PPLI Audit of Foreign Languages - Flipbook - Page 17
Languages offered at Junior Cycle (Gender of Students*) * This breakdown is available for English-medium schools only
Q8: Which of these languages are being taught as part of the Junior Cycle programme in your school?
100%
99%
90%
96%
96%
French
80%
German
70%
60%
69%
68%
Spanish
50%
50%
40%
Italian
39%
36%
30%
29%
20%
10%
4%
2%
0%
•
Boys n=16
3%
Girls n=71
Mixed n=226
German more likely to be offered in single sex schools. Spanish and Italian less likely to be offered in boys’ schools.
Girls’ schools offer the widest range, but only slightly wider than boys schools.
Figure 9: Languages at Junior Cycle, gender of students
German is more prevalent in single sex schools than mixed schools. In first year each language is studied by, on
average two or three class groups. By third year, the number of classes per language has dropped to an average close
to two classes. Some schools offer taster classes in the languages they offer in first year, and then students choose
which language to continue with which is reflected in the drop in numbers in third year. The main reasons given for
teaching only one foreign language are allocation and lack of student numbers.
Question 8 asks about languages which are being taught as part of the Junior Cycle programme in the school. Other
than French, German, Spanish and Italian, almost 3% of all schools mentioned Chinese, including the short course,
“Chinese Language and Culture” which the NCCA developed as part of Framework for Junior Cycle, and extracurricular Chinese. When these schools were followed up it transpired that some had mentioned the short course
in the context of expression of interest rather than actual provision and only 3 schools in the survey were actually
providing Chinese as a short course on their curriculum.
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Audit of Foreign Languages Provision in Post-Primary Schools 2017
Post-Primary Languages Initiative February 2017 Draft Report