots as a distinct language has been questioned, with some academics focusing on a position which sees it as a dialect of Scots or English (Kirk, 1998: 81). In contrast, an opposing school of thought defends the status of Ulster-Scots as a language in its own right with distinct characteristics (Montgomery, 2004; Robinson, 1997). Although there are no denitive census gures of Ulster-Scots speakers in Northern Ireland, a question was included on Irish language use in 1991 for the rst time in 80 years (Mac Giolla Chrost, 2002: 434; Nic Craith, 1999). The most recent statistics in 2001 state that 167,487 people in Northern Ireland have some knowledge of Irish. Of these, 75,000 claimed to have the ability to read, write and speak the language. Undoubtedly Irish and Ulster-Scots have strong networks of support and the United Kingdom has recognised both under the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages (Council of Europe, 1992). A number of promotional agencies such as the Ulster-Scots Agency and Foras na Gaeilge have also been established in order to assist their development. Such debates on the indigenous linguistic heritage of the region have often rendered invisible a number of small migrant communities that had settled in the region throughout the twentieth century, mainly from China and the South Asian Subcontinent (Hainsworth, 1998; Irwin & Dunn, 1997). These communities gained a degree of recognition in 2001 when a question on ethnic background was included in the government census for the rst time. This census indicated that there were 14,279 members of ethnic groups, with the Chinese and Indian communities being the largest (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2001). More recently, the ongoing peace process and increased economic and employment opportunities have meant that Northern Ireland has become an increasingly attractive place for thousands of non-English-speaking migrants, particularly those from the new member states of the European Union (EU). The size of the newly arrived communities is difcult to determine because no census has taken place since 2001 resulting in a reliance on unofcial sources (McDermott, 2008: 12). For instance, the Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service estimates that 23,640 people have registered to work in Northern Ireland from the new member states, particularly Poland and Lithuania, but the reality may be many more (Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service, 2007). In addition, a sizeable Portuguese community of over 1000 has settled in the rural town of Dungannon in the past few years (Working With Diversity, 2008).

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Despite the lack of comprehensive statistics, there is alternative evidence to suggest that many migrants in Northern Ireland have young families. In October 2007, the schools census indicated that there were 5665 pupils requiring additional English language support (Department of Education Northern Ireland [DENI], 2007a). Although this constitutes just over 1% of the pupil population, there has been a 315% increase in the number of pupils requiring support in the period 2001 2008 (DENI, 2007b). In the three years following EU enlargement, the number of pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) needs increased annually at an average rate of 37%, with the largest increase of 46% occurring in 2006 2007 (DENI, 2007b). As part of the peace process started in the early 1990s and formally initiated by the Good Friday Agreement, a legislative framework has developed promoting equality for all. Examples of this include the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (Her Majestys Stationary Ofce [HMSO], 1997) and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (HMSO, 1998), both of which place statutory obligations on public bodies to make their services accessible to all. This approach has been further solidied by the publication of the Northern Ireland Governments Race Relations Strategy 2005 2010 (Ofce of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, 2005) and by strand six of the Good Friday Agreement on economic, social and cultural issues, which afrms that government and political parties will: [. . .] recognise the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity, including in Northern Ireland, the Irish-language, Ulster-Scots and the languages of the various ethnic communities, all of which are part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland. (Government of the United Kingdom and Government of Ireland, 1998: 24) All of the current legislation has ensured that the issue of language is more prominent than ever before for public service providers in the region. This protection is further strengthened by ongoing debates within the EU extending now not only to issues surrounding regional minority languages, such as Irish and Ulster Scots, but also to the wider remit of minorities in general (Hogan-Brun & Wolff, 2003: 6). Northern Ireland has a large degree of autonomy in relation to its education decision-making and currently has its own Minister for Education. The Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI) has overall responsibility for developing policy and administering funding to schools via ve education and library boards, essentially ve local education authorities (LEAs), based in the South, South East, North East, West and Belfast areas of Northern Ireland. A map showing the jurisdiction of control that the current boards have is shown in Figure 1. At present, the LEAs have a major inuence on practice and policymaking in schools located within their particular areas. However, as part of a restructuring of public services the LEAs will be subsumed into one regionwide body in 2009 called the Education and Skills Authority (ESA), meaning that one body will be responsible for the implementation of policy in schools throughout the wider region.

