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
60
50
%
40
30
20
10
0
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.byigwlb.org.uk/english/publications/publications/the%20vitality%20of
%20welsh%20a%20statistical%20balance%20sheet%20novem
ber%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.byigwlb.org.uk/english/publications/publications/4
068.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 Welshmedium 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.byigwlb.org.uk/english/publications/pages/publicat
ionitem.aspx?puburl=/english/publications/pu
blications/4855.pdf
Added advantages of Welsh-medium
education
• ‘Added value’ in terms of achievement in
English, Science, Mathematics and MFL
http://www.byigwlb.org.uk/English/publications/Publications/4
841.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 Welshmedium 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 Welshlanguage 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 Welshlanguage 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/guidan
ce/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