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The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of ManEuropean Research Centre onMultilingualism and Language Learninghosted byMANX GAELICThe Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Manc/o Fryske AkademyDoelestrjitte 8P.O. Box 54NL-8900 AB Ljouwert/LeeuwardenThe NetherlandsT0031 (0)58 213 1414W www.mercator-research.euE mercator@fryske-akademy.nl Regional dossiers series
t carnie:cumnualAvailable in this series:This document was published by the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualismand Language Learning with financial support from the Fryske Akademy and the Provinceof Fryslân. Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualismand Language Learning, 2016ISSN: 1570 – 12391st editionThe contents of this dossier may be reproduced in print, except for commercial purposes,provided that the extract is proceeded by a complete reference to the Mercator EuropeanResearch Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning.This Regional dossier has been compiled by Fiona McArdle, Education Officer for ManxNational Heritage until 2012, and Robert Teare, Department of Education and Children’sManx Language Officer in the Ilse of Man. A draft of this Regional dossier has been reviewedby Julie Matthews, Headteacher of Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (a Manx Gaelic medium school).AcknowledgementsThe author acknowledges with grateful thanks the information given by Manx Gaeliceducationalists Anne Kissack and Rosemary Derbyshire, and the expert advice of DavidBrown, Isle of Man Department of Education, and Dr. Andrew Foxon, Manx NationalHeritage.Contact information of the authors of Regional dossiers can be found in the MercatorDatabase of Experts (www.mercator-research.eu).From February 2016 onwards, Rixt van Dongera and Richt Sterk have been responsible forthe publication of the Mercator Regional dossiers series.Albanian; the Albanian language in education in ItalyAragonese; the Aragonese language in education in SpainAsturian; the Asturian language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)Basque; the Basque language in education in France (2nd ed.)Basque; the Basque language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)Breton; the Breton language in education in France (2nd ed.)Catalan; the Catalan language in education in FranceCatalan; the Catalan language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)Cornish; the Cornish language in education in the UKCorsican; the Corsican language in education in France (2nd ed.)Croatian; the Croatian language in education in AustriaFrisian; the Frisian language in education in the Netherlands (4th ed.)Friulian; the Friulian language in education in ItalyGaelic; the Gaelic language in education in the UKGalician; the Galician language in education in Spain (2nd ed.)German; the German language in education in Alsace, France (2nd ed.)German; the German language in education in BelgiumGerman; the German language in education in DenmarkGerman; the German language in education in South Tyrol, ItalyHungarian; the Hungarian language in education in SlovakiaHungarian; the Hungarian language in education in SloveniaIrish; the Irish language in education in Northern Ireland (2nd ed.)Irish; the Irish language in education in the Republic of Ireland (2nd ed.)Italian; the Italian language in education in SloveniaKashubian; the Kashubian language in education in PolandLadin; the Ladin language in education in Italy (2nd ed.)Latgalian; the Latgalian language in education in LatviaLithuanian; the Lithuanian language in education in PolandMaltese; the Maltese language in education in MaltaManx Gaelic; the Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of ManMeänkieli and Sweden Finnish; the Finnic languages in education in SwedenNorth-Frisian; the North Frisian language in education in Germany (3rd ed.)Occitan; the Occitan language in education in FrancePolish; the Polish language in education in LithuaniaRomani and Beash; the Romani and Beash languages in education in HungarySami; the Sami language in education in SwedenScots; the Scots language in education in ScotlandSerbian; the Serbian language in education in HungarySlovak; the Slovak language in education in HungarySlovene; the Slovene language in education in Austria (2nd ed.)Slovene; the Slovene language in education in Italy (2nd ed.)Sorbian; the Sorbian language in education in Germany (2nd ed.)Swedish; the Swedish language in education in Finland (2nd ed.)Turkish; the Turkish language in education in GreeceUkrainian and Ruthenian; the Ukrainian and Ruthenian language in education in PolandVõro; the Võro language in education in EstoniaWelsh; the Welsh language in education in the UK
