What is the value of the Welsh language in children's education?

The welsh language is on the verge of becoming a ‘pointless’ language, and therefore being used less and less throughout Wales. In the UNESCO ‘Red Book of Endangered Languages’ (Salminen 1993-1999), Welsh is classified as an endangered language due to the number of welsh speakers being 582,368 reported in 2001 census. Jenkins (2001) analyses a portion of the history of the Welsh language, beginning with the 1901 census which showed that almost one million people (more than 50 per cent of the population of Wales) could speak Welsh and that 30 percent of Welsh speakers monolingual. In contrast to this, over 582,000 people in Wales speak Welsh and there are over a million who understand it, not to mention those who live and speak Welsh outside of Wales (Cardiff University, 2019). The Welsh Government has a long-term vision to see the Welsh language thriving, with a million people able to speak Welsh by 2050 (Aberystwyth University, 2019). The question we need to be asking is why should we learn Welsh if it’s a supposedly dying language? An important reason to learn the language is because of its reoccurring growth in society. children in schools in Wales either speak or learn Welsh so it is going to be a language of the future. It’s in demand and all public sector organisations in Wales are legally bound to provide services in both Welsh and English and many private companies do so because it's good for business. This makes Welsh-speaking employees a very attractive asset to companies (Cardiff University, 2019).

In Jones, (2016) report, she discusses that the Welsh Government launched its Welsh-medium Education Strategy (WMS) In April 2010. It devised a new policy agreement with local authorities that required them to assess the demand for Welsh-Medium education. was later made a duty in the ‘School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013’. This devises more importance for the language and encourages more young people to learn the language, and since being implemented into education sectors, employers in Wales will be encouraged more to employ those who are welsh-medium learners. Since these policies were implemented, Professor Graham Donaldson’s (2015) report ‘Successful Futures’ has created a review of the Welsh curriculum and indicates that the curriculum should be based on six Areas of Learning and Experience as curriculum organisers for the entire age range from 3 to 16. Included within this the new curriculum being implemented is the Welsh Language (Donaldson, 2015).

Many people see the Welsh language as a real strength of the education system. However, the place

of the Welsh language in the curriculum needs to be strengthened. The report suggests greater focus on children and young people’s ability to speak Welsh confidently in everyday settings, with an emphasis on its increasing role in workplace settings. Welsh-medium schools employ specialists and have a wide range of available Welsh language resources. They are well placed to act as hubs for the Welsh language and to provide support for English-medium schools (Donaldson, 2015). The Welsh Government (2015) says that Whatever language you speak at home, Welsh-medium education can give children additional skills and more opportunities for the future. Some parents or guardians may think that because they do not speak Welsh in the home, that their children shouldn’t attend a welsh-medium school. However, this is not the case, as the vast majority (over 70%) of children in Welsh-medium education in Cardiff do not speak Welsh at home. And for some of those, a language other than English is the main language of the home. Therefore, coming from a non-Welsh speaking background is absolutely normal and the curriculum is designed with that in mind. Welsh-medium schools do not expect that children speak Welsh when they start but will help those children to become fluent in Welsh before the end of their first year (Cardiff, 2019).

 

There is thought that ‘speaking more than one language can enhance your child’ (Welsh Government, 2015). The Welsh Government (2015) say’s that being bilingual could make it easier to learn other languages and introduce children to different cultures and traditions, it can have a positive effect on the brain and be a distinct advantage when looking for work in the future.

 

 

 

References

Cardiff (2019) Benefits of Welsh-Medium Education. Available: https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Schools-and-learning/Schools/welsh-medium-education/Pages/default.aspx (Accessed: 2 April 2019)

Cardiff University (2019) Why Learn Welsh. Available: https://welshforadults.cardiff.ac.uk/learning-welsh/why-learn-welsh (Accessed: 30 March 2019)

Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures: Independent Review of Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government: Wales

Jenkins, G. H. (2001) 'Terminal Decline? The Welsh language in the twentieth century.' North American Journal of Welsh Studies, 23(2), pp. 59-67

Jones, M. (2016) Welsh-medium education and Welsh as a subject. National Assembly for Wales Research Service: Wales

Salminen, T. (1993-1999) 'UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages.' Journal Report on endangered languages, 7(2), pp. 12-18