Students taking this module require to have achieved a pass in Irish Language 1A or be able to demonstrate an equivalent knowledge of the language in all four skills of Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing at B1+/working towards B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for language qualifications.
A communicative approach is adopted in the teaching. This module will be taught though 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 2 of third level study, and are able to apply that knowledge systematically to all four language skills.
A range of additional materials, benchmarked at B1+/B2 Level on the CEFR which are not used in class will be available to support independent learning.
The minimum exit level for this module is B2 on the CEFR. This reflects the research findings of the
Association of Language Testers Europe (ALTE) that although successful learners generally take more than
200 hours of learning to progress from B1 to B2 Level, students taking this module have will have been working at B1 Level for some time and are working towards B2 Level.
On successful completion of the module, students will be performing consistently at B2 Level in all four skills and may occasionally be able to perform at C1 level in the passive skills (Reading and Listening) in contexts closely associated with those that have featured in the teaching programme and/or in familiar contexts when they have access to appropriate sources of reference and have sufficient time to prepare.
Minimum exit level B1.2 Benchmark level B2.1
Siollabas Táscach/Indicative Syllabus:
The aim of this module is to develop the student’s general communication skills in the Irish language: Listening, Comprehension, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
A range of activities will be used such as conversations, grammar exercises, translation exercises and authentic texts to develop grammatical accuracy both written and spoken. Formal exercises and grammar in context will be included.
Emphasis will be placed on developing and maintaining accuracy in active communication (spoken and written)
and creativity and flexibility will be nurtured.
This module will be delivered through the medium of Irish.
A range of topics such as those below will be covered:
T1: Personal Details
T2: House, Home, Local Area
T3: Other People
T4: Free Time and Pastimes T5: Work and Employment T6: Food, Drink, Health
T7: Organising a visit to the Gaeltacht
T8: Attending a Gaeltacht Irish Language Course
T9: Education T10: The Media T11: Technology
T12: Social Life, Law
T13: National and International Politics
T14: Current Affairs
A range of skills such as those below will be covered:
Understand varied spoken or signed language in a range of work situations
You can follow conversations and discussions delivered at normal speed on a range of topics in different social and work situations. You can take part in straightforward social interaction as well as following uncomplicated negotiations, discussions and instructions within your area of work. You understand straightforward news items, interviews and documentaries. If appropriate, you can deal with straightforward telephone or video calls.
You can do this when the language is spoken:
• clearly at normal speed
• in a range of work and social situations
• with varied vocabulary and sentence structures.
Speak using varied language in a range of work situations
You can contribute in a range of social and work-related situations, and you have a good vocabulary which you can adapt to get straightforward messages across, usually finding alternative ways to explain when needed. You can keep the conversation going fairly smoothly within familiar areas, but you may have difficulty expressing complex or abstract ideas. You can make new contacts, manage
uncomplicated negotiations and handle straightforward telephone/video calls.
You can do this:
• speaking clearly
• in a range of work and social situations
• using and adapting a range of expressions and grammatical structures.
Read varied text on a range of work topics
You understand a range of texts of different types and styles, from a paragraph to a few pages in length. You can work out the meaning of some unfamiliar vocabulary, use reference sources efficiently when you need to, and conduct a straightforward Internet search. You understand technical specifications for products and services within your area of work. You can also deal with non-routine
e-mails and letters, news articles and promotional material.
You can do this when reading text:
• of up to three pages
• of different kinds and on a range of work and social topics
• written with a broad general vocabulary and a range of sentence structures.
Write varied text on a range of work topics
You can write text (1-3 pages) for work and social purposes on a range of topics, adapting your style for formal and informal situations. You may make some grammatical errors when writing on unfamiliar subjects, but your text is generally clear for the reader. You can produce a range of business correspondence, maintain relationships informally through e-mail correspondence, write short reports, descriptions or accounts and produce operating instructions for familiar pieces of equipment.
You can do this...
• writing clearly and accurately enough to be easily understood.
• in a range of work and social situations
• using a variety of expressions and sentence structures.
Knowledge
You know and understand the following:
Vocabulary
1. A broad general vocabulary and key work-related terms.
2. A range of ways to link ideas and help clarity and fluency.
3. A range of different forms of address, greeting, leave-taking and other polite conventions to suit different occasions and degrees of formality.
4. Ways to express feeling (e.g. wishes gratitude, regret, apology, annoyance).
5. Numerical terms (e.g. all numbers, fractions, statistics) and ways to talk about them.
Grammatical forms
6. How to express the present, past, future and conditional.
7. How ‘can, must, could, should and would’ are expressed in this language.
8. Negatives, question forms and a range of commonly used grammatical
Structures.
9. How to ask permission and give instructions with varying formality and politeness.
10. A range of complex sentence combinations, of which some may be learned as set phrases.
Cultural conventions
11. Most common spoken and non verbal polite conventions (gestures, spatial distance, touch, eye contact).
Reference sources
12. How to make effective use of relevant language reference sources (e.g. dictionaries, thesauruses, grammar books, on-line resources).
| Modhanna foghlama agus teagaisc/Learning and Teaching Methods: | ||
| This module will be delivered through the medium of Irish. Emphasis will be placed on active communication. The methods used will encourage self-directed learning. The students will be encouraged to use Irish outside the class setting at normal conversational level and at normal written communication level and as a part of their own normal life setting. The students’ opinions will be taken into account as regards meeting their learning needs. The class will normally be delivered by communicative language classes. Students will normally undertake approximately 2 hours of study/preparation for each class.
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.
Indicative Learning Hours: | ||
|
| Staff led activities: Communicative Language Classes | 72 |
| Student directed: class preparation | 20 | |
| Student led: class test preparation and completion | 20 | |
| Student led: online assessment preparation and completion | 28 | |
| Student led: personal access to additional online resources | 40 | |
| Student led: final exam preparation and completion | 20 | |
| TOTAL | 200 | |
| E-learning A range of class materials and additional support materials will be available as appropriate. |
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 25 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 75 |