Barnwell, David (2008) The Spanish Language in Ireland. Irish Migration Studies in Latin America, 6 (2). pp. 127-133. ISSN 1661-6056

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Abstract

This article provides an overview of the situation of Spanish in the Irish educational system and in wider society. Spain enjoys positive attitudes among Irish people, helped by the considerable amount of property in that country purchased by Irish during the past few years. The Spanish language has over the years experienced mixed fortunes as regards its place in Irish education. Recently, however, there has been a moderate increase in the numbers studying Spanish across all sectors. Other European languages have lost students, while uptake for Spanish has increased. Numbers studying Spanish lag far behind those studying French, however, and in fact there is a general tendency towards a decrease in the study of languages nationally. The future is problematic, since any weakening of the requirement that those seeking admission to the National University of Ireland must have studied foreign languages will tend to detract from their status. Another factor that is very hard to predict is the effect of mass immigration - there are now over 100 languages spoken in Ireland - on linguistic policy.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Spanish Language in Ireland;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures > Spanish
Item ID:	2392
Depositing User:	Dr. David Barnwell
Date Deposited:	20 Jan 2011 14:47
Journal or Publication Title:	Irish Migration Studies in Latin America
Publisher:	Society for Irish Latin American Studies
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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