hool education.283Primary education.314Secondary education.365Vocational education.396Higher education.407Adult education.488Educational research.519Prospects.5510Summary statistics.58Education system in Spain.60Endnotes .61References and further reading.62Addresses .73Other websites on minority languages.78What can the Mercator Research Centre offer you?.79
Education and lesser used languagesGlossary2AS-LevelAdvanced Subsidiary levelATGArd Teisht GhaelgaghCertEdCertificate in EducationDECDepartment of Education and ChildrenDHSCDepartment of Health and ScienceGSCEGeneral Certificate of Secondary EducationMNHManx National HeritageTCGTeisht Chadjin Ghaelgagh (GCSE equivalent in Manx Gaelic)YCGYn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (Manx Gaelic Society)
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of ManForewordbackgroundThe Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualismand Language Learning aims at the acquisition, circulation,and application of knowledge in the field of regional andminority language education. Regional or minority languagesare languages that differ from the official language of the statewhere they are spoken and that are traditionally used withina given territory by nationals of that state form ing a groupnumerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population. Forseveral years an important means for the Mercator ResearchCentre to achieve the goal of knowledge acquisition andcirculation has been the Regional dossiers series. The successof this series illustrates a need for documents stating briefly themost essential features of the education system of regions withan autochthonous lesser used lan guage.aimRegional dossiers aim at providing a concise description of andbasic statistics on minority language education in a specificregion of Europe Aspects that are addressed include featuresof the education system, recent educational policies, mainactors, legal arrangements, and support structures, as well asquantitative aspects, such as the number of schools, teachers,pupils, and financial investments. This kind of information canserve several purposes and can be relevant for different targetgroups.target groupPolicymakers, researchers, teachers, students, and journal istsmay use the information provided to assess develop ments inEuropean minority language schooling. They can also use aRegional dossier as a first orientation towards further researchor as a source of ideas for improving educational provisions intheir own region.link withIn order to link these regional descriptions with those of nationalEurydiceeducation systems, the format of the regional dossiers followsthe format used by Eurydice, the inform ation network oneducation in Europe. Eurydice provides information on the3
Education and lesser used languagesa dministration and structure of national educ ation systems inthe member states of the European Union.contentsThe remainder of this dossier consists of an intro duction to theregion concerned, followed by six sections each dealing with aspecific level of the education system. These brief descriptionscontain factual information pre sented in a readily accessible way.Sections eight to ten cover research, prospects, and summarystatistics. For de tailed information and political discussions aboutlanguage use at the various levels of education, the reader isreferred to other sources with a list of publications.4
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Man1languageIntroductionThe Isle of Man is situated centrally in the British Isles in theIrish Sea. It is an internally self-governing dependent territory ofthe British Crown. It is not part of the United Kingdom, but is amember of the Commonwealth, and has a special relationshipwith the European Union through Protocol 3 of the 1992 act ofsuccession of the United Kingdom to the EEC (currently knownas the EU), which was negotiated through the United Kingdomwhich acts for the Isle of Man in international affairs.5Figure 1: Map of the Isle of Man (Source: visitilseofman.com)
Education and lesser used languagesManx Gaelic is one of the Celtic groups of the Indo-Europeanfamily of languages. For hundreds of years this group, oncewidespread through Europe, has been spoken only in theBritish Isles and north-western France.There are two branches of the Celtic languages. Goidelic(Gaelic) is the branch spoken in the Isle of Man, Ireland andScotland. Related to it is Brythonic, spoken in Wales, Cornwalland Brittany. These are sometimes referred to as ‘P’ (Brythonic)and ‘Q’ (Goidelic) Celtic respectively (Q is often written as C orK in Manx), as some words in the two branches substitute theinitial letter – for example, Welsh pen (head) becomes kione inManx, and pump (five) becomes queig.Manx Gaelic is very closely related to the now extinct Gaelicspeech of nearby East Ulster (Northern Ireland) and Galloway(South-western Scotland), both of which are visible from the6Isle of Man and have had