Personal statement
I am a senior lecturer in the School of Education. My research interests are focussed on (minority) languages in and for teaching that go beyond the bounded notions of identity and culture. I lead the Council of Europe's European Centre for Modern Languages PALINGUI - language learning pathways of young children – making language learning visible - project and I am the co-chair of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education Languages Group which is responsible for the National Framework for Languages and associated resources as well as the Plurilingual Classrooms in Action MOOC (hosted through FutureLearn) - for which I created the content for the diversity and intercultural awareness section.
The promotion of social networks (real and virtual) for the use of (minority) language(s) is at the heart of my research and I am the Chair of Working Group 4 of the COST+ Action Language in the Human Machine Era (LITHME) and also influences my work with the Erasmus+ project Diversity in Science towards Social Inclusion.
I lead and teach on a range of different modules across the School of Education, many focussed on the teaching and learning of languages or on the Early Years and Childhood practice. I supervise a large number of doctoral students, typically with a focus on language learning and teaching.
I am currently the chair and Editor in Chief of the Northern Scotland Journal (Edinburgh University Press). I am registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Institute. I have acted as an external examiner for EdD and PhD doctoral thesis and I was invited to be external expert on an initial teacher education reaccreditation panel. I hold a number of external examiner positions at different Universities.
I regularly appear on BBC programmes, including news contributions and input to current affairs programmes to talk about my work in Gaelic and education.
Teaching
I lead and teach on a range of different modules across the School of Education, many focussed on the teaching and learning of languages or on the Early Years and Childhood practice. I supervise a large number of doctoral students, typically with a focus on language learning and teaching. I am currently the chair and Editor in Chief of the Northern Scotland Journal (Edinburgh University Press) and amregistered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). I was awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Institute in 2021. I have acted as an external examiner for EdD and PhD doctoral thesis and I was invited to be external expert on an initial teacher education reaccreditation panel. I hold a number of external examiner positions at the University of the Highlands and Islands (including the BA Gàidhlig is Leasachadh and MEd Foghlam delivered through the medium of Gaelic), The University of the West of Scotland and the University of Cumbria.
I regularly appear on BBC programmes, including news contributions and input to current affairs programmes to talk about my work in Gaelic and education.
Research interests
My interests in promoting (minority) language use resulted in a £25,000 research grant from Bòrd na Gàidhlig which looked at the extent to which spoken Gaelic is used in public community settings. The findings of this study have contributed to the successful establishment of the social enterprise An Taigh Ceilidh (the meeting place) in Stornoway (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar), a designated social space where individuals can come and use Gaelic to socialise, meet, sing, share stories, strengthen community and social networks and create new friendships.
The promotion of social networks to use minority or endangered languages is also at the heart of my research in the use of social media and other technologies to support the use of minority languages. I am the Chair of Working Group 4 of the COST+ Action Language in the Human Machine Era (LITHME), where I am involved in organising workshops, international whole action group conferences, and the training school, where I have also delivered input on the role of current and future technologies on the continued use of minority or endangered language and sustaining language diversity.
The promotion of Gaelic in a range of different domains to sustain its use has also resulted in my involvement as co-investigator with the Diversity in Science towards Social Inclusion Erasmus+ project (worth €108,000 to the University of Strathclyde). This has allowed me to create a holistic view of language and culture that goes beyond the traditional bounded notions of identity through the creation of culturally sensitive activities within the sociology of science paradigm. The success of this project resulted in a further, funded project (£10,000 from the Royal Society of Chemistry) called Rannsachadh àrainn eucoir – am Puffin bochd) to further develop these notions and situate these in contemporary society.
I have also been successful in attracting funding (£3,000 Soillse) for an innovative cross-disciplinary project that brought together academics, researchers, practitioners and members of the public through a collaboration between three universities (University of Edinburgh, Stirling and Strathclyde) to explore the impact of bilingualism and language loss on patients and their caregivers. This results formed the basis of a The Conversation article which has, to date, attracted over 25,000 readers.
