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Muiris Ó Laoire
Ireland has a long tradition of bilingual education. The introduction of a third language at primary level is more recent. Research found that students who study Irish as a second language do not perceive such study as learning a new language in the same or similar way as they perceive the learning of a third language. There has been a compartmentalization between English, Irish, and other languages. Recent studies of L3 learning in Ireland have focused on metalinguistic awareness. Findings corroborate the assumption that the positive effects of metalinguistic awareness are increased if linkages are forged between learners' existing language-learning experiences and the experience of learning the third language. The study of Irish as a second language had no recognizable influence on the foreign language since Irish was not perceived as a potential aid to foreign-language learning. A more dynamic view of multilingualism becomes more common in the classrooms.