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Figure 1 Local education authorities in Northern Ireland Source: Adapted from Census 2001: Denitions. Schooling in Northern Ireland functions primarily in a segregated manner with the majority of Protestant pupils attending state schools and the majority of Catholic pupils attending schools maintained by the Catholic Church. Catholic schools, although still accountable to DENI and the LEAs, function in a semi-private sphere where an Irish identity is promoted through a wider Catholic ethos. In contrast, state controlled schools more closely adhere to the endorsement of a British identity (Nic Craith, 2003). A plethora of academic literature is available on the concerns of segregated education and the impact that this has on the two largest communities (Darby, 1973; Darby, 1978; Dunn, 1986; Dunn, 2000; Dunn & Morgan, 1999; McDermott, 2006; Smith, 1996). In addition, 10% of pupils in Northern Ireland attend integrated schools, a sector that grew steadily throughout the 1990s (Fraser & Morgan, 1999). Integrated schools promote an ethos of diversity and multiculturalism and as a result have had children in attendance from Catholic, Protestant and minority ethnic backgrounds for many years. As a result this sector is often identied as being more developed and experienced in their multicultural and EAL strategies than the other school sectors. However, all schools in recent years have had increased numbers of children with EAL needs, particularly Catholic schools that have attracted many pupils from the Polish and Lithuanian communities. Thus far language-in-education planning has focused primarily on the Irishmedium school sector that developed following long campaigns by language enthusiasts and parents (Andrews, 1991; McKendry, 2007; Nic Craith, 1997). The Ulster-Scots language movement has also vociferously campaigned for recognition within the public space, particularly in the education sector. In 2006, materials and resources on Ulster-Scots language and culture were included in the school syllabus (Avery & Gilbert, 2006; Kirk & O Baoill, 2003). In comparison, issues relating to the languages that have arrived in

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Northern Ireland as a result of migration have not been dealt with in the same detail, either by academics or by education service providers.

Methodological Approach
Although many regions in Europe, North America and Australia have long experience in dealing with linguistic diversity in education, Northern Ireland has no such expertise and is at the initial stages of developing policies and strategies. As Mussano (2004: 5) argues, the Northern Ireland experience of dealing with racial diversity in education comes later than the European and British, as the existence of the conict has shadowed the true plural nature of Northern Ireland society. This lack of experience has proved a challenge at both a policymaking and a practical level and reiterates the need for new research to be conducted in this area. As part of this study the author undertook a period of archival research which sourced a number of policy documents, pamphlets and papers in relation to the development of previous and current strategies for the tuition of non-English-speaking pupils. In order to achieve a fuller understanding of the effectiveness of such approaches, it was necessary to conduct a series of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the area. Tollefson (1991) has noted that social science research in this area can often fail to liaise with those communities affected by it. As a result, most language policy research fails to capture the human experience of individuals facing the consequences of state language policy (p. 204). Rather than collect quantitative data, the primary aim was to gather thought and opinion as well as to ascertain current issues of concern. In total 14 interviews were conducted, four of which were with teachers and practitioners involved in the implementation of policy at the classroom level. The author also met with three representatives of non-governmental organisations; one from the Polish community, one from the Chinese community and one from the Indian community. Speaking to representatives of the Chinese community and Indian community was particularly useful in determining problems that had occurred for long-established migrant communities in Northern Ireland. Finally, a number of interviews were held with members of the new migrant communities from Eastern Europe in order to offer individuals the opportunity to share problems as well as thoughts and opinion on the matter of childhood education. Five of these interviews were conducted with members of the Polish community and two with members from the Lithuanian community.

