The Center for Irish Language Acquisition Research is a research unit of the Institute for Irish-American Studies of the City University of New York (CUNY). The Center represents one of the strongest and most developed areas of Irish Studies research among CUNY faculty. The Center is located in Room 188B of Carman Hall at Lehman College. Ms. Elaine Ní Bhraonáin serves as the Coordinator of the Center.

Mission

The mission of the Center for Irish Language Acquisition Research is to investigate the learning of Irish as a first and second language. In an American context, the research of the Center is especially focused on (1) the learning of Irish as a foreign language by teenagers and adults and (2) the bilingual acquisition of Irish and English by infants.

The Irish language and New York City?

New York City has a long history of Irish language involvement. It received thousands upon thousands of Irish language immigrants during and after the Great Famine in the mid-1800's. From 1880-1920, New York City was a central point for Irish language revival activity. The 2000 census reported 25,870 speakers of Irish in the United States. Immigrants and New York City students continue to keep the language in the public eye with Irish language columns in ethnic newspapers, Irish language radio shows, and events, classes, and weekends for Irish language enthousists. New York is listed as the state with the largest number of Irish language speakers in the 2000 census (4,780 speakers). New York City and the surounding counties account for 9 of the top 20 US counties with the highest number of reported Irish speakers. In summary, New York City is probably the best place outside of Ireland in which to study the Irish language.

A New Name for the Center?

The University last year set a fundraising goal for the naming of this Center at $175,000. The Kingsley H. Murphy Family Foundation has pledged $50,000 to name the Center after the late Dr. Eoin McKiernan. Dr. McKiernan has been described as "a patriarch of Irish studies in the United States who laid the ground for the explosion of interest in Irish arts in recent years" (Irish Times, 7/20/04). His particular interest in the Irish language can be traced back to his teenage years when he won a scholarship to study in Rosmuc in the West Galway Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region). While he pioneered with others the development of Irish Studies in America in general, he always maintained a keen interest in the Irish language. The Center and McKiernan Family are extremely honored at the offer of Mr. Kingsley H. Murphy. The Center is seeking to first match Mr. Murphy's pledge by January 2007. To find out how you can help to honor Dr. Eoin McKiernan and support the work of the Center, please e-mail Dr. Thomas Ihde at thomas.ihde@lehman.cuny.edu or phone 718-960-6776.

Affiliated Faculty & Staff

Ms. Elaine Ní Bhraonáin, M.A. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
- Center Coordinator and Instructor of Elementary Irish I & II
Dr. Thomas W. Ihde, PH.D. TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
- Associate Professor & Instructor of Elementary Irish III
Dr. Clare Carroll, PH.D. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
- Professor & Instructor of Elementary Irish I & II
Dr. John Gillen, PH.D. CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
- Assistant Professor & Research Fellow
Dr. Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew, PH.D. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- Visiting Fellow
Ms. Máire Ní Neachtain, M.A. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, GALWAY
- Visiting Fellow

Distance Education

All undergraduate and graduate courses coordinated by the Center are in distance education format. A benefit of this arrangement is that students throughout the United States can participate in our courses and in addition to registrations from Maine to Florida and as far west as Oregon, we have also had students living in Canada, Iceland, and Ireland participate in our distance education courses.

Our classes use the Blackboard Internet teaching software that enables us to include sound recordings, pictures, and short video clips. Students can participate in discussions on-line. We also use a textbook with CDs and two video tapes. We make use of the telephone for individual or conference calls as needed. This semester, there are 25 students enrolled in Elementary Irish I and 11 in Elementary Irish III. Students register for our courses through the Center directly, Lehman College, or via e-Permit at any CUNY campus.

Current Distance Education Courses

IRI103: Elementary Irish I
IRI104: Elementary Irish II
IRI105: Elementary Irish III

Distance Education Courses in Development

IRI201: Intermediate Irish Grammar
IRI202: Intermediate Irish Composition
IRI301: Irish and Irish-American Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival (taught in Irish)
IRI302: Twentieth Century Irish Language Poetry (taught in Irish)
IRI601: Workshop in Irish Grammar
IRI602: Workshop in Irish Composition
IRI711: Irish and Irish-American Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival (taught in Irish)
IRI721: Twentieth Century Irish Language Poetry (taught in Irish)

Degree Programs in Development

Irish Language Studies Minor
Irish Language Advanced Certificate

Study Abroad Agreement

The Center is developing a working relationship with National University of Ireland - Galway's Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge (Irish Language University Academy). We faciliated the first cohort of students this past summer for a four week immersion experience in Connemara. We are preparing for the second cohort for January 6-20, 2007.

Public Events

A number of public events reflect the mission of the Center. Events that overlap with other CUNY centers and institutes are also sponsored. Lectures by scholars in this field have included Prof. Kenneth Nilsen (St. Francis Xavier University), Prof. Nancy Stenson (University of Minnesota), Dr. James Blake (Nassau Community College, SUNY), Dr. David Barnwell (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dr. Úna Ní Bhroiméil (University of Limerick), Mr. Peter Flynn (University College Cork), Mr. Seán Ó Murchú (MSNBC & Raidió na Gaeltachta). Next semester, Prof. Kenneth Nilsen will be returning to give a plenary on the Irish language in America at the national ACIS meeting at CUNY Graduate Center. The conference which will be hosted by our Institute for Irish-American Studies will include several panels on the Irish language.

We additionally schedule monthly Irish language conversation circles that have meet at CUNY's Queens College and Lehman College campuses and presently meet in New York City's Little Ireland, Woodlawn, in a popular restaurant. The Center also collaborates in the screening of Irish language films. Two semesters ago an Irish language documentary from TG4 (national Irish language television channel in Ireland) was screened on the topic of the Great Irish Famine.

Publications

The research team has a long history of publishing in the area of Irish language acquisition including research articles in Teanga: The Irish Yearbook of Applied Linguistics, Language, Culture, & Curriculum, Journal of Celtic Language Learning, Éire-Ireland: A Journal of Irish Studies, and Teangeolas: Journal of the Linguistics Institute of Ireland. Also Prof. Ihde's first book entitled The Irish Language in the United States included several chapters focusing on this area including chapters by Dr. Blyn-LaDrew and Prof. Ihde of the Center.

Journal of Celtic Language Learning

In 2005, the Center began coordinating the publication of the international journal for Celtic language researchers and teachers. The Journal of Celtic Language Learning is in its tenth year of being published and has included scholarly articles by a number of leading academics in the area of Celtic language acquisition. This publication is the official yearbook of the North American Association of Celtic Language Teachers (NAACLT) and the Center is honored to coordinate its publication.

Grants & Contracts

The following research projects are currently underway at the Center.

Syllabus Design for Teaching Irish to Americans

The Center has been contracted to produce the Colloquial Irish language learning package by Routledge, an imprint of the international publisher Taylor & Francis. Routledge has books and CDs published for learning nearly 60 languages, but Irish was not represented in this collection. Routledge approached the Center last year asking us to prepare a proposal. Profs. Ihde & Gillen, Dr. Blyn-LaDrew, and Ms. Ní Neachtain are working on the project. This project is expected to be completed by October 2006.

Return Emigration and Language Maintenance

Large numbers of Irish-speakers have immigrated to Boston and London among other places over the years. Most of those who immigrated appear to be raising their children in English-only. In the past ten years, there has been a notable level of immigrants returning to Ireland. This research project looks at how the education system in the Irish-speaking regions has been dealing with return monolingual emigrants and what educators in American schools with high percentages of Irish immigrants can do to prepare students for a possible return to Ireland. Funded by the Professional Staff Congress - The City University of New York, the project consisted of a number of interviews carried out in Connemara, Co. Galway, with principals in January of 2005. The project is still currently underway with data being interpreted.

Bilingual Acquisition of Irish and English

This project focuses on parents in the Diaspora who have chosen to raise their children in Irish and English. Special attention has been given to the "One Parent One Language" method where each parent or caregiver uses one language exclusively with the child from birth. The data are being interpreted not only with implications for Americans, but with applications being explored for those in predominantly English-speaking areas of Ireland. The findings of this research have been shared through papers presented at scholarly conferences and a website for parents, www.paistilegaeilge.com .

19th Century Irish Language Publishing in America

The Center has been assisting researchers at the Center for the Preservation of Irish-American Publications, also located at Lehman College, with a book preservation project. Irish-American books from 1820-1922 are being scanned and then placed on the Internet for all to enjoy. It is estimated that 10,000 such books exist. In our experience, about five percent of these books involve the Irish language. The Center for Irish Language Acquisition Research has been assisting with the Irish language books in the preservation project.