Foil Arms and Hog is an Irish sketch comedy group. In this assignment, you are going to watch and analyse two of their sketches, one on Irish Gaelic (known as Irish) and one on Irish English. First, you are going to read about the history of Irish Gaelic and Irish English to understand the background of the comedy sketches. Then you will watch one sketch in which the ability to speak Irish English is made a joke about. You will try to find a connection between the comedy sketch and the values that are associated with Irish. Then you will watch another sketch in which Irish English vocabulary and sarcasm cause a misunderstanding between two speakers of English (Irish English and Standard English). You will try to solve the misunderstanding. In the end, you will reflect on the value your own language or language variety has in society.
This assignment should take 60 minutes.
explain the values the Irish associate with Irish
to reflect on the values associated with your own language
to recognise the stereotype about the Irish weather and explain it
to explain the differences between the values people attribute to Irish, Irish English and Standard English and think of the positive aspects of each of them
to analyse a comedy sketch and look at how two different speakers of English, one used to Irish English, and the other to Standard English, can try to better understand each other.
For teachers who want to adapt this assignment into the classroom, a small set of instructions can be found here.
Read the following information on Irish Gaelic and Irish English (Melchers & Shaw, 2011 pp. 73-79). This will help you understand the background of the comedy sketches you are going to watch.
The Republic of Ireland has two official languages: Irish Gaelic (known as Irish) and English. Although Irish has been around for centuries, the number of native Irish speakers has continued to decline and there are no longer any speakers who speak only Irish. The language is now endangered, and most speakers are condensed to the area known as Gaeltacht, along the west coast of Ireland. Despite that, Irish is a compulsory school subject in Ireland and is also widely available through radio and television. Most Irish people value it as part of their Irish identity and as a symbol to represent cultural distinctiveness.
In Ireland, people also speak the Irish English variant of English. Needless to say, this has historically been influenced by the Irish language. For example, Irish English (IrE hereafter) speakers use many metaphors, idioms and proverbs, and vocabulary in general, from Irish. Just like the IrE phonology (its sounds), the grammar in IrE tends to be conservative, i.e. retain constructions that are out of use in Standard British English. For example, IrE makes a distinction between the singular you/ye and the plural youse (which is also found in varieties such as Australian English and American English).
Read the questions below before watching. Watch the first sketch When Irish People Can’t Speak Irish and then answer the questions. The sketch lasts until 2.00.
1. The detective explains the values of the Irish language and culture to the inspector. Apart from what you have read, why do you think people would attach so much worth to it and make an effort to keep it alive?
2. Obviously from the video, the detective does not speak much Irish. How does the Irish he does know reflect that of the larger population? Give a cause.
3. At the end of the interrogation, the suspect says Póg mo thóin, which the inspector mistakes for “Lovely to meet you”. Here the point is made that most Irish people only know how to curse in Irish, as Póg mo thóin actually means Kiss my arse in Irish. As the inspector does not even know how to curse in Irish, he is made fun of because he doesn’t know any Irish. Consider the use of swear words in a foreign language. Argue why the example above is made with swearwords, and not just regular words. Include why knowing swearwords only might not be a good thing.
4. The suspect is from Connemara, which is part of the Gaeltacht region, where Irish is most prevalent. Imagine you are from Connemara. What do you think of the importance of the Irish language to be represented in official institutions, such as the police or in court?
Read the questions below before watching. Watch the second sketch Never Take an Irish Person Literally and then answer the questions. The sketch lasts until 2.03.
1. Provide three examples of how Irish slang is interpreted differently by the administrator from the European office.
2. Provide three examples of how Irish sarcasm is interpreted differently by the administrator from the European office.
3. If you were the administrator from the European office, how would you have prepared for this situation in order to make things run more smoothly?
4. Do the same from the Irish employee’s point of view as in question 3.
5. The sketch makes fun of the stereotype that it is always raining in Ireland. However, in the second shot the sun is shining.
a. Think of your own opinion on Ireland, and look for other stereotypes here. How do these negative stereotypes, such as in the sketch, influence what people think about Ireland? How does this negative stereotype influence outsiders’ perceptions of Ireland?
b. Do some research on the actual rainfall in Ireland over the last couple of years. You can use this site for your research. To what extent can you confirm or dismiss the stereotype? Formulate a nuanced answer.
Think of your own language, language variety, dialect or accent. What is its position in society and where does that come from? Explain using positive and negative stereotypes to describe the status of it, while highlighting where these stereotypes come from and how they influence the position of your language Write a short paragraph of about 150-200 words.