The evolving needs of every school community differ depending on the specific context of the school. We provide resources and support for an enhanced language learning environment based on those needs.
Help your MFL Teachers, Guidance Counsellors and students by providing resources and promotional ideas. Languages Connect promotes teaching material, events, information, Leaving Cert Saturday Classes, and Online Essay writing support for lesser taught languages.
For more teaching resources for your MFL Teachers, or ways to broaden the choice of languages in your school have a read of the PPLI info leaflet or see PPLI.ie
Language skills provide access to an interesting and wide range of employment opportunities in careers as diverse as law, engineering, business, journalism…and much more!
The “job for life” mindset is gone; our young people will change jobs frequently during their lifetime. Preparation for this should include skillset development in at least one foreign language, if not two.
As leaders of learning and teaching, you wish to offer your students a broad and balanced curriculum: this should include solid foundations in modern foreign languages.
Keep student options open for third-level and beyond!
Facilitate your students overall academic development, move more in line with their international peers, where language learning is accepted as a central facet of the full educational experience. According to Eurostat data (2021), “In a majority of EU Member States, more than three fifths of students in general upper secondary education pupils were learning two or more foreign languages in 2019; by contrast, this share reached only 12.1% in Ireland.”
Enhance student wellbeing, as the European Commission (2017) notes, “From a public health perspective, various clinical studies in the area of neuroscience show the positive effects of bilingualism, independent of the languages involved. Positive effects are sustained over the life course and relate to increased cognitive abilities beyond linguistic skills”.
Foster social benefits and resilience for students through new friendships and the development of positive mindsets towards different cultures. Our world is now a global village; understanding each other has never been more vital.
Under the terms of the most recent 2023-2026 SSE circular, schools should address national curriculum goals and national strategies. This includes Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026. By reviewing the effectiveness of your current provision of languages, you can develop actions to improve the experiences of students, while also meeting national policy and curriculum requirements.
In your leadership and management role you need to promote an inclusive school community and value diversity. Remember to support the heritage language needs of your students. In recent years, an innovative range of Junior Cycle Short Courses and Senior Cycle curricular language subjects (Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian) have been introduced. Speaking the heritage language is a skill and resource that young people will have for life, and this language plays a very important role in the development of the brain. It continues to be important as the child grows up, making it easier for them to learn other languages and school subjects in general.
We live in a world that is becoming more aware of the need for Education for sustainable development. A solid understanding of foreign languages and cultures is essential in this interconnected world. This enhances communication and understanding of cultures.
This fast-paced global change, greater movement of people, and international developments all impact our communities. Our chances of maintaining ongoing economic prosperity depends on developing a strong pool of language skills in our youth.
Ireland, as an English-speaking EU country, should continue to benefit from its engagement with the European Institutions and remain an attractive location for overseas investors. Further opportunities for teacher exchanges through ERASMUS+ may emerge. In that context, language learning is vital.
Support Ireland in attaining its national and international commitments to increase language learning Under the Languages Connect strategy it is intended that 100% of all Junior Cycle students present for a foreign language at Junior Cycle by 2026. Furthermore, European policy aims for us to work towards “mother tongue plus two” for every citizen.
-Short courses
-Senior Cycle curricular specifications
Language diversification
