Students taking this module will have no previous knowledge of Irish, but will require to have achieved an H4 pass in Leaving Certificate in another Modern Language, or be able to demonstrate an equivalent knowledge of the language in all four skills of Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing at B1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for language qualifications.
A communicative approach is adopted in the teaching, making maximum appropriate use of Irish throughout, to develop all four language skills in an integrated manner, whilst ensuring that students are supported in developing a declarative knowledge of Irish grammar appropriate to Year 1 of third level study, and are able to apply that knowledge systematically to all four language skills.
An extensive range of additional materials, benchmarked at A1/A2 Level on the CEFR which are not used in class will be available online to support independent learning.
This module is benchmarked at A2 on the CEFR.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to regularly perform a range of tasks at A2 Level in all four skills and may occasionally be able to perform at a higher level in Reading, in familiar contexts when they have access to appropriate sources of reference.
The minimum exit level is A1 on the CEFR.
By the end of the course students will be able to use a limited range of words and simple sentences in predictable and familiar situations, especially when they have sufficient time to prepare. Although they may be hesitant and make grammatical errors, particularly in less familiar situations, they should be able to get their messages across in spite of error. They will be able to perform effectively in simple and predictable transactional/information exchange contexts and provide standard personal and study-related information, concerning home, family, college, daily routine and obtain goods and services, by making requests and/or placing orders.
Topics covered will include some or all of the following:
1: Meeting people
2: Background and place of residence
3: The family
4: The house and accommodation
5: Pastimes
6: Daily life
7: Talents and skills
8: Work
9: Food and drink
10: Sickness and injury
11: Clothes and shopping
12: Holidays and travel
13. Directions, location and movement
14 Favours and permission
15. Making arrangements
Tasks practiced in class will ensure that students can:
- Introduce themselves and others
- Meet, greet, thank, apologise and take leave of others.
- Ask and answer simple questions.
- Express simple factual information.
- Make simple requests and invitations.
- Express simple wishes, opinions/feelings, needs and preferences.
- Indicate understanding, asking for repetition or explanation when necessary.
- Check that they have been understood.
- Pronounce/articulate clearly enough to be understood when using simple, familiar words and phrases.
- Speak/write with sufficient grammatical accuracy to be understood when using simple, familiar words and phrases.
Students’ active vocabulary will include:
- Simple set phrases and common words/signs in everyday use.
- Common words used in talking/writing about their studies.
- Simple everyday connectors.
- Common set phrases expressing politeness (e.g. introductions and greetings, forms of address, leave-taking, mealtime conventions).
- Days of the week, months, time; yesterday, today and tomorrow.
- Simple numerical terms (e.g. 1-100, prices, clock, dates).
Cultural context
Class discussion and introduction of additional materials will ensure that students have an understanding of:
- Irish as a global minority language in a bilingual context.
- The presence and role of Irish in public life in Ireland.
Students will have sufficient knowledge of the grammatical system of Irish to have a basis for further study of the language at B1 Level on the CEFR. They will be familiar with:
- The most common regular and irregular verbs.
- Word order in Irish.
- The appropriate ways to distinguish past, present and future events by conjugating common verbs accurately
- The ways in which number and gender are expressed in nouns and pronouns.
- The conventions for making adjectival agreements.
- The formation and use of adverbs.
- Simple ways to make positive and negative statements.
- Common question words and interrogative verb forms.
- Ways to give an opinion, ask permission and/or give orders or instructions
- Appropriate range of grammatical terminology
Reference sources:
Students will be familiar with how to use and check reference sources to find out or confirm meaning or accuracy (e.g. glossaries, phrase books, dictionaries, verb tables, simple online resources).
The class will normally be delivered by communicative language classes. Students will normally undertake approximately 15 minutes of study/preparation for each class hour.
Indicative Learning Hours:
| Staff led activities: Communicative Language Classes | 96 |
| Student directed: class preparation | 24 |
| Student led: class test preparation and completion | 20 |
| Student led: online assessment preparation and completion | 20 |
| Student led: personal access to additional online resources | 40 |
| TOTAL | 200 |
Attendance, participation and self-directed learning are viewed as essential elements of the learning process and a minimum of 75% of student attendance/participation will be expected.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |