Trevor Sargent
Question:74 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education the plans, if any, she has to standardise the leaving certificate Swedish examination in line with other European languages. [9607/96]
Written Answers. - Leaving Certificate Swedish Examination.
My Department has no plans at present to introduce Swedish as part of the curriculum of post-primary schools. The position is that French, German, Spanish and Italian are the modern European languages which are part of the curriculum of post-primary schools in Ireland. My Department provides official syllabuses and related examinations in connection with these languages.
Examinations in other languages of the European Union are provided from time to time but admission is restricted to native speakers of those languages. Written examinations at higher level only are provided. Examinations in Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Modern Greek and Portuguese have been provided in this mode on request in recent years.
A most important distinction has to be drawn between languages which are part of the school curriculum and other languages. The courses and examinations in French, German, Spanish and Italian are provided on the basis that they are not the mother tongues of the vast majority of candidates and that they are being studied as second or additional languages. The examinations in the other languages, such as Swedish, are of the candidate's mother language. The latter tests are not specific to any particular syllabus but are general tests related to the competence of the candidates in their first language. The standard of language use is in general far more sophisticated than anything that could be expected of candidates who would have followed a school course in a foreign language. In conducting examinations such as those in Swedish, the standards used are linked to international standards in mother-tongue competence rather than to our national standards in foreign language acquisition.