Twitter as a dynamic language learning platform for learners of Irish as an additional language in a primary school setting in Ireland: review and recommendations

Author:

O’Toole Jane1ORCID,Devitt Ann1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. School of Education, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

This paper explores the utilisation of Twitter as a dynamic language learning platform in order to create an authentic domain of use for learners of Irish as an Additional Language (IAL) in a primary school setting in Ireland wherein 20 fourth class children and their parents participated. The Irish language context is firstly introduced, which contextualises a rationale for utilising Twitter for language learning. Teacher, child, and parent engagement with Twitter is then outlined with reference to the action research methodology employed. The repository of class tweets, periodic participant advisory group discussions and questionnaires, coupled with teacher-researcher reflection informed a qualitative data analysis. Results indicate notable student engagement with and enjoyment of tweeting in class as Gaeilge [in Irish] whereby the class Twitter account emerged as a practicable language learning platform. Its affordances enabled the student composition and publishing of short texts (tweets) and the provision of authentic Irish tweets for class reading. Parent and child engagement out of class, while relatively low, also demonstrated a promising additional domain of use, subject to the negotiation of orientation-related and implementation-related challenges for learners in a blended setting. In conclusion, recommendations to support the use of Twitter in endangered language school contexts are suggested.

Publisher

Research-publishing.net

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