Added value of Welsh language skills in Wales: perceptions, aspirations and the challenge of realising linguistic potential

Catrin Redknap

Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg/Welsh Language Board

June 2010

Wales and the Welsh language: background facts

• Population of Wales: 2.9 million• Welsh speakers in 2001: 20.8% (582,400)• 40.8% amongst children 5 -15 years old

% able to speak Welsh

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

Cyfrifiad / Census

%

The Vitality of Welsh: A Statistical Balance Sheet November 2009

Percentage speaking ‘fluently’ as percentage of those able to speak Welsh (2004-06): 58%

[61% in 1992]

http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications/publications/the%20vitality%20of%20welsh%20a%20statistical%20balance%20sheet%20november%202009.pdf

 

2004 Welsh Language Survey(Welsh Language Board 2006)

88% of fluent speakers speak Welsh daily

26% of those not fluent speak Welsh daily

http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications/publications/4068.pdf

Translating competence into use

Linguistic considerations:

Need for broad spectrum of linguistic resources to operate in domestic, social, informal and workplace settings

Translating competence into use

Other considerations:

• Structural (including ‘critical mass’)

• Organisational

• Legislative

• Attitudinal

‘Buy-in’ in terms of demand for Welsh-medium education

Widely-held views on educational, cognitive, cultural and employment-related benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism

Added advantages of Welsh-medium education

• Mixed and complex picture

• June 1998: A Competitive Edge: Why Welsh-medium Schools Perform Better (IWA, David Reynolds, Wynford Bellin, Ruth ab Ieuan)

http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications/pages/publicationitem.aspx?puburl=/english/publications/publications/4855.pdf

Added advantages of Welsh-medium education

• ‘Added value’ in terms of achievement in English, Science, Mathematics and MFL

http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/English/publications/Publications/4841.pdf

Aspirations v Reality (or ‘real’ output as opposed to anticipated output)

• Do pupils achieve required skills to required level?

• How easy is it to assess usefulness of skills in the workplace?

• How successful and consistent is the message about Welsh-language skills?

‘Costs’ of Welsh-medium education

• Personal commitment

• Distance and transport

• Learning support materials and qualifications

Assumption: Welsh-language skills an asset in the workplace

‘Sub-assumptions’:

• Enhanced range of job opportunities

• Career progression

• Financial gain

Impact of Bilingualism on Earnings

Andrew Henley and Rhian Eleri Jones, ‘Earnings and Linguistic Proficiency in a Bilingual Economy’ (School of Management and Business, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 2003)

Language skills and occupational outcomes

‘Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market’ (Boorah, Dineen and Lynch, The Economic and Social Review, vol. 40, number 4,Winter 2009)

Assumption: language skills an asset in the workplace

2 pre-requisites:

• Appropriate and targeted skills

• Clear articulation of the need for skills

Appropriate and targeted skills

• Continuity of Welsh-medium provision

• Training of practitioners

• Strategic planning of opportunities to opt for Welsh-medium provision

Clear articulation of the need for skills

• Challenge of maintaining coherent account of benefits of Welsh-language skills as pupils progress through their school career and into the workplace

• Availability of convincing evidence of value of bilingual skills in the workplace

Evidence of the need for bilingual skills in the workplace

• Public sector: 1993 Welsh Language Act and Welsh Language Schemes

• Private sector: patchy nature of evidence base

Patchy nature of evidence base

• Difficulty of establishing consistent method of defining language skills (level and nature of skills)

• Plethora of vocational training and qualification frameworks

• Complexity of private sector (interests and priorities)

• Variable prominence of linguistic skills

Welsh-medium Education Strategy (Welsh Assembly Government, April

2010)

• Work with all partners to promote the understanding and recognition of the value of Welsh as a skill in the workplace

• Raise awareness of the benefits of Welsh-medium and Welsh language learning

amongst stakeholders

• Work with partners to raise awareness of the benefits and the value of Welsh-language

skills in the workplace, targeting parents, carers, learners and employers in particular

Welsh-medium Education Strategy (Welsh Assembly Government, April

2010)

• Partner bodies to raise awareness of the value of Welsh- language skills with parents, carers and learners

• Improve careers education, advice and guidance in relation to Welsh-medium and Welsh-language education and

employment opportunities

• Ensure that those advising on subject choices, careers information, and work experience/placements give consistent positive messages about the value of Welsh-

language skills, Welsh-medium study and employment opportunities.  

Welsh-medium Education Strategy (Welsh Assembly Government, April

2010)

 

• Encourage AOs (awarding organisations) to increase the number and range of Welsh-medium qualifications (below HE level), in response to learner and sector needs and national strategic objectives. Work with SSCs/standard-setting bodies to measure and meet sector needs for Welsh language skills.

• http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/publications/guidance/welshmededstrat/?lang=en

 

More meaningful and clearly articulated message about the value of bilingual skills beyond the classroom: key component of future efforts to sustain the development of Welsh-medium education