The Value of Welsh Education

Welsh Language in Primary Education

Wales is a proud bilingual country. However, the number of Welsh speakers that we have in Wales are still of the minority. With fewer people speaking the indigenous language of Wales, the fight for the dialect becomes more and more integral. GOV (2015) Identify that there are over 65,000 children in Welsh-medium or bilingual primary schools in Wales. It is also noted that, the learning of the Welsh language is compulsory in welsh schools until age 16 (Donaldson, 2015). “The proportion of people age three years and over able to speak Welsh in 2011 was at its highest in the North West Wales local authorities of Gwynedd (65.4%) and the Isle of Anglesey (57.2%) and at its lowest in the South East Wales local authorities of Blaenau Gwent (7.8%) and Merthyr Tydfil (8.9%)” (Jones, 2017). It’s clear that Government withstand the fight to implement Welsh-medium education into schools and intend to raise the percentage of welsh speakers that wales has across the country.

While Wales strives to include the Indigenous language, its place in the educational curriculum has varied from time to time. “Following the Education Reform Act 1988, Welsh became compulsory for every pupil at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in 1990. From September 1999, compulsion was extended to Key Stage 4. The Welsh Language Development Area of Learning in the Foundation Phase for 3 to 7-year-olds has also meant that children in English-medium settings and schools start to learn the Welsh language from the age of three. More recently, the Welsh Government has shown its commitment to developing Wales as a bilingual nation through its Welsh Language Strategy” (Donaldson, 2015, p.58).

The Welsh Assembly Government (2010) acknowledges that the linguistic outcomes for different types of bilingual provision will vary significantly. They go on to note that, children who derive from a Welsh speaking background who attend a bilingual school, a balanced curriculum through the medium of Welsh and English can be effective in ensuring fluency in both languages. However, it is also emphasised that where family members or caregivers are not reinforcing these linguistic welsh skills, it is unlikely for the child to gain full confidence and fluency in welsh whilst in a bilingual setting. Professor Davies (2013) states that learning the language is ‘…a very tedious experience’ for large numbers of young people and that ‘…they do not regard the subject as being relevant or of any value to them’. Most children and young people do not feel that the current provision for learning Welsh at Key Stages 3 and 4 enables them to be confident to use Welsh outside Welsh lessons and certainly not outside school. 

So, to keep the Welsh Language alive, how can practitioners make learning Welsh more Effective for children? Welsh Government (2015) have a ‘Cymraeg for Kids resources’ Website that practitioners, parents or caregivers can use with their children in order to keep their pedagogy fun, appealing and beneficial to children. The Resources include things such as: Songbooks, The Welsh Alphabet, Colouring sheets and even a Parent’s guide to Welsh-medium education in order to boost parent’s confidence when it comes to supporting their children with their welsh education.

Take a Look at the link and see what you can learn with your children today- https://cymraeg.llyw.cymru/learning/CymraegiBlant./09.CefnogaethBellach/Cymraeg-for-kids/?lang=en

As a reflection on personal practice, it has been clear that all the schools that have been attended embed the Welsh language into the everyday classroom. Children incidentally speak the Welsh language and as a result it comes naturally to them. Welsh is spoken in the classroom by using everyday phrases such as: Good morning, Good afternoon, please may I go to the toilet, or by answering the dinner registration form in welsh: Hot dinners, Sandwiches... etc. it is stated that, “a child who hears one language for half an hour a day, particularly at the end of a day when he or she is tired, is unlikely to grow competent in that language. When a child is deliberately exposed to an ever-increasing variety of language in different contexts… a realistic chance of bilingualism exists” (Baker, 1996). This suggesting that by children embedding the welsh language into their everyday routines and lives, creates a greater chance of them become bilingual in their native language. 

To conclude, it is evident that the Welsh language still exists and will continue to do so within our Welsh education system. The Welsh language provides Wales and its residents with a sense of culture and history that children should experience as citizens of Wales. Professor Sioned Davies states in ‘One Language for all: Review of Welsh Second Languages at Key Stages 3 and 4 (2013), that ‘The future of Welsh and Welsh culture is wholly dependent on transmitting the language to our young people.’ As a result of this Practitioners, Parents and caregiver should encourage the Welsh language into young people’s lives in order for them to carry on the indigenous Welsh language. 

Reference List 

Baker, C. (1996) 2^ndEdition Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism: London; Multilingual Matters

Donaldson, G. 2015 Successful Futures: Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. Available at: https://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/150225-successful-futures-en.pdf[Accessed 19 March 2019] 

Jones, B. 2017, Translanguaging in Bilingual Schools in Wales. Taylor & Francis Online. Available at: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.cardiffmet.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/15348458.2017.1328282?scroll=top&needAccess=true[Accessed 19 March 2019] 

Welsh Assembly Government. 2010. Welsh-medium education strategy (Info Document No. 083/2010). Cardiff, Wales: Welsh Assembly Government. Available at: http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/publications/100420welshmediumstrategycy.pdf[Accessed 19 March 2019] 

Welsh Government 2015, Continuing with Welsh-medium education. Available at: https://cymraeg.gov.wales/learning/schools/Welshmediumeducation/?lang=en[Accessed 19 March 2019] 

Welsh Government, 2013 One language for all: Review of Welsh second language at Key Stages 3 and 4– Report and recommendations Welsh Government.

Welsh Government, 2015. Cymraeg for kids resources, Cymraeg Live Learn Enjoy. Available at: https://cymraeg.llyw.cymru/learning/CymraegiBlant./09.CefnogaethBellach/Cymraeg-for-kids/?lang=en[Accessed 19 March 2019]