close, if not always amicable,contacts in historic times. The Gaelic speech of the Isle of Manbegan as an offshoot of Old Irish, arriving in the fifth or sixthcentury of our era with colonists from Ireland. Before that timeit is probable that a form of Brythonic speech existed in Mann.Norse (Norsemen were vikings from Scandinavia) settlementswere established in Mann from the ninth century onwards.Although the Norse rulers installed themselves as the rulingclass, and as such had a long lasting influence on political andlegal institutions, the Gaelic language survived the Norse period.The language re-asserted itself by the fourteenth century withminimal Norse influence, apart from some changed place andpersonal names. By 1346, the English asserted control over theIsle of Man, but the Norse constitution survived.The Welsh born Bishop of Sodor and Mann, John Phillips,is credited with the earliest widely known written work inManx when he had the Book of Common Prayer translated inmanuscript form around 1610. A century later, Bishop ThomasWilson published a Manx translation of his Principles and Duties
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Manof Christianity, using a different spelling system from that of thePhillips manuscript. With this document he formed the basis ofmodern written Manx. The intention was that the clergy shouldbe able to use Manx “for English is not understood by two-thirdsof the Island (Thomson & Pilgrim, 1988).” For the same reasonthe Bible was finally translated in its entirety into Manx by theclergy and was first published in 1775.In 1765 the Act of Revestment was passed, giving much morecontrol to the British Crown over the economy of the Isle ofMan. This encouraged an expansion of the use of English onthe Island. This expansion occurred to such an extent thatchildren born and brought up in the first half of the nineteenthcentury were mainly bilingual and the children born during thesecond half of the century, the majority were brought up inexclusively English. None of the known native Manx speakerswho lived into the twentieth century were born after 1878.From 1901, the decennial census (except for the one in 1981)contained various questions on Manx Gaelic, revealing a declinein its use. For example in 1902 there were 4,419 Manxspeakers; 896 in 1921, and merely 165 in 1961, two of whomwere native speakers. In 1946 a search was organized in orderto find genuine native Manx speakers. The search resulted inthe documentation of twenty native speakers. In 1974, the lastnative Manx speaker, Ned Maddrell, died.By 1971 the decreasing speaker trend was reversed with284 speakers recorded. These Manx speakers had learnedthe language in adulthood and predominately learned thelanguage through the efforts of a small group of enthusiastswho had learned from native speakers themselves from the1930s onwards. In their turn they taught others the language aswell (Stowell and Bréasláin, 1996).populationThe Isle of Man’s capital is Douglas, its land area is 572 sq.km, it is 54 km long and the island is 22 km at its widest, andits population is noted in the interim census of 2011 as 84,497.7
Education and lesser used languagesThis is an increase of 5.5% in comparison to the populationof 80,058 that has been documented in the 2006 census (Isleof Man Census Report 2011). The population’s languagesare English and Manx Gaelic. The full ten-year Manx nationalcensus of 2011 (Isle of Man Census Report 2011) containedseveral questions for the resident population relating to ManxGaelic:questionResponsepercentageDo you speak, read or write Manx Gaelic?1,8232.16%Do you speak Manx Gaelic?1,6621.97%Do you write Manx Gaelic?7960.94%Do you read Manx Gaelic?10791.28%Table 1: Number of people who speak, write, and/or read Manx Gaelic (source: Isle ofMan Census Report 2011).There was no definition of the amount, quality or fluencyof Manx Gaelic spoken, written or read, and it is possible8that some respondents who had a limited knowledge of thelanguage answered in the affirmative as well as more fluentpractitioners.The results show an increase in the statistics from the 2001census when 1,527 people (2.0% of the then resident population)were recorded as being able to speak Manx Gaelic, 1.19% ableto read it and 0.92% able to write it (Isle of Man Census Report2001).language statusIn 1985 the first official, although limited, recognition of ManxGaelic came through a resolution (Report to the Select Committeeon the Greater Use of Manx Gaelic) in which Tynwald, theIsland’s two chamber Parliament, declared that the preservationand promotion of Manx Gaelic should be an objective of the Isleof Man Government. The Government funded Manx HeritageFoundation set up a voluntary Coonceil ny Gaelgey (Manx GaelicAdvisory Council) whose purpose was to standardise the officialuse of Manx Gaelic for government and local authorities.
