Research

The research interests of Tomás Ó h-Íde include focus on (1) modern Irish language literature with special interests in the dialects of County Galway and their use in writing and (2) Irish language syllabus design for foreign language adult learners.

Previously funded projects that focus on second language learning include a grant-funded project that has led to the development of new courses leading to a Minor in Irish Language & Literature (funded by a grant from the Irish Government 2006-2009) and a project that has led to a Routledge/Taylor & Francis book with CDs (2008) documenting and preserving a local dialect of the Irish language, Cois Fharraige in West Galway. Tomás has successfully applied for a Fulbright Teaching Assistant from Ireland for the past five years.

Tomás Ó h-Íde serves as the PI of a new curriculum development project to establish a B.A. in Irish Language & Literature at Lehman College which has been funded for three years by the Irish Government (2009-2012). He is also the primary author once again of the second level of Colloquial Irish expected to appear in 2012.

An t-Ollamh Tomás Ó h-Íde, Ph.D.
Prof. Thomas Ihde, Ph.D.

Irish Language & Literature
Lehman College, City University of New York

tomas@lehmangaeilge.org

Chair & Assoc. Prof., Languages & Literatures

1994 (ed.): The Irish Language in the United States: a historical, sociolinguistic, and applied linguistic survey. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

2008: Colloquial Irish (with Máire Ní Neachtain, Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew, and John Gillen). London: Routledge.

Articles

- in press : "Pedagogy-driven publishing in the Irish American Diaspora." In F. Sewell & A. Titley (Eds.), A History of the Irish Book, Vol II: The Printed Book in Irish 1567-2000. New York: Oxford University Press.

- 2008: "Irish American Identity and the Irish Language." In P. Kirwan, J. Byrne & M. O'Sullivan (Eds.), Affecting Irishness. New York: Peter Lang.

- 2005: "Irish Language Learning Textbooks Published in the United States: 1873-1904." New Hibernia Review, 9, pp. 137-151.

- 2005: "Linguistic perceptions of the Irish-speaking districts: on-line versus in-person." In L. Ashley & W. Finke (Eds.), Language in the Era of Globalization. (pp. 91-96). East Rockaway, NY: Cummings & Hathaway Publishers.

- 2003: "Language Learning and the On-Line Environment: The Views of Learners of Chinese." The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (JCLTA) 38(1), pp. 25-52.

- 2001-2002: "Teacher and Student Roles in Multimedia Language Learning." Teanga: The Irish Yearbook of Applied Linguistics 20, pp. 69-87.

- 2000: “Curriculum Development and Textbook Design for North American Learners of Irish.” Language, Culture, & Curriculum 13(1), pp. 1-12.

- 2000: "Issues in the design of credited Irish courses" Journal of Celtic Language Learning 5, pp. 5-19.

- 1997: “Teacher Certification and Less Commonly Taught Languages” Journal of Celtic Language Learning 3, pp. 41-50.

- 1996: “Feedback in L2 Writing” MEXTESOL Journal: Mexican Association of Teachers of English 20.2, pp. 37-45.

- 1996: “Language Report: Irish Language Courses at American Colleges” Éire-Ireland: A Journal of Irish Studies 30.4, pp. 181-186.

- 1996: “Immigration and Language” The ECCSSA Journal (Eastern Community College Social Science Association) 11.1, pp. 39-44.

- 1995: “Dialect Choice and Language Learning” Teangeolas: Journal of the Linguistics Institute of Ireland 35, pp. 37-40.

- 1995: “Teaching Irish to Americans: Focus on Feedback” Teanga: The Irish Yearbook of Applied Linguistics 15, pp. 81-89.

- 1994: “The Use of Computers in Teaching Writing,” New Jersey English Journal Fall, pp. 54-56.

- 1993: "Error Correction in L1 & L2 Language Learning" Rule Syntactica 4, pp. 46-53. (ERIC ED 374 678).

Teaching

Tomás Ó h-Íde teaches courses in Irish as a foreign language and Irish language literature. Four of his students were recently awarded travel grants to study in the Connemara Gaeltacht by the Fulbright Commission (Dublin). While appointed full-time with CUNY-Lehman College, through intercollege agreements, he also lectures at CUNY-Queens College, Manhattan College, and the College of Mount Saint Vincent. He has additionally volunteered for many years as a teacher of Irish for children at the Aisling Irish Community Center. Tomás holds a master's degree and Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Dublin (Trinity College) and has also studied Irish at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Personal Information

Tomás Ó h-Íde was named after his grandfather, Tomás Seosamh Ó Máille, a native speaker of Irish who grew up on the eastern shores of Loch Coirib (Loch Corrib) in Co. Galway and who immigrated to Essex County, New Jersey, at the turn of the last century. Tomás Ó h-Íde's great-grandfather, Tomás Peadar Ó Máille, was a monolingual Irish speaker. Tomás Ó h-Íde (Thomas Ihde) was born in Essex County and still lives blocks from the place of his birth. His children were raised bilingually in Irish and English and the family has often vacationed in the Irish-speaking Co. Galway village of An Cheathrú Rua.