PPLI Annual Report 2022 - Flipbook - Page 4
Foreword
I welcome this annual report by Post-Primary Languages Ireland, in the context of their ongoing role in
implementing key actions of Languages Connect – Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education. This
strategy aims to support better learning of foreign languages in the Irish education system and to increase the
diversity of provision for the inherent benefits to individuals, society, and the economy.
PPLI has been supporting us with implementation of the ‘Say Yes to Languages’ primary sampler module. I am
delighted that we were able to fund a second year of implementation for the academic year 2022-23 with
increased participation from 500 to 700 schools and from 33,000 to 50,000 pupils, an expanded eight-week
module from the initial six, and an increase in the diversity of languages being offered to students to 15 which
now also includes Ukrainian. We are now looking at a further year of implementation. Eleven schools in the
current school year chose Ukrainian as the language of the module which is a great opportunity to make our
Ukrainian pupils feel included, valued, and respected as their language is learned by their classmates. The
diversity of languages being taught as part of the module are evidence of the multicultural plurilingual society
that we live in, and the module provides a platform to raise awareness among pupils of the diversity of
languages being used by their peers in their schools and community.
My department has worked hard to increase the number of Foreign Language Assistants (FLAs) in our schools
as part of the foreign languages strategy and I’m delighted with the support that PPLI have provided us with
in this context, providing support with induction, training to support collaboration between the FLAs and their
co-operating teachers, and ongoing guidance and support for the FLAs by way of a system of mentoring that
they have put in place.
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- PPLI ANNUAL REPORT 2022 -