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Development and Provision of EAL in Northern Ireland

So far, the United Kingdoms response to increased linguistic diversity in the education sector has been on English language acquisition through a policy known as EAL, with pupils themselves frequently referred to as EAL pupils. EAL has been widely used in England since the 1960s, and has continued to be the most common approach. EAL places emphasis on English acquisition with limited importance placed on the teaching of the languages of migrants and their families. For the purposes of this paper I will refer to the languages

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of migrants as community languages, as this is a widely used term in other parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Concerns about the implications of EAL as a policy were expressed as early as the 1970s when a government report identied the need for greater respect for community languages within schools. In addition the report identied the potential for the provision of tuition for non-English speaking pupils in their mother language (Bullock, 1975). The recommendations of the Bullock report were never applied on a wide-scale basis in the United Kingdom, and the subsequent Swann report in the mid-1980s rmly placed the emphasis back on English language acquisition as the best method of integration (Department of Education and Science, 1985). In effect this placed the teaching of community languages outside the remit of schools and into the home environment. Edwards (2004: 116) also argues that the reports recommendations operated on the understanding that any attempt to promote minority languages in the mainstream was potentially divisive and consequently the main responsibility [for language maintenance] was placed on ethnic minority communities themselves. Northern Irelands educational planners have subsequently adopted this wider UK approach and focused on EAL as language-in-education policy. In the early 1990s the number of children requiring EAL assistance in Northern Ireland was still quite small, with the majority coming from the Chinese community (Manwah Watson & Mc Knight, 1998: 139). DENI did not implement a standard policy at this time and the ve LEAs structured their own measures independently, meaning that the development, procedure and practice of EAL tuition varied greatly throughout the region. For instance, in the South East, EAL strategies were in place as early as 1993, whereas in the West such strategies were not in place until 2000 (see Hansson et al., 2002). Services for pupils in the more highly populated Greater Belfast region were vastly superior to other regions and by 2002 there were four teachers supplying specic EAL support to students. A drop-in facility was also offered one day per week so that parents could attend and discuss their childs progress with the assistance of an interpreter. The arrival of thousands of new migrants and their families in the recent wave of migration from other areas of Europe has acted as a catalyst in the development of a more formal EAL policy. In 2005, DENI initiated research that has led to the drafting of a region-wide strategy for the teaching of children with limited or no English language skills (DENI, 2005, 2007c). The policy is made possible by the merger of the previous LEAs into one regional ESA that will apply a standard approach to EAL throughout Northern Ireland. This is a vast improvement on previous provisions where the LEAs followed ve differing methodological approaches to EAL. A new Inclusion and Diversity Service (IDS) was also formed in 2007 in order to support pupils from minority ethnic or non-English-speaking backgrounds. It is a merger of the previous EAL teams from the ve LEAs. The IDS (2007) aims to support schools in providing for the needs of pupils and parents for whom English is not the rst language. The department, in its policy document, emphasises the role that the IDS will have in the education of children from a nonEnglish-speaking background. The IDS will be:

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[. . .] responsible for the continuous professional development of education professionals, including school principals, teachers, classroom assistants and other staff in schools who need to communicate with children and young people who have English as an additional language, and their parents. It will focus on improving skills, making people more aware of language barriers within schools, and developing practices to make sure all children are included in all school activities and procedures. It will have the responsibility to promote the general wellbeing of pupils, access to the curriculum and language development. (DENI, 2007c: 19) The IDS (2007) has also developed an online resource offered in 16 languages including Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, Tagalog, Cantonese, Portuguese, Bengali and Urdu. Information is provided for parents, teachers and pupils on issues such as school transport, school selection for children and the transfer procedure from primary to secondary school. It is proposed that the website will also be a source of online instruction aids for teachers. Yet this has not been achieved but would be a signicant assistance to those schools with small numbers of EAL pupils, or those located in rural areas. The IDS has also initiated a new interpreter service that schools can use for the purposes of parent teacher meetings in order to discuss pupil progress. A number of those interviewed by the author as part of this research indicated that this was a vast improvement on previous provision where some schools had resorted to using the pupils themselves to act as an interpreter for their parents. A more professional approach such as this is certainly a positive step forward. Despite encouraging developments there have been concerns raised about practical tuition of EAL pupils at school level, with the development of a standard approach proving complicated. One of the major concerns at present is a question over procedural approaches, with some teachers favouring withdrawal from the classroom setting for assistance with peripatetic teachers, while others have preferred to offer support to children within the classroom environment. Early EAL strategies from the ve LEAs by and large emphasised the need to withdraw children from the classroom in order to teach English. An earlier government report suggested that the majority of teachers at this time favoured the withdrawal method because many felt that, the classroom environment contained too many distractions, such as background noise, a range of activities and movement. In such a situation the EAL pupil might nd it hard to concentrate on listening to the pronunciation of unfamiliar English words (Hansson et al., 2002: 28 29). In recent years an increasingly negative connotation has been associated with the concept of withdrawal because it is felt that withdrawing a child potentially alienates the pupil from their peers and merely serves to highlight difference. Consequently, an immersion approach has come to be favoured by the IDS and DENI and will be the standard procedural methodology endorsed throughout Northern Ireland. Teaching EAL within mainstream classrooms in schools in the United Kingdom follows a series of rules, summarised by Cortazzi and Lixian (2007: 649). They argue that pedagogical approaches to immersion EAL should focus on a meaning and relevance to the wider curriculum; that repetition

