The position of German in the Northern Ireland curriculum

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the current position of German in Northern Ireland schools. Anecdotal evidence and recent research (Neil, Phipps, and Mallon 1999, 2000) prompted a study to determine if German really is in decline in Northern Ireland, why this might be the case, and what, if anything, can be done to secure the future of the language in schools, particularly in the context of the current curricular review, which contains potentially challenging proposals for German and languages in general.