Page 292 - Karmen Pižorn, Alja Lipavic Oštir in Janja Žmavc, ur. • Obrazi več-/raznojezičnosti. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut, 2022. Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 44
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from a Nigerian family wrote in Spanish and English (Figure 4), though
there is no Spanish in her family background and Scoil Bhríde doesn’t
teach Spanish. It turned out that she had taught herself the language. She
explained that she had found two Spanish textbooks in the school library,
one of which had a CD; then she acquired a book to say what a chair is in
Spanish or put a chair into a sentence; and she got a verbal book to learn
my nouns and proverbs and stuff like that. Asked whether she used Goog-
le Translate, she said she did if I want to do something quick … but usually I
use my own words and see if Google Translate can get it right.
2.3.5 Pupils’ self-confidence and self-esteem
When interviewed by Déirdre Kirwan towards the end of their time at Scoil
Bhríde, EAL pupils exhibited high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem
that were directly related to the role their home languages were playing in
their education. Asked how they would have felt if they had not been al-
lowed to use their home languages at school, they replied in strongly neg-
ative terms, using words like not fair, terrible, empty, rejecting, devastated,
sad, very shocking. When asked about the benefits of using their home lan-
guages at school, by contrast, they used words like advantage, exploring, ex-
panding, warm, perspective, supports, speak out, be courageous. The follow-
ing two excerpts from transcribed interviews display a self-confidence that
arises directly from the value that the interviewees place on their linguis-
tic and cultural identity:
… sometimes in school we talk about Irish traditions and some
people, like, they originally come from Ireland and they already
know it and we don’t, so when we’re talking about our own coun-
tries, it’s like when they’re talking about Ireland, we’d have noth-
ing to relate to or be proud of and to put our name on and so we’d
be, like, we’d be empty. If you know a language that one of your
parents knows don’t forget it, don’t try, like, not to speak it, don’t
hide away from it because it’s what makes you you and it’s special
and it’s … you can’t … it’s like having an arm or a leg, you can’t
take it away from you.
[If he couldn’t use it at school] the child’s language would get
closed inside him and he wouldn’t be able to speak it, and I just
want to say to other kids out there that if someone is trying to
292
there is no Spanish in her family background and Scoil Bhríde doesn’t
teach Spanish. It turned out that she had taught herself the language. She
explained that she had found two Spanish textbooks in the school library,
one of which had a CD; then she acquired a book to say what a chair is in
Spanish or put a chair into a sentence; and she got a verbal book to learn
my nouns and proverbs and stuff like that. Asked whether she used Goog-
le Translate, she said she did if I want to do something quick … but usually I
use my own words and see if Google Translate can get it right.
2.3.5 Pupils’ self-confidence and self-esteem
When interviewed by Déirdre Kirwan towards the end of their time at Scoil
Bhríde, EAL pupils exhibited high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem
that were directly related to the role their home languages were playing in
their education. Asked how they would have felt if they had not been al-
lowed to use their home languages at school, they replied in strongly neg-
ative terms, using words like not fair, terrible, empty, rejecting, devastated,
sad, very shocking. When asked about the benefits of using their home lan-
guages at school, by contrast, they used words like advantage, exploring, ex-
panding, warm, perspective, supports, speak out, be courageous. The follow-
ing two excerpts from transcribed interviews display a self-confidence that
arises directly from the value that the interviewees place on their linguis-
tic and cultural identity:
… sometimes in school we talk about Irish traditions and some
people, like, they originally come from Ireland and they already
know it and we don’t, so when we’re talking about our own coun-
tries, it’s like when they’re talking about Ireland, we’d have noth-
ing to relate to or be proud of and to put our name on and so we’d
be, like, we’d be empty. If you know a language that one of your
parents knows don’t forget it, don’t try, like, not to speak it, don’t
hide away from it because it’s what makes you you and it’s special
and it’s … you can’t … it’s like having an arm or a leg, you can’t
take it away from you.
[If he couldn’t use it at school] the child’s language would get
closed inside him and he wouldn’t be able to speak it, and I just
want to say to other kids out there that if someone is trying to
292