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be balanced by variance in the words and phrases that pupils hear; that simplication of words be balanced by complexity to ensure that the pupils are progressing; that pupils should be encouraged to take risks so as to increase condence in language use and that a verbal focus should be complemented with the use of visual support . One EAL coordinator reiterated that this focus on visual techniques and interactive learning is put into practice in a number of different ways. She noted: Our strategy is to take on board the new approach of not withdrawing pupils from the mainstream environment . . . what we are doing is we are playing games with the child, we are teaching them in small groups, we are observing the child in class, we are offering modelling teaching and support with planning but we do not withdraw children and that is really the difference over the last two or three years. (Interview A) Some examples of emphasis on visual methods combined with group learning include the use of an item called an objects box. This is an interactive game where boxes containing different objects were given to a group of children to play with. These may have related to issues such as transport or food, and native English speakers would relay words and concepts relating to the object to the EAL child (see Delargy, 2006: 50). Creative writing and storytelling is also an approach used in Northern Irelands schools to help children focus on narrative skills, identied as an important aspect of metacognitive development, as well as helping to develop literacy and oral skills within groups (Cortazzi & Lixian, 2007). One project ofcer working on a multicultural schools project stressed the success of peer learning. She stated that What actually worked better than anything else was learning from peers, where the children got time to interact with other children from their class in the play area (Interview B). Interactive and peer learning is also promoted through buddy schemes where a new child with EAL needs is paired with a native Englishspeaking pupil who would help them become familiar with their new educational setting. The new approach has not proved universally popular with all teachers, and one of those interviewed stated that the new approach would not be as effective as the withdrawal method. The teacher stated I dont believe that children would have picked up the same level of English sitting in a classroom, particularly when it is a class of 30 children, with three EAL pupils there, there was no way that they would get the same attention (Interview C). Despite such concerns the department is adamant that this approach be used by all schools in Northern Ireland once the new ESA is fully operational by 2009. Another current issue of concern relates to the exibility of funding for the support of EAL pupils. At present DENI sets a proportion of its budget aside for additional EAL support. In the 2006 2007 school year this stood at 2.5 million and allowed schools in the region to apply for a support grant of 912 per annum for each pupil on their register with English language difculties. Some schools may have a large number of EAL pupils and as a result can pool the funding together and acquire the services of an additional classroom assistant. Others have used the funding to source bilingual reading materials
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and teaching aids. However, although this additional funding is a huge benet to large schools, those with only one or two EAL pupils still struggle with limited resources. Another concern of two of the teachers interviewed was that funding for children with EAL needs ends two years after the childs arrival. While this was regarded as sufcient for very young children from an Indo-European linguistic background, it has proved to be inadequate for those pupils from other linguistic backgrounds, where script and grammar may be vastly different from English. It was also noted that older children have taken longer in acquiring English language. One Polish woman working in the non-governmental sector commented that English language acquisition is especially a problem for the children in their early teens. The younger ones tend to learn quicker and its not as stressful for them as it is for the older ones (Interview D). However, despite this the level of funding is not extended beyond the two-year period. To put a limit such as this on English language acquisition is problematic and has resulted in a situation where many schools have no support funding for children who may have signicant language difculties. The issue of funding support is linked to another major practical concern, which is the development of a standard monitoring and assessment procedure for children with EAL needs. Previously, the majority of schools had used Hillary Hesters language acquisition model, which placed pupils at one of four stages of English language acquisition (see Hester, 1990). This has been deemed an insufcient and outdated assessment tool by many practitioners, and DENI is currently developing new monitoring and assessment procedures for EAL pupils. Such assessment is most likely to take place in the classroom environment through observation as opposed to through specic written or oral examination. Also at this stage in the development of a monitoring procedure it would be advisable that the future allocation of funds for EAL assistance be based on the results of this new monitoring procedure, thus ensuring that assistance be provided to those pupils most in need. Another difculty has been a lack of training offered to teachers, specically for the needs of a multicultural and multilingual environment. I spoke to one teacher who had recently completed her postgraduate teacher training at a college in England and had subsequently taken up a position in a Catholic school. Her initial training was a Bachelor of Education degree, completed in 2005 at one of Northern Irelands local training colleges; she noted that the subject of EAL or Multiculturalism wasnt dealt with at all when I did my degree in Northern Ireland and it wasnt until I went to England to do further training that I got proper advice on that (Interview E). Another EAL teacher admitted that this lack of training was one of the major problems. She particularly noted the lack of training and also the fact that training was not compulsory for teachers. Apart from an initial two hour session, we have offered one day a year training and that has been going on for six years, but its like everything else if you havent had an EAL child in the class you havent pursued the training . . . I think thats something that we certainly have to look at in the future. (Interview A)

