Ms. Jan Cairns

Quality Assurance Officer

Rathmines House

Dublin 6

31st May 2007

Re. – Response to Report of Review Panel – MA sa Ghaeilge Fheidhmeach

Dear Jan,

Thank you for your report and for the recommendations made by the panel.

Conditions:

All the conditions set out by the validation panel have now been met, as set out below.

(a)The elements within the existing modules which cover translation should be pulled together into a separate module on translation. The Panel considers that the inclusion of such a module would be attractive as a marketing tool and, in the light of the Official Languages Act 2003, important for those who plan to take the Foras na Gaeilge accreditation examination.

See module descriptors, Doc. B, 4.7

The module previously entitled ‘Writing for professional purposes’ has been retitled, redrafted and restructured. The following points are noteworthy:

  • Title: ‘Translation and professional writing’. In consultation with Éamonn Ó Dónaill of Gaelchultúr and Dr Micheál Ó Cearúil it was agreed that the element ‘professional writing’ should be retained in the title in order to maintain broad market appeal while still fulfilling the aims outlined above. The module content, as before, is predominantly centred on translation and translation skills.
  • ECTS Weighting: The ECTS weighting for this module has been increased from 10 to 15 ECTS. This point, as well as specific mention of formal preparation for the Foras na Gaeilge Translator’s Accreditation exam, see (q) below, will be emphasised in the marketing material in order to underscore the pivotal nature of this 3rd semester translation module and its attractiveness and relevance to the target market.

(b)The contact hours for the programme should be increased. The Panel acknowledges that it is intended that students will be provided with e-learning opportunities outside of timetabled hours, nevertheless, it considers that the contact hours as written are too light for an applied language programme. The Panel suggests that this could be done through a combination of some or all of the following: an increase in weekly lecturer/student contact hours, extra provision of weekend seminars, attendance at programmes in the Gaeltacht, or attendance at the annual Oireachtas festival or Merriman winter school. The total contact hours for the taught modules should be increased overall to approximately 240.

See 3.3 (Student workload, Semester timetable, Contact hours, Course credits), Doc B.

  • The E-learning element of the programme has been explicitly integrated into specific language skills modules
  • Contact hours with L1 (native speaker) consultants in modules Oral Skills and Style in Irish have been made explicit.
  • Contact hours on the Portfolio/ Minor dissertation module have been revised.
  • A proportion of the weekend seminars will be organised with the explicit aim of facilitating contact with Gaeltacht communities (e.g. Rath Cairn, see (k) below).
  • Funding will be sought to enable students to attend Gaeltacht courses. The Programme Committee will work closely with Oifig na Gaeilge, DIT, to this end. Students will be encouraged to avail of such courses as early as possible during the programme i.e. between Semesters 1 and 2 in particular, in order to maximise the learning benefit and integration of developing skills.
  • A minimum number of exposure hours (i.e. time spent in Irish Language environments) per semester has been made explicit. Formal and informal exposure to the target language is understood as a fundamental element of the language learning process, particularly at advanced levels. This exposure is necessary for skills progression in all modules as presented. This point will be emphasised throughout the programme and ways in which exposure can be facilitated and maximised will be explored with each student cohort in accordance with individual circumstances and opportunities presented by Irish Language events as they occur throughout the year. The minimum exposure hours required may consist of attendance at, and participation in, Irish language cultural, professional and academic events such as: Oireachtas na Gaeilge; Scoil Gheimhridh Mherriman; Pléaráca Chonamara; selected theatre productions; selected Applied Irish events including professional interest seminars organised through Foras na Gaeilge, Comhar na Múinteoirí Gaeilge etc; lectures, conferences and seminars at other third level institutions (e.g. DIAS: Tionól, UCD: Seimineár Lae, NUIM: Léachtaí Cholm Cille, NUIG: Tionól), Traditional singing and music workshops and festivals (e.g. Sean-Nós Cois Life, Féile Joe Éinniú, Féile Dhiarmuidín); Comhluadar, Gaelscoileanna and Naíonraí Gaelacha events; events organised and promoted by DIT’s Oifig na Gaeilge; Cultural and social events organised by Conradh na Gaeilge, Gaelchultúr, Sult, Glór na nGael etc. This list is not exhaustive and the integrated nature of the programme means that participation in these and other events forms a natural part of the learning experience of individual modules and of the programme as a whole.

(c)It should be explicit within the Programme Document what e-learning supports will be in place, to assist and guide students’ self-directed study.

See Doc. B, 1.4 (Online materials)

(d)Assessment criteria for the modules should be included within the Programme Document, in order to link the module learning outcomes more clearly with the assessment.

See individual module descriptors, Doc. B.

(e)The entry requirements should be clarified in terms of standard and non-standard entry, as discussed with the Panel.

See Doc. B, 2.1

(f)The assessment regulations for the programme should be separated out from the entry requirements and should be clarified, in terms of where compensation may not apply and the basis for the calculation of the final award classification.

See Doc. B, 2.2 - 2.5.

Recommendations

The School of Languages has noted the recommendations of the panel and is working on implementing these. The panel will see that a number of the recommendations have been incorporated into module descriptors and others have been addressed as follows:

(h) See under Entrance Requirements, Doc. B, 2.1

(i) This feature of the programme has also been highlighted in the introduction to the programme Document in response to the panel's recommendation that the novel and interesting features of the programme be set out there (Doc. B, 1.1)

(j) See Doc. B, 1.5 (Support from other Schools and Faculties within DIT)

(k) See (b) above.

(m) The School of Languages will move to have the modules Sociolinguistics 1, Sociolinguistics 2: Irish in Contemporary Society and Irish Language Communicative Media validated as CDP courses. Once validated, they may be offered by any DIT Level 9 programme of study that includes an optional or elective element.

(p) See Doc. B, 1.1.

We trust this response will be satisfactory and wish to reiterate our appreciation of the hard work and close interest taken by the panel members in our document.

Yours sincerely,

Hélène Conway

Head of School of Languages

CcDr. Ellen Hazelkorn

Dr. Alma Conway

Dr. Siobhán Ní Laoire