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of ManISLE OF OLDMICHAELPEELGERMANBRADDANLONANLAXEYPERCENTAGE OFRESIDENT POPULATIONWITH KNOWLEDGE OFMANX N62.5% - 2.9%SANTONRUSHEN3.0% - 3.4%3.5% RUSHEN0less than 1.9%2.0% - 2.4%PORTST. MARYCASTLETOWNMALEW91218 KilometersIsle of Man Census Report 2001 Volume 2 Crown copyright. DLGE. Isle of Man.Unauthorised reproduction infringes copyright 2002Figure 2: Isle of Man: Percentage of Resident Population with Knowledge of Manx Gaelic(2011) (Isle of Man Census report 2011, volume 2, page 37, available tvolume2.pdf).During the 1990s, much progress was made in the language’srevival, both thanks to Government initiatives, particularly ineducation, and the input of voluntary organisations. Educationalpartnerships have been very successful. Most notably the preschool Manx Gaelic group Mooinjer Veggey (“Little People)”,which has secured considerable support and funding from theDepartment of Education and the Manx Heritage Foundation.In April 2003 the Manx Government signed the EuropeanCharter for Regional or Minority Languages, thereby agreeingto extend the Charter at Part Two protection level to the Isle ofMan. The objectives and principles pursued in accordance withArticle 2 are:
Education and lesser used languages“In respect of regional or minority languages, within the territoriesin which such languages are used and according to the situationof each language, the Parties shall base their policies, legislationand practice on the following objectives and principles: the recognition of the regional or minority languages as anexpression of cultural wealth;the respect of the geographicalarea of each regional or minority language in order to ensurethat existing or new administrative divisions do not constitutean obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minoritylanguage in question; the need for resolute action to promote regional or minoritylanguages in order to safeguard them; the facilitation and/or encouragement of the use of regionalor minority languages, in speech and writing, in public andprivate life; the maintenance and development of links, in the fields10covered by this Charter, between groups using a regional orminority language and other groups in the State employinga language used in identical or similar form, as well as theestablishment of cultural relations with other groups in theState using different languages; the provision of appropriate forms and means for the teachingand study of regional or minority languages at all appropriatestages; the provision of facilities enabling non-speakers of a regionalor minority language living in the area where it is used tolearn it if they so desire; the promotion of study and research on regional or minoritylanguages at universities or equivalent institutions; the promotion of appropriate types of transnational ex changes, in the fields covered by this Charter, for regional orminority languages used in identical or similar form in two ormore States. The Parties undertake to eliminate, if they have not yet done so,any unjustified distinction, exclusion, restriction or preferencerelating to the use of a regional or minority language andintended to discourage or endanger the maintenance or
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Mandevelopment of it. The adoption of special measures in favourof regional or minority languages aimed at promoting equalitybetween the users of these languages and the rest of thepopulation or which take due account of their specific conditionsis not considered to be an act of discrimination against the usersof more widely-used languages. The Parties undertake to promote, by appropriate measures,mutual understanding between all the linguistic groupsof the country and in particular the inclusion of respect,understanding and tolerance in relation to regional or minoritylanguages among the objectives of education and trainingprovided within their countries and encouragement of themass media to pursue the same objective. In determining their policy with regard to regional or minoritylanguages, the Parties shall take into consideration theneeds and wishes expressed by the groups which use suchlanguages. They are encouraged to establish bodies, ifnecessary, for the purpose of advising the authorities on allmatters pertaining to regional or minority languages. The Parties undertake to apply, mutatis mutandis, the principleslisted in paragraphs 1 to 4 above to non-territorial languages.However, as far as these languages are concerned, the natureand scope of the measures to be taken to give effect to thisCharter shall be determined in a flexible manner, bearing inmind the needs and wishes, and respecting the traditionsand characteristics, of the groups which use the languagesconcerned.”Part Three (in particular Part III, Article 8, 1.a. iv, 1.b. iv, 1.c.iv)has much more specific requirements for regional or minoritylanguage provision. In practice many of these requirementsare already being met by Isle of Man Government, particularlywith regard to education and heritage. Some of the preschool education is available through the medium of the Manxlanguage. There is one Manx medium (where the teaching isdone in Manx) primary school where the curriculum is taughtthrough the Manx language. Additionally, there is a pool ofperipatetic teachers which provides a half an hour Manx class a11
