STIRLING OCTOBER 8 2009
Paths to fluency: the role of Welsh-medium education in Wales
Dr Catrin Redknap Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg/ Welsh Language Board, Cardiff, Wales [email protected]
1. Background and Introduction: Wales and the Welsh language
Population of Wales: 2.9 million Welsh speakers in 2001: 20.8% (582,400) [18.7% in 1991, 19% in 1981]
Further details on the Welsh language and statistics: www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/welshlanguage/Pages/index.aspx
Percentage of Welsh speakers amongst children 5-15 years old: 40.8%
Further general background information on Welsh in education: www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/learning/Pages/index.aspx
Welsh Assembly Government Welsh-medium Education Strategy (Consultation Draft): http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/consultation/090507wmsen.pdf
1944 Education Act: gave pupils the right to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents
1947: first local authority-funded primary school
1956: first local authority-funded secondary school
1 2008: 20.6% of primary-aged children in classes where Welsh was the only or main medium of education
2006/07: 40,702 pupils received their education in Welsh-medium secondary schools (corresponding figure for 1991: 27,897)
Welsh Assembly Government | Welsh in Schools 2007
2. ‘Paths to fluency: the role of Welsh-medium education in Wales’
• Paths – one or several?
• Paths – providing and maintaining them, and keeping pupils on the path
• Fluency – what is it and how do we achieve it?
3. Paths – one or several?
• Welsh-medium/immersion from the early years: recognised route to successful acquisition of skills
• Late immersion
• Are there alternative models of delivery?
4. Providing and maintaining paths, and keeping pupils on the path
• Planning availability of provision and access to it
• Clear routes of progression, and planning for continuity
5. Fluency
• Challenges of the Welsh-medium learning setting: pupils from non-Welsh- speaking backgrounds
2 • Pupils with variety of linguistic needs
• Welsh and English in contact
• Willingness / reluctance to use Welsh
• Crucial link between fluency and usage
Link between fluency and usage: 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey: The Report http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications
6. Recurring themes
• Strategic planning • Structural / organisational mechanisms • Teaching methodologies • Practitioner supply and expertise • Support materials and resources
7. Paths: one or several?
Recognised benefits of Welsh-medium and immersion education from the early years
1971: Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin (Welsh-medium pre-school Playgroups Association)
Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin: www.mym.co.uk
8. Welsh-medium Early Years Provision: Challenges
• Varying linguistic needs of children • Working in a mixed economy • Resources and staffing (initial training and INSET)
3 9. Need for further work on our understanding of principles of immersion education
• To inform all developments, including training • European-funded project to clarify principles of early years immersion methodology, and share good practice • Immersion education units in early years qualifications
EU funding for Multilingual Early Language Transmission Project: September 2009 — Mercator
10. Late immersion
• Established practices in Wales • Centres for Latecomers
Language Learning through Immersion and Intensive Methods: Welsh Assembly Government-sponsored project, developed by the Welsh Language Board http://www.estyn.gov.uk/publications/Remit_17_Welsh_immersion_projects_sc hools_2006.pdf
11. Late immersion: Findings and implications
• Need for dedicated structures and support mechanisms • Partnership between primary and secondary sectors • Continuity and Progression • Teacher Training • Materials and Accreditation
12. Are there alternative paths?
Welsh as a ‘second language’?
4 Estyn – Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales Annual Report 2007-08 http://www.estyn.gov.uk/publications/Estyn%20Annual%20Report %202007_2008(e).pdf
13. Providing and maintaining paths, and keeping pupils on the path
Availability and accessibility of provision:
• Strategic planning • Identification of gaps in provision • Transport • Working in partnership • Transition from one sector to the next
• Is the Welsh-medium option available? • Are pupils aware of the importance of continuity? • National, local authority and school policy
Report commissioned by ACCAC on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government: ‘The Movement of Pupils between Welsh and Second-Language Welsh’ [ELL2 13-05 Paper 1 (2) and Annex 3] http://www.assemblywales.org/N0000000000000000000000000038286.pdf
14. Welsh Language Board Project on Linguistic Continuity
• Small number of pilot schools • Transition from primary to secondary school and within secondary provision • Identify factors limiting take-up of Welsh-medium provision • Work with local authorities, schools, pupils and parents to increase levels of continuity
• Local authority and school policy • Availability of provision: teacher supply and expertise – training needs • Parental awareness and pupil engagement – attitudinal factors
5 15. Fluency
Aim: to produce pupils who are functionally fluent in as broad a range as possible of skills and sociolinguistic contexts
16. Challenges
• Welsh in constant contact with English • Welsh limited to language of school for significant proportions of pupils • Attitudinal factors and influence of social networks
Language use and social networks: Young People’s Social Networks and Language Use http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/publications
17. Fluency: Classroom-based considerations
Curricular planning and teaching methodologies
• Principles of immersion education • Intensity of Welsh-medium input • Linguistic balance between Welsh and English • Catering for pupils’ different linguistic needs
Catering for pupils’ different linguistic needs: Lewis, Gwyn W., ‘Current challenges in bilingual education in Wales’, AILA Review 21 (2008), 69-86.
Teacher Training
• Accurate assessment of numbers required: national strategy • Methodology: principles of immersion and Welsh-medium delivery
Review of Welsh-medium Initial Teacher Training http://wales.gov.uk/docrepos/40382/4038232/403829/4038291/1104233/rev- teacher-training-stats-e.pdf?lang=en
6 Materials
• Equal availability of Welsh-medium resources • Speed of production • Corpus planning and terminology
Materials and Resources: http://www.wjec.co.uk http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk http://old.accac.org.uk/eng/contetnt.php?cID=3
18. Fluency: Extending beyond the classroom
• Promoting Welsh as the language of the playground and social networks • Welsh Language Board Project: Promoting and Supporting Language Use
Welsh as the language of employment
• Perceptions of the value of Welsh • Opportunities to use Welsh in the workplace
Welsh in technology and the media
Communicating with pupils and their parents:
• Information to parents • Advice, guidance and marketing • Careers advice
7 19. Conclusions
• Successes of Welsh-medium education provision
• Early years Welsh-medium provision / Late immersion if specific conditions are met
• Journey to fluency: rewarding but challenging
• Combined effort of school and community
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