What is the value of welsh language in primary education? Hollie Monks

 Hi bloggers!

We have nearly come to the end of the last term of university which has flown by the year. This blog post will be relating to the work we have been doing with lecturer Angharad Thomas within our seminars and lectures this week on the value of Welsh language within primary education.

Welsh language has some of the oldest literature in Europe apart from Greek and Latin along with Latin Welsh which was the language of the law. (King Hywel Dda 880 – 950) When the act of union (1536) was implemented it made Wales an official part of England, English then became the language of law, administration and education in Wales which then affected the unique welsh language as the proportion of Welsh speakers in Wales began to drop rapidly thereafter, however significant numbers of the Welsh gentry already spoke English. (BBC, 2014) Despite this Baker (2003) has suggested that resurgence in Welsh medium education is looked at as ‘a major plank of language revitalisation’. Hodges (2009) views chime in with this and argues that Welsh medium education is chosen for personal, educational, cultural and economic reasons.

The Welsh Assembly Government (2003) believe that the rates of transfer from welsh speaking parents to their children need to be improved and encourage and those who have used the language in school to retain and use it once they have left because the long-term well-being of the Welsh language is dependent on young people as they argue that the value of Welsh language in primary education will be sustained through the growth of the language which has been achieved over the past two decades among primary school children. (Welsh Assembly Government, 2003) Romaine (2007) shares similar views and believes that “we should think about languages in the same way as we do other natural resources that need careful planning: they are vital parts of complex local ecologies that must be supported if global biodiversity is to be sustained.”



However, it is hard for teachers to teach welsh and keep the value of the language sustained as it is argued by Professor Davies (2013) 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’. Following the Education Reform Act 1988, Welsh became compulsory for every pupil at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in 1990 and then From September 1999, compulsion was extended to Key Stage 4, (Donaldson, 2015, p. 58) this meant then that teachers had no option but to try and make the sessions engaging as the majority young people felt that the current provision for learning Welsh at Key Stages 3 and 4 didn’t enabled them to be confident to use Welsh outside of Welsh lessons and certainly not outside of school. (Davies, 2013) Satchwell and Silva, (1995) found different methods and activities that work and enable good practice when teaching Welsh for young people to make them feel like the subject is more valuable and that they will want to learn it, they suggest that the pace of pedagogy is appropriate and includes plenty of opportunities for repetition and practice, but in as many different ways as possible to avoid any possibilities of boredom and to use a range of teaching strategies that may include music, role-play and drama, thereby encouraging active participation by the pupils.

Colin Baker (1996) argues 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.” In correspondence to this, the Welsh Assembly Government (2003) believe that the Welsh language is an integral part of our national identity which needs to be echoed in education to show its value and importance, the welsh language is an enduring and essential part of history culture and social fabric of our nation and we must respect the work and inheritance to ensure that it is not lost for our future generations(Satchwell, 1997)



Moving forward to the future for Welsh language in primary education Donaldson (2015) plans to implement languages, literacy and communications as one of the areas of learning and experiences to the curriculum which means that teachers will be able to make using Welsh more engaging and valuable for the children as they will be able to use it more fluently across their learning and not feel like speaking Welsh is restricted to their Welsh language sessions. (Donaldson, 2015) Donaldson (2015) also suggests that this approach will create ambitious, capable learners who can communicate effectively in different forms and settings, using both Welsh and English, set themselves ambitious standards and seek and enjoy challenge and are building up a body of knowledge and have the skills to connect and apply that knowledge in different contexts.

References

·         Baker, C. (2003) Language planning: a grounded approach. In J.-M. Dewaele, A. Housen and Li Wei (eds) Bilingualism: beyond basic principles. (pp. 88-111). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters

·         BBC (2014) The 1536 Act of Union Availableat:http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/periods/tudors_04.shtml (Accessed: 10/04/18).

·         Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

·         Hodges, R. (2009). Welsh language use among young people in the Rhymney Valley. Contemporary Wales, 22(1), 6-35.

·         Romaine, S. (2007) Preserving Endangered Languages, Language and Linguistics Compass, 115(132), p,115. doi:10.1111/j.1749-818X.2007.00004.

·         Satchwell, P. & de Silva (1995) Catching them young, Young Pathfinder: CILT.

·         Satchwell, P. (1997) Keep Talking, Young Pathfinder: CILT

·         Welsh Assembly Government (2003) A National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales. Available at:https://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/Documents/Living/Planning/Policy/LDP/Examination-Documents-2015/Iaith-Pawbe-A-National-Action-Plan-for-a-Bilingual-Wales-2003.pdf(Accessed: 10/04/18).

Hollie Monks.