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DENI have recognised this and the new IDS is developing a more formal training strategy for current practitioners (DENI, 2007d: 19). In the light of the young teachers comments, local universities and teacher training colleges in the region should also be aware of the changes occurring in language-ineducation procedures in Northern Ireland and it would certainly prove useful for students to undertake modules and assignments on multicultural education at the early stages of their career.

Consequences of an English-only Approach in Education

The wider focus on EAL as a policy is based on the assumption that the only method for pupils to access the curriculum is through the English language, and as a result the tuition of pupils in community languages is not dealt with in the EAL policy document. This is unfortunate considering that an earlier consultation report emphasised that many members of minority ethnic communities were concerned that the value and advantages of their languages were not properly explored within the education system (Hansson et al., 2002: 43 44). DENI has taken huge strides forward and the level of provision for EAL pupils is now in line with that provided in the rest of the United Kingdom. However, further developments must take place if the policy is not to be considered assimilationist. As educators in North America discovered in the 1970s and 1980s, EAL . . . cannot be treated as an isolated process but must be co-ordinated with an understanding of immigrant childrens overall linguistic, psychological and educational development (Cummins, 1984: 72). Canada has been offering tuition and additional language assistance to nonEnglish-speaking children through its heritage language (HL) programmes since the 1970s and continues to be held up as one of the most advanced examples of multilingual provision in education. However, despite such projects, the provision of tuition solely in the language of the majority within state education follows a worrying global trend. Some regions that had previously offered tuition in the languages of migrant communities have reverted to a monolingual educational setting. For example, in the United States, where bilingual programmes had been widely offered since the early 1960s (Edwards, 2004), debates in several states such as California, Arizona and Massachusetts have led to English immersion replacing the previous programmes. In a European context, Holland and Sweden had been widely praised for offering mainstream schooling in community languages since the 1970s, but recent concerns about issues of migration and assimilation have resulted in the provision of such programmes being reduced in both countries. This is unfortunate considering that these decisions potentially have an adverse affect on individual and group identities, an issue already of relevance to migrant communities in Northern Ireland. The EAL procedures are certainly achieving results in Northern Ireland, as acknowledged by a number of interviewees from both the schools and the migrant communities themselves. A number of interviewees noted the rapid acquisition of English yet expressed concern at the sharp loss of native language skills, particularly among younger children. One Lithuanian woman interviewed spoke of how her friends have reacted to their childrens

