Drama in an Irish language immersion school: Implications for transferring the use of a revival language from the classroom to the broader community

This study examines the potential of drama to influence language choice among students in Irish language immersion settings in Ireland. Using drama strategies like role replacement, teacher-in-role, and role-in-the-bag, the workshops aimed to simulate scenarios that required the use of language in contexts relevant to socializing outside of school. Research tools included before-and-after Likert scale and written response surveys. Findings showed that while a large majority of students reported very rarely using Irish socially outside of school – and half believed nothing could change this – a substantial portion (32%) in the post-program survey stated that regular workshops like the ones in the study could shift their language choices outside of school. Students found the workshops more enjoyable and emotionally engaging than typical school lessons; they demonstrated increased motivation to speak and decreased language anxiety. These results affirm existing scholarship on the affective and motivational benefits of drama in language learning and suggest that in-school pedagogical interventions hold promise in supporting the goals of language revitalization. Further research is needed to assess the long-term impact of such interventions on language choice, both in Irish-medium contexts and in other minority language settings.