Enhancing my Teaching of Irish-Language Vocabulary through the use of Stories and Storytelling
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of this self-study action research study was to improve my teaching of\nIrish vocabulary using stories. I felt my teaching lacked energy and did not reflect\nmy values of hard-work, commitment and respect for Irish language and culture. I\nlearned Gaeilge trí Ghaeilge easily and without fuss. I truly believe that with the\nright attitude, hard-work and correct teaching methods, anyone can do the same.\nStorytelling has long been used as a method to develop a young child’s imagination,\nengagement and language and that is why I decided to apply it to my teaching of\nIrish. My research was conducted in a suburban, upper-middle-class, co-educational\nprimary school in Dublin which places a strong emphasis on Irish. The 23 Junior\nInfant children in my class, their parents and my critical friend all acted as\nparticipants in the research, with me and my practice as its focus. My chosen methodology was self-study action research as it is the only form of\nresearch that allows the researcher to put herself at the forefront of the study. I\nadopted a mixed-methods approach to data-gathering including assessing the\nchildren’s standard of Irish vocabulary both pre- and post-intervention, sending out a\nparental questionnaire, daily observations and recording my evolving thoughts,\nopinions and mindset in my reflective journal. I conducted the research in strict\nethical fashion, maintaining validity and reliability at all times. My storytelling\nintervention was influenced by Blaine Ray’s (1998) Teaching Proficiency Through\nReading and Storytelling (TPRS) theory. It used a well-known Irish storybook to teach specific vocabulary. There was a focus on repetition, questioning and creating\na home-school link with parental involvement.\nThe findings revealed an increase in engagement and vocabulary retention following\nthe storytelling intervention. A clear desire to improve their own ability in the Irish\nlanguage was evident from the parental questionnaires as well as emerging evidence\nof the effectiveness of using informal Irish throughout the day. I concluded that\nstories can indeed increase vocabulary retention and facilitate second language\nacquisition. The findings also highlighted the importance of using informal Irish\nthroughout the day and the value of parental involvement. I conclude by acknowledging that the most important improvement arose within\nmyself and my practice. I can confidently claim that my teaching of the Irish\nlanguage aligns with my personal values and I now understand how I can instill joy\nin my teaching and the children’s learning of the Irish language.
Author: Órla Ní Ghiollagáin
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3209233857