Bilingual Education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Abstract

Ireland, Scotland and Wales are joined by having a common Celtic heritage. However, their language history, language demography and bilingual education systems are very different. To understand such systems, it is necessary to contextualize bilingual education in the language demography of these countries. In the 1991 United Kingdom census, from a Scottish population of approximately 5 million people, only 1.4% (about 66,000) said they spoke Gaelic. Although there are Gaelic speakers throughout much of Scotland, with Gaelic communities in cities such as Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow, the highest concentration of Gaelic speakers is in the Western Isles. The remoteness and relative inaccessibility of these islands has meant that they have resisted Anglicisation more successfully than the rest of Scotland. Generally, the Gaelic language in Scotland is fighting for survival.