Professional activities
- Gaelic medium education and dyslexia
- Contributor
- 10/11/2022
- Shortfall in additional needs support for dyslexic children in Gaelic medium education (GME) put in spotlight by BBC ALBA's Eòrpa
- Contributor
- 10/11/2022
- bilingualism and bilingual education: sociolinguistic approaches
- Speaker
- 10/11/2022
- International conference on International Conference on Revitalisation of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages
- Participant
- 13/9/2022
- LITHME Working Group 3 & 4 meeting
- Organiser
- 9/9/2022
- Taigh-Cèilidh Steòrnobhaigh ro dheireadh na bliadhna
- Advisor
- 24/8/2022
More professional activities
Projects
- Rannsachadh Àrainn Eucoir: Am Puffin Bochd (English: Crime Science Investigation: The Poor Puffin)
- Ross, Kirsty (Principal Investigator) Birnie, Inge (Co-investigator) Essex, Jane (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
- Plurilingualism in Action - FutureLearn Massive Open Online Course
- Birnie, Inge (Academic)
- MOOC to develop teachers' understanding of learning and teaching languages to explore the transformative role of languages in education.
- 01-Jan-2021
- PALINGUI – Language learning pathways of young children – Making early language learning visible
- Birnie, Inge (Principal Investigator)
- ECML project - Language learning pathways are becoming more and more diverse as a result of linguistic and cultural diversity. This diversity means that young people can grow up with multiple languages and cultures, different practices and customs, as well as different ways of speaking and writing. The new PALINGUI project of the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe (ECML) will be looking at these diverse linguistic journeys of young learners in educational contexts and how to make these visible through a range of methods and tools. These will make it possible to identify, understand and document language learning of children age 3 to 12 and thereby create learning opportunities allowing them to progress along their language learning pathways.
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2023
- Enacting Plurilingualism: Exploring teachers’ perspectives on the classroom realisation of languages education principles
- McPake, Joanna (Principal Investigator) Huang, Alan (Principal Investigator) Birnie, Inge (Principal Investigator)
- The principal research questions this study sets out to answer are:
1. How do newly qualified and more established languages teachers link the principles set out in the National Framework for Languages to current and / or future classroom practices?
2. What kind of professional education do they consider most valuable in developing the competences they need to do this effectively?
- 20-Jan-2018 - 19-Jan-2018
- Potential for use of language observation
- Birnie, Inge (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2019
- Inspiring Language Learning and Teaching in the Early Years - Why it matters and what it looks like for Children age 3 - 12
- Birnie, Inge (Co-investigator)
- With over 40 official languages in the member states of the Council of Europe and more than 70 regional and minority languages officially recognized in addition to a number of languages spoken by migrants, it is important that Europe’s language diversity is recognized and acknowledged.
The reality for many European citizens is that in the course of their lives they will need to develop proficiency, not only in their native language, but in a variety of languages. Demands of study, work, travel, relocation and personal development will also mean that skills in new languages will need to be added to their existing repertoire. Therefore, learning the skills required to learn languages is of paramount importance. Furthermore, language learning and identity construction are closely interlinked.
Recognizing the importance of languages in the lives of Europeans and the benefits that early language learning provides, the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) has launched a two-year project "Inspiring language learning and teaching in the early years – Why it matters and what it looks like for children age 3-12".
The project is focused on early language learning, from 3 to 12 years of age. The innate curiosity and enthusiasm that children bring to learning during this initial period in their formal education makes it the ideal time to introduce, nurture and motivate learners in the area of additional language learning. Strong foundations, built at this stage in children’s development, will facilitate language learning throughout life and openness to, as well as respect for different cultures, values and traditions.
One of the aims of the project is to help those working with young learners to embrace their own plurilingualism and to recognize the potential for further learning that this can bring. With this recognition, teachers and educators can begin to understand the importance of linguistic interdependency, where knowledge of one language can be used to inform the learning of another. In this way, each child´s unique language potential can be included to support his/her educational development and may also contribute to social cohesion in multilingual/multicultural environments, not only in the classroom, but also in wider society. For this reason, another aim of the project is to provide teachers and educators with resources they can use to support plurilingualism in their classrooms. Useful activities and examples of good practice will be made available in the form of a new website. - 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2019
More projects