Ma' Dy Gymraeg Di'n Grêt: End of Year Assessment , Welsh
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MAE DY GYMRAEG DI’N GRÊT End of year assessment Prepared for: IAITH: welsh centre for language planning Unit 2-4, Aberarad Business Park, Newcastle Emlyn, Carms., SA38 9DB 01239 711668 iaith.eu Cyngor Iaith Hafan Heini Gruffudd Hafan 2 Lôn Rhianfa Ffynhonne Swansea SA1 6DJ 01792 455410 May 2010 CONTENTS Executive summary .................................................................................................. 4 Terms of reference ................................................................................................... 9 Preliminary notes ................................................................................................... 11 1 The sessions .................................................................................................. 12 1.1 Number of participants ............................................................................... 12 1.2 Location ...................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Timing ........................................................................................................ 13 1.4 Convenience for the participants ................................................................ 14 1.5 Childcare arrangements ............................................................................. 14 1.6 Organisation and support for the facilitators ............................................... 14 1.7 Resources .................................................................................................. 15 1.8 The response of the facilitators .................................................................. 15 1.9 The nature of the activities ......................................................................... 16 1.10 Inclusivity ................................................................................................... 17 1.11 The relevance of the language messages ................................................. 18 2 Use of the language with children ................................................................ 19 Graph 1: The ability of the mothers’ children to speak Welsh ............................ 19 Graph 2: Mothers who speak Welsh with their children according to the children’s ability in the Welsh language ............................................................. 19 Graph 3: Mothers who speak Welsh with their children by area ........................ 20 Graph 4: Mothers who speak more Welsh at the end of the course, according to the children’s ability in Welsh ............................................................................ 20 Graph 5: Mothers who speak more Welsh with their children, by area .............. 22 3 Use of the language with family members ................................................... 23 Graph 6: The ability of close relatives to speak Welsh ...................................... 23 Graph 7: Mothers who speak Welsh with their families, according to the family’s linguistic ability .................................................................................................. 24 Graph 8: Mothers who speak Welsh with their families, according to the family’s linguistic ability .................................................................................................. 24 4 Use of the language with partners ................................................................ 26 Graph 9: The partners’ ability to speak Welsh ................................................... 26 Graph 10: Mothers who speak Welsh with their partner, according to the partner’s ability in Welsh .................................................................................... 26 Graph 11: Mothers who speak more Welsh with their partners, according to the partner’s Welsh language ability ........................................................................ 27 5 Use of the language with friends ................................................................... 29 Graph 12: Friends’ ability to speak Welsh, by area ........................................... 29 Graph 13: Mothers who speak Welsh with friends, according to the proportion of Welsh-speaking friends ..................................................................................... 29 Graph 14: Mothers who speak more Welsh with friends, according to the proportion of Welsh-speaking friends ................................................................ 30 2 6 The mothers’ use of Welsh in the community ............................................. 32 Graph 15: The ability of people in the cafe or pub to speak Welsh ................... 32 Graph 16: Mothers who speak Welsh with people in the cafe or pub, according to the number of Welsh-speakers ...................................................................... 32 Graph 17: Mothers who speak more Welsh with people at the cafe or pub, according to the proportion of Welsh-speakers ................................................. 33 Graph 18: Mothers who speak more Welsh socially .......................................... 34 Graph 19: Mothers who speak more Welsh socially, by area ............................ 35 7 Use of Welsh in the workplace ...................................................................... 36 Graph 20: Mothers who speak Welsh in the workplace ..................................... 36 Graph 21: Mothers who speak more Welsh in the workplace ............................ 37 8 Use of Welsh in shops and with organisations ........................................... 39 Graph 22: Mothers who speak Welsh while shopping ....................................... 39 Graph 23: Mothers who speak more Welsh in town .......................................... 39 9 Events ................................................................................................................... 41 10 Reading Welsh language books and using Welsh language media ............. 42 Graphs 24: Percentages of mothers who use the various Welsh media ........... 42 11 Welsh skills and confidence of participants ................................................ 45 Graph 25: The mothers’ level of happiness with their Welsh language skills in general .............................................................................................................. 45 Graph 26: Mothers who are happier with their Welsh language skills in general 47 Graph 27: Increase in happiness with Welsh language skills in relation to initial happiness with Welsh language skills ............................................................... 47 Acknowledgements Gareth Ioan, Iaith Cyf., for facilitating the task. Catrin Alun, for assisting with the observation work, the interviews and the analysis. Kelly Davies, for coding the questionnaire. The facilitators at the four locations visited. The mothers who were more than willing to share their experiences. 3 Executive summary General Only a relatively small number of the mothers felt completely happy1 using the Welsh language at the beginning of the sessions. The mothers were at their ‘happiest’ speaking Welsh with children. By providing practical activities to encourage the participants to speak Welsh, the sessions succeeded in raising the participants’ confidence and, by the end of the sessions, the evidence gathered from the mothers shows that they had increased confidence in their language skills and that they made more use of the Welsh language in different settings. Many demonstrated a very positive attitude towards the Welsh language following the language awareness elements. Percentages of mothers who felt happier with their Welsh language skills by the end of the sessions 93% were happier with their understanding of Welsh 91% were happier to speak Welsh 78% were happier to read Welsh 70% were happier with their Welsh language skills 59% were happier to write Welsh Percentages of mothers who spoke more Welsh in various settings by the end of the sessions 82% spoke more Welsh with their children 74% spoke more Welsh with their friends 73% spoke more Welsh with teachers 73% spoke more Welsh with their family in general 64% spoke more Welsh socially 62% spoke more Welsh at work 61% spoke more Welsh in shops and with organisations 57% spoke more Welsh with extended family 57% spoke more Welsh in the community 51% spoke more Welsh with neighbours 47% spoke more Welsh with their partner 36% spoke more Welsh with ‘officials’ 1 ‘Happy’ or ‘Hapus’ (W) was used as an user-friendly term to represent the concept of being ‘confident / comfortable / willing’. 4 Percentages of mothers making greater use of Welsh language media by the end of the sessions 75% were watching more programmes on S4C 66% were making greater use of Welsh language media in terms of reading, watching and listening 51% were reading more Welsh language papers or books 43% were making greater use of Welsh to e-mail or text 41% were listening to more Welsh language radio programmes 35% were listening to more Welsh language music 34% were making greater use of Welsh on the web Through these sessions, the participants became more aware of opportunities to use the Welsh language and Welsh language media. However, the linguistic background of their families and/or communities restricted many participants’ use of the Welsh language. Therefore, consideration needs to be given to how best the good work accomplished during these sessions can be continued, possibly by establishing an informal social group for the mothers and by encouraging local organisations, e.g. schools