Vol. 481 No. 6
142 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to concerns about the diminishing ability of students completing secondary level to express themselves effectively in writing; and if he has considered increasing the hours devoted to and the standards to be achieved in literacy in English. [16765/97]
I am aware of the ongoing debate on the balance of fluency versus accuracy in the teaching of all languages in our schools, including English. The ability to express oneself effectively, whether orally or in writing, depends on skills of judgment and analysis as well as on basic literacy. It is with a view to enhancing these higher-order skills that the revised syllabus for leaving certificate English is placing greater emphasis than in the past on the study of language as a tool of expression while not neglecting the study of literary language. The revised syllabus will be introduced in September 1999.
The number of hours devoted to English on the school timetable is a matter for each individual school. The majority of pupils have an average of between 3 and 3.5 hours per week of instruction in English. When account is taken of the fact that many other areas of the curriculum, such as history, geography, CSPE, are language-dependent and that each of these subjects is studied for approximately two hours per week by a large number of pupils, it is evident that pupils at second-level do in fact receive considerable instruction in literacy in English.
