| digraph | a combination of two letters used to represent a single sound |
| engagement with text | reading, comprehending, reflecting on and responding to a piece of text |
| expository text | text that describes or explains |
| grammar | the abstract system of rules in terms of which a person's mastery of a language can be explained |
| grapho/phonic cues | the information provided in sounds and in combinations of sounds represented by letters and groups of letters that helps to predict words |
| language-experience material | the creation of text by the teacher in collaboration with the pupils in order to facilitate early reading |
| large-format books | books that are produced in a format large enough for collaborative reading with groups |
| literacy | the ability to read and write |
| morpheme | a speech element having a meaning or grammatical function that cannot be subdivided into further such elements |
| narrative text | an account of events, experiences, etc. |
| onset and rime | onset is the part of a syllable that precedes the vowel and rime is the remainder of the syllable |
| phoneme | one of the set of speech sounds in a language that serve to distinguish one word from another |
| phonemic awareness | the knowledge that words are composed of individual speech sounds |
| phonological awareness | a range of skills such as the ability to analyse words into their constituent speech sounds, the ability to combine speech sounds, and the ability to detect rhyme and alliteration |
| representational text | text in the form of diagrams, pictures, graphs, etc. |
| scanning | reading quickly in order to establish the organisation and principal features of a text |
| semantic cues | the contextual information in a text that will help to predict a word or words |
| skimming | reading quickly in order to find out the gist of a text |
| syntactic cues | the information contained in grammar and language use that facilitates the interpretation of text |
| syntax | the totality of facts about the arrangement of words in a language |
| text | the entirety of a linguistic communication in written or printed form or through sign, gesture or situation |
| writing genres | the various forms appropriate to different types of written communication—story, essay, letter, dialogue, recipe, etc. |
This curriculum has been prepared by the Curriculum Committee for English established by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
| Chairpersons | Declan Kelleher | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Bryan O'Reilly | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| Committee members | Anne Baxter | Catholic Primary School Managers' Association |
| | Patrick Burke | Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| | Mary Cogley | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Maureen Costello | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Sean Delaney | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Robert Dunbar | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| | Margaret Farrar | Management of Colleges of Education |
| | Gabriel Fitzmaurice | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Francis Flanagan | Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| | Fiona Garvey | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Niall Huston | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| | Br Ultan McDermott (to 1992) | Teaching Brothers' Association/Association of Primary Teaching Sisters |
| | Anne McGough | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Sr Nivard McGrath | Association of Primary Teaching Sisters/Teaching Brothers' Association |
| | Noel Moloney | Management of Colleges of Education |
| | Deirdre Ni Lideadha | Department of Education and Science |
| | Eamonn O Muircheartaigh | Department of Education and Science |
| | Breandan O Murchu | Department of Education and Science |
| | Anne O'Reilly | National Parents' Council—Primary |
| | Anne O'Shea | Catholic Primary School Managers' Association |
| | Deirdre Shortall | National Parents' Council—Primary |
| Co-opted advisers | Aine Cregan | Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick |
| | Finian O'Shea | Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines, Dublin |
| Education officers | Paul Brennan | |
| | Edward Motherway | |
| Chairperson | Tom Gilmore | |
| Committee members | Sydney Blain
(from 1995) | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| | Liam O hEigearta
(from 1996) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Dympna Glendenning
(to 1995) | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Fionnuala Kilfeather
(from 1995) | National Parents' Council—Primary |
| | Eamonn MacAonghusa
(to 1996) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Fr. Gerard McNamara
(from 1995) | Catholic Primary School Managers' Association |
| | Peter Mullan | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Sheila Nunan
(from 1995) | Irish National Teachers' Organisation |
| | Eugene Wall | Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| Co-ordinator | Caoimhe Mairtin
(to 1995) | |
| Assistant Chief Executive Primary | Lucy Fallon-Byrne
(from 1995) | |
| Chief Executive | Albert O Ceallaigh | |