Education and lesser used languagesweek to English-speaking primary schools from the age of 8 (Aperipatetic teacher is one who travels from school to school inorder to offer a service. A Manx peripatetic teacher thus goes toseveral schools in order to be able to teach children in their ownsetting, rather than getting the pupils to travel to the teacher). Atone of the island’s secondary schools, some lessons are taughtthrough the medium of Manx. Manx is available as a subject tonon-Manx speakers in some of the secondary schools, leadingto a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).A-level Manx is also available at these schools. The Charter’srequirements for Part Three are being kept under review.Government agencies that work with the language meet on aquarterly basis, and a bi-annual review is prepared. There is noplan to fully move towards meeting the provisions of Part Threeat the present time.The Isle of Man Government’s Business Plan for 2005-8 identifieda sense of ‘National Identity’ as one of the six overall aims to be12achieved through the work of government departments andauthorities. One specific target of this aim is to increase thenumber of people involved with Manx Gaelic. There has onlybeen a small increase in the number of Manx speakers (notedin the 2011 census). Next to this increase, in addition to Manx’sincreasing visibility in Government contexts through for examplemultilingual signage, there is little concrete evidence of progress.status ofAlthough Manx Gaelic has been taught as an optional subject inlanguageprimary schools since 1991, this was not part of the Departmenteducationof Education’s departmental policy. Thus although the teachingof the language contributes to the language’s development,it does not give Manx a legal status to build on. The onlyAct of Tynwald which refers specifically to minority languageeducation is the Education Act (Isle of Man) of 2001, whichstates in the section relating to the curriculum:“The Department (of Education) shall by order prescribe acurriculum for all registered pupils of compulsory school ageat provided schools and maintained schools. The curriculum
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Manshall include provision for the following matters - the teaching ofManx Gaelic and the culture and history of the Island.”The subsequent Education (Curriculum) Order of 2004 includesin the general principles for the prescribed curriculum for pupilsaged from 5-14 years, and from 14-16 years, the following:“A range of [other] subject options shall be available for thosepupils and shall include Manx Gaelic.”Manx Gaelic has since been made available as a time-tabledoption in some school years, at some secondary schools. Wherethe subject is not offered as a curricular subject, provision is inplace to offer it as an extra-curricular subject.educationThe Department of Education and Children (DEC) managessystem32 primary schools, including a Manx Gaelic medium school,which was a unit attached to a neighbouring primary school untilSeptember 2006, when it was given its own independent status.Additionally, the Department manages five secondary schoolsin addition to the Isle of Man College of Further and HigherEducation. There were 6,358 pupils in primary schools and 5,429in secondary schools in 2014.The Manx National Curriculum is based on its English equivalent,although there are some differences. Compulsory education inthe Isle of Man is from 5-16 years. Subject areas included inthe prescribed curriculum are English (Literacy), Mathematics(Numeracy), Science, Design Technology, Information and Com munication Technology, History, Geography, Art and Design,Music, Physical Education, Manx Culture and History, (whichmay be taught through other subjects), and a Modern ForeignLanguage. Religious Study is classed as a compulsory subject.The main difference with the English curriculum is that ManxGaelic (optional; from age 8) is included in the Manx NationalCurriculum.13