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English language acquisition. She commented A lot of Lithuanians are so proud that their children learn very quickly. So when they rst arrive they dont think that much about the children forgetting Lithuanian. Many of them boast saying things like, they are at school, and they are so good and they speak English so well, and they already have their local accents. Parents are very proud of that because they cant speak English well themselves (Interview F). Ironically, one female stated that some Polish people, rather than speaking Polish at home, wanted to learn English so badly that they are trying to speak only English at home because they want to pick up English from the children, who are so good (Interview G). The Lithuanian woman in particular noted how problems quickly surfaced in relation to literacy skills, and in some instances the childrens command of the language was so poor that parents felt they could not return to Lithuania. As a result of such issues, a number of parents have set up community Sunday Schools in both Polish and Lithuanian in the town of Dungannon where there is a large migrant population. This has also happened more widely in the Republic of Ireland where a number of schools have been set up in Dublin, but partly nanced by the Lithuanian Governments Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad. The Chinese community has experienced similar difculties in relation to language and although elderly members may have been in the region for some 40 years, prociency for this group stands at only 5% (Holder, 2003: 37). Second or third generation Chinese often speak uent English but have limited skills in their community language, resulting in intergenerational difculties, where young Chinese people are unable to communicate effectively with grandparents and in some cases even parents, because of the language differences (Delargy, 2007: 134). The Chinese community has also responded by establishing a complementary learning school in Belfast, which offers tuition in both Cantonese and Mandarin. The position of the Chinese community in Northern Ireland mirrors the situation in Britain, where intergenerational difculties have also been followed by community efforts outside of the education system in order to maintain or revive a community language (Li, 1993). Such efforts indicate that the language, and in particular a native language, has a major inuence on aspects of familial, cultural and historical identity for migrant communities and if this is broken intergenerational difculties are inevitable. As Skutnabb-Kangas (1990: 5) argues, If linguistic minority children want to be able to speak to their parents or grandparents, know about their history and culture, and know who they are, they have to know their mother tongue, for reasons of identity.

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Altering Attitudes to Community Languages and Promoting Bilingualism

The most difcult problem to overcome when promoting the use and maintenance of migrant languages is the negative perception and attitudes that may be held by those within the majority population. Perceptions of the value of the language of the majority often come at the expense of minorities and can undoubtedly inuence the language choice of children and young people

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from migrant communities. When the language of the majority is English the task arguably proves even more difcult. As Phillipson (2003) emphasises, the role of English, particularly within the EU, is rapidly increasing at the expense of other European national languages. English is promoted within the EU as a language of economic and social progression; and, as Nic Craith (2006) argues, European language policy functions in a linguistic hierarchy where English is placed rmly at the top with the languages of migrants offered little signicant recognition. Younger members of migrant communities in Northern Ireland are quickly adopting these perceptions, a point taken from one of the interviews conducted with a Polish woman working in the nongovernmental sector in Northern Ireland. She noted The (Polish) children usually end up communicating much better in English than they do in Polish. Kids who have never been in school back in Poland after two or three years do lose their Polish language skills. Even though they may speak Polish at home they tend to respond to their parents in English rather than in Polish (Interview D). Another Lithuanian interviewee commented on the importance of the global inuence of English in popular culture, stating that her goddaughter would sing English songs, watch English language television and as result would talk to her dolls in English (Interview H). The emphasis placed on English in the education sector and the absence of community languages reinforces the role of English while having a detrimental effect on the role of the minority language for the child, meaning that parents have to make an even more concentrated effort in order to maintain the home language. Reluctance within many English-speaking regions to promote bilingualism has a further unfavourable effect on community languages and ignores the potential benets that bilingualism can play. May (2003) has noted that often the rewards of minority languages are overlooked and placed solely in the context of individual identity, with little or no importance placed on the economic potential or opportunity of a minority language. As May comments, this perception presupposes majority languages are vehicles of modernity and minority languages as (merely) carriers of identity (italics original in 2003: 112). Attitudes and opinions such as these must be challenged if languages other than those of the majority are to play any role in mainstream schooling. One EAL coordinator commented I think that we have only just reached the stage where schools now think that its OK for the children to continue using their rst language. I mean that is how far we have had to go because we have had teachers who have said things like that pupil speaks their own language as soon as he goes out of the school (Interview A). This is a noteworthy commentary on how public service providers view community languages in Northern Ireland as barriers and not potential benets. When services such as education in the region encounter speakers of Polish, Portuguese or Mandarin, they view the three solely as immigrant languages. The reality is that all three are major world languages; Polish with 39 million speakers is the sixth most commonly spoken mother language in the EU. Similarly, Portuguese and Cantonese are among the top 10 languages spoken in the world (UNESCO, 2000). The British Council in a 1996 report noted that English, although secure in its position as a world lingua franca, would not be the only major language of commerce and business in the twenty-rst century. In particular, the report

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noted the increase of Asian languages as being a future signicant trend (Graddol, 1997: 58). One Chinese representative in Northern Ireland reiterated the growing global importance of Mandarin: I think it would be so useful to explore the potential for bilingualism more, I mean there are now 1.3 billion Chinese in the world. To me because I am bilingual I nd it so useful to communicate with the Chinese people and the local population . . . I wish we could get bilingualism going here it would just help so much (Interview I). Northern Ireland, and indeed any region, would do well to explore ways in which its public services can support new communities to maintain their languages as well as promoting the learning of those languages to the local population. This is certainly important considering that many new markets are developing with the EU and China (Edwards, 2000: 253). Increased bilingualism potentially helps new citizens to participate more fully in public life, as well as improving opportunities for the development of cultural and economic links with other regions. A body of literature exists which stresses that pupils who speak both English and the community language in the United Kingdom have beneted as they can participate fully within their own familial and community environment as well as with the host community (Kenner, 2000, 2004; Sneddon, 2000). Examples of this are evident in Northern Ireland, where the Indian community has achieved high levels of prociency in both English and the community language. Even though English is acquired it will continue to function as a second language and, as one representative of the Indian community stated, the mother language will always come rst and will be the language used in the home (Interview J). However, the removal of a language barrier as well as the increased community condence afforded by the maintenance of ones own linguistic heritage has a role to play in societal participation. Surely, then, it is no coincidence that the Indian community is viewed as being the most successful minority ethnic community, both professionally and economically, in Northern Ireland (Irwin & Dunn, 1997). Research into the teaching of Languages Other Than English (LOTEs) in Australia, where tuition in immigrant languages is provided in some mainstream schools, also indicates positive results for bilingual speakers. For example, Smolicz and Secombe (2003), in a study of programmes for Cambodian immigrants in Australia, found that the provision of tuition within the mainstream classroom in a community language achieved both high levels of bilingualism as well as high academic success in other subjects. Similarly, HL immersion programmes in Canada in French, English, languages of First Nation peoples and the languages of immigrants are upheld as being a huge example of success. If EAL was expanded to include the additional language as well as English, it is possible that similar results could be achieved in Northern Ireland.

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Recommendations to Assist Community Language Education

Financial restrictions are often offered as the reason why little can be done to provide community language tuition within the mainstream. This may be to some extent true; however, there are many examples of good practice for