Education and lesser used languagesManx Gaelic is available to all pupils who can study it half anhour per week (from age 8 onwards) on an optional basis, withan internally validated examination available at both GeneralCertificate of Secondary Education and Advanced LevelGeneral Certificate of Education (A level) equivalents. Since theEducation Act (2001) came into force, there has been a generalstatutory requirement for all pupils of compulsory school age(five to sixteen) to be taught elements of Manx Gaelic, and ofManx history and culture in all subject areas where practicable.To work towards the incorporation of these specifically Manxelements in language, history and culture the Departmentappointed a Curriculum Development Officer in 2002 (now anAdvisory Teacher for the Manx Curriculum). This officer hasinitiated the introduction of Manx elements into initial subjectareas in the primary curriculum, i.e. History and Geography,with a longer term rolling programme for the remaining broadareas of the Arts (including Literacy) and the Sciences (including14Numeracy), and into the secondary curriculum. Individual schoolsmay choose whether to use these Departmental guidelines,but they must, by law, provide an equivalent or higher use andquality of Manx elements within their curriculum.private andThere are currently two preparatory schools and one secondarypublicschool in the private sector, but none of them has a provision forManx Gaelic in the curriculum, although the private secondaryschool has arranged ad hoc Manx lessons in the past.The privately run Mooinjer Veggey organisation runs playgroupsand nurseries specifically to introduce Manx Gaelic and Manxculture to very young children. The organisation also managesthe Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (Manx Gaelic-medium primary school)in partnership with the Department of Education and Children.The public school system is mentioned above. There are 32primary schools, 5 secondary schools, and the Isle of ManCollege.
The Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of ManbilingualBilingual education is now offered to students at Key Stage 3,education forms which is the first part of secondary education, for students from11-14 years old, at one secondary school: Queen Elizabeth IIHigh School. Manx speaking pupils are taught two subjects peryear through the medium of Manx Gaelic.administrationThe Isle of Man Department of Education and Children isresponsible for all education matters in the public educationsystem, including the introduction of relevant legislation toTynwald. It is headed by a Minister for Education, who is amember of the Isle of Man Council of Ministers. Its officers,including the CEO and the Director of Education, are membersof Isle of Man Civil Service. Schools’ teaching and ancillarystaffs are in the Public Service of the Island.inspectionIn the recent past, the inspection of schools, the Isle ofMan College, and the Isle of Man Department of Educationand Children, had been carried out by the English Office forStandards in Education inspectorate. This has been supersededby an a self-inspecting system that schools can undertakethemselves. This system is led by the Isle of Man Departmentof Education and Children. In addition to this self-inspectingsystem, an independent inspector from England checks theresults each time a school’s judgments are validated.supportA full-time Manx Language Officer was appointed in 1992, as astructuresresult of public pressure. This officer has set up lessons in Manxin primary schools. The officer’s current job entails ensuring thatManx is in the public forum and is developed for the future. Thepublic pressure was partly based on a public opinion poll in 1991on the quality of life in the Isle of Man. In this poll, 36% of therespondents were interested in achieving Manx Gaelic provisionwithin schools for children. Before 1992, the language learningoptions for Manx Gaelic were available on a sporadic voluntarybasis in some schools. This provision was largely dependenton the interests and availability of individual teachers who wereManx Gaelic speakers and were prepared to run language clubsoutside of the timetabled curriculum.15
Education and lesser used languagesThe Manx Language Officer was appointed to the Isle of ManDepartment of Education and Children. Additionally, two fulltime teachers were also employed on a peripatetic basis andManx Gaelic was made available on an optional basis to allchildren aged 7 and upwards in both primary and secondaryschools. The demand for the lessons provided by this team wasgreater than expected and the team was reorganized under detitle: Unnid Gaelgagh (a Manx Language Peripatetic Teachers’Unit)). This team consists out of the Manx Language Officerand four full-time teachers.Next to activities concerned with compulsory education, severalorganisations and institutions are involved with Manx Gaelic,bo
Although the Norse rulers installed themselves as the ruling class, and as such had a long lasting influence on political and legal institutions, the Gaelic language survived the Norse period. The language re-asserted itself by the fourteenth century with minimal Norse inf