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language-in-education planning that can be undertaken with little additional nancial cost. Cooperation between the school and the home environment is one method by which this can be achieved. Fishman (1991), for instance, has argued that the family is the strongest method for language maintenance and that an over-reliance on other services can prove problematic. However, public bodies such as schools potentially play a crucial role in endorsing and legitimising the use of the language in the home environment. For instance, when pupils with EAL needs are registered at a school in Northern Ireland, their parents have a meeting with the principal and the class teacher, with the assistance of an interpreter if necessary. This contact is a prime opportunity for teachers to emphasise the continual use of the mother language at home with an emphasis placed on the need for parental monitoring of reading and writing skills. As one Lithuanian woman commented, My friends daughter is now 9 years old and she came here when she was 5 so she spoke Lithuanian when she arrived. Her parents didnt realise that they would actually have to sit with her and help her with her Lithuanian and teach her more and most importantly how to write in Lithuanian in order to maintain the language. Then they realised one day that she cant write in Lithuanian at all and she speaks much better English than she does Lithuanian (Interview F). This example suggests that the education of parents is a crucial aspect of language maintenance that the education system could certainly play a greater role in helping to achieve, at little additional expense. The IDS could also offer the same information and encouragement via its online resource. In addition, schools could also explore using some of the 912 to acquire bilingual resources that could be used by the pupil in both the classroom setting and in the home. A number of local libraries have already acquired a selection of bilingual teaching aids in Eastern European languages and it would be worthwhile for schools to be aware of these locally available resources. Additional schemes such as complementary language schools could also be encouraged more widely, particularly if there are many children of one nationality present at a school. Parents could be encouraged to organise after-school or Saturday schemes with free access to classroom space and resources. Teachers could inform those organising the events how to coordinate lessons so that the subject matter coincided with issues in the mainstream classroom. This has been a major aw of previous language schools where the concepts and ideas between the complementary language school and the English language schooling were not comparable. The use of complementary schools outside of the mainstream has been the primary method of language maintenance for migrant communities in the United Kingdom, with support of such initiatives normally coming from individual teachers or parents (Edwards, 2000). A common criticism of complementary language schools is that they are potentially divisive and may interfere with acquisition of majority languages. However, a study on the teaching of Gujarati in a complementary school in Leicester indicated that rather than threatening English language development, pupils were improving skills in both English and Gujarati during their time at the school (Bhatt et al., 2006). Such initiatives have been in operation for Chinese languages in Northern Ireland from as early as 1983, with a language school set up by the Chinese community in 1986 for the teaching of Cantonese (Delargy,

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2007: 134). In addition to this, a number of informal language schools are currently in place for newly arrived migrants, with such initiatives often advertised in the windows of Eastern European food stores. It would be advisable that the education services recognise the benets of such projects, and there has been some nancial support by the British government of the Chinese language school in Belfast. Although nancial support is important to the survival of complementary schools, other methods of recognition could prove positive. For instance, education planners could take a more supportive and advisory role, ensuring that complementary language schools be more effective. If the authority providing education services took a more informed position on the teaching of community languages, this could have a positive impact on young peoples perception of their native linguistic heritage.

Conclusions
Northern Irelands transition from a conict to a post-conict society has resulted in economic growth, increased investment and subsequent inmigration. A legislative framework states that all public services must offer access for all. The subsequent response of the education system has been to offer EAL tuition to ensure access to the curriculum, as well as developing teaching methods and resources that contribute to this success. At present, the department is succeeding in its aims of increasing English language ability among pupils for whom English was not the rst language, as evidenced by the fact that the children of migrants are acquiring English rapidly. The Department of Education for Northern Ireland should also be praised for its attempts to develop a policy that will remove language barriers for the children of migrant workers in the region. However, the focus must be expanded to include aspects of community language support in education. A number of new communities in Northern Ireland are already reporting a loss of native language skills by children. Policy developers often argue that they are unable to offer tuition for all languages in the classroom, mainly because of resource and nance constraints. However, education planners are in a prime position to assist the role of community languages within the home by offering advice, support and assistance to parents. Educational planners can also help by supporting non-ofcial complementary language schools that have already been established in Northern Ireland in order that the schools become more efcient. Such approaches potentially have a positive effect on the perceptions of community languages by both speakers and the host community. A greater respect for bilingualism could certainly be promoted, as community languages coupled with English language knowledge benet not only the wider economic, social and cultural wellbeing of the region, but also ensure individual participation in public life in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual environment. Correspondence Any correspondence should be directed to Philip McDermott, Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages, University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Northland Road, Derry BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland (p.mcdermott@email.ulster.ac.uk).
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List of interviews
Interview A Interview B Interview C Interview D Interview Interview Interview Interview Interview Interview E F G H I J EAL Coordinator from one of the local education authorities, May 23, 2007. Project ofcer on a multiculturalism in schools project, May 27, 2007. Primary school teacher working with three EAL children, March 06, 2008. Polish female working in non-governmental sector in Northern Ireland, September 27, 2007. A recently qualied teacher, December 20, 2007. Lithuanian female living in Northern Ireland, April 03, 2007. Polish female living in Northern Ireland, April 03, 2007. Lithuanian female living in Northern Ireland, November 14, 2007. Representative of the Chinese community, September 10, 2007. Representative of the Indian community, November 06, 2007.