Bangor University DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY Factors Influencing
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Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Factors Influencing Welsh Medium School Pupils’ Social Use of Welsh Owen, John Award date: 2018 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 Factors Influencing Welsh Medium School Pupils’ Social Use of Welsh John Aled Owen School of Education Bangor University 2018 ABSTRACT During the modern period the Welsh language experienced continual decline, as a result of governmental hostility, lack of official recognition, public apathy and the social upheaval of the industrial revolution. At the turn of the twentieth century, however, as Welsh became a minority language in Wales, there grew an increasing recognition that the school system was key to the safeguarding and revitalisation of the language. Welsh finally became a compulsory language up to GCSE (16+) level in all state schools in Wales in 1999. The present research project focusses on the parallel development of Welsh medium education, where all, or almost all, subjects are taught through the medium of Welsh. Although by now over one in five Welsh pupils are educated mainly in Welsh, increasing concerns have been voiced concerning the relatively low level of usage of the language by pupils outside school especially in those areas where Welsh is not widely spoken in the community. The project involved collecting data using a mixed-methods approach with Year 6 and Year 7 (age 10-12 years) pupils, their parents/guardians and school staff members in schools serving diverse areas of Wales. In the case of pupils, this was followed up by focus group discussions to explore the major issues identified in greater depth. The findings discussed include the overwhelmingly positive attitude to the Welsh language and culture among all categories of participants and a concern about the availability of opportunities to use Welsh outside school. The keen awareness of Welsh identity is also highlighted, as well as both positive experiences of feeling ‘special’ and a sense of alienation from a predominantly non-Welsh speaking community in many parts of Wales. The study concludes with a consideration of the implications of these and other findings and recommendations for future research and evidence-based action. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To begin at the beginning, I would like to thank Dr Gwyn Lewis, who, when I first became aware of the availability of a studentship to research bilingualism at Bangor University, met me at very short notice to discuss the possibilities and to encourage me to submit an application. I also wish to thank Dr Lewis for serving as one of my supervisors for the first year of my PhD, until his retirement. I am also indebted to the Economic and Social Research Council for funding the studentship and to the staff of the ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Centre for their ready support. I would also wish to thank Bangor University for facilitating my studies in every way. My thanks are also due to the headteachers of the schools who have enabled this project to proceed at all and to the other staff members, pupils and parents who have contributed such a wealth of material with which I have been able to work. I have had excellent support from both my supervisors, Dr Jean Ware and Dr Rhian Hodges, especially in guiding me forward when I felt I might be losing my way. In the dissertation, I mention the many international contacts I have had the privilege of making during the course of this research project. I thank them all, and especially Nathan Thanyehténas Brinklow and Callie Hill, of Tyendinega Mohawk Territory, Ontario, Canada, with whom a special bond has been formed directly as a result of this research. Finally, I thank my partner, Sian, for her support and encouragement from the very inception of this project and my son Rhys, whose own experience of both the privileges and the challenges of Welsh medium education was my inspiration to undertake this work. 5 Contents Page Declaration and Consent 1 Abstract 4 Acknowledgements 5 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Research question 15 1.2 International context 15 1.3 History and present situation of the Welsh language 15 1.4 The role of education 19 1.5 Welsh medium education 23 1.6 The ‘disappearing’ young Welsh speakers 26 1.7 The research project 27 1.8 Looking to the future 29 2 Review of Previous Literature and Research 31 2.1 Introduction 31 2.2 Challenges for Welsh medium education 31 2.3 Use of Welsh beyond the school years 33 2.4 School study 33 2.5 Social use of Welsh by pupils in Gwynedd and beyond 36 2.6 ‘When school is not enough’ 37 2.7 Lessons from adult learners’ experiences 39 2.8 Rhymney Valley study 40 2.9 Welsh on electronic media 42 2.10 ‘The Welsh Knot’ 43 2.11 Fishman and reversing language shift 44 2.12 The Basque experience 45 2.13 ‘I live Hopi, I just don’t speak it’ 49 6 Page 2.14 The Gaelscoelianna in Ireland 50 2.15 Use of Gaelic by former Gaelic-medium school pupils in Scotland 52 2.16 Strategies to increase the social use of Welsh 53 3 Methodology 64 3.1 Introduction 64 3.2 Factors considered 64 3.3 Methodological strands 65 3.4 Research approach 67 3.5 Data gathering 68 3.6 Data analysis 86 3.7 Consistency and flexibility 89 3.8 Summary 89 4 Results and Analysis 90 4.1 Introduction 90 4.2 Rationale for quantitative data analysis methodology 90 4.3 Analysis of quantitative data - tabulated summary of school responses 92 4.4 Analysis of quantitative data – pupils’ questionnaires 95 4.5 Analysis of quantitative data – parental questionnaires 123 4.6 Analysis of quantitative data – school staff questionnaires 129 4.7 Analysis of relationships between variables in different categories 132 4.8 Analysis of qualitative data - pupils’ questionnaires and focus groups 139 4.9 Analysis of qualitative data - parental questionnaires 170 4.10 Analysis of qualitative data – school staff questionnaires 177 4.11 Comparison of qualitative data from pupils, parents and staff members 182 7 Page 4.12 Initial comparison between the quantitative and qualitative data categories 183 5 Discussion 185 5.1 Introduction 185 5.2 The experience of engagement with schools 186 5.3 Discussion of evidence of home language status and pupils’ competence in Welsh, and level and context of use of Welsh 187 5.4 Reported influences on pupils’ use of Welsh 202 5.5 Attitude to the survival of the Welsh language 220 5.6 Identity 232 5.7 Motivation 244 5.8 The role of gender 252 5.9 Variations between year group (Year 6 and Year 7) results 255 6 Conclusions 259 6.1 Introduction 259 6.2 Summary of Findings and Recommendations 259 6.3 Review of research methodology 268 6.4 Suggestions for future research 271 6.5 Impact of the present project 275 6.6 In Conclusion 275 7 Bibliography 277 Appendices 297 Appendix 1 Information Sheet for Pupils (Welsh / English) 297 Appendix 2 Pupil’s Details Form (Bilingual) 301 Appendix 3 Questionnaire – Pupils (Bilingual) 302 Appendix 4 Information Sheet for Parents/Guardians (Welsh / English) 306 Appendix 5 Informed Consent Form – Parents (Welsh / English) 310 8 Page Appendix 6 Questionnaire – Parents (Bilingual) 312 Appendix 7 Information Sheet for Teachers and Other School Staff Members (Welsh / English) 315 Appendix 8 Informed Consent Form - Teachers and Other School Staff Members (Welsh / English) 319 Appendix 9 Questionnaire – Teachers and Other School Staff Members (Bilingual) 321 Appendix 10 Information Sheet for Headteachers (Welsh / English) 324 Appendix 11 Informed Consent Form – Headteachers (Welsh / English) 328 Appendix 12 Additional Quantitative Data Results Tables and Graphics 330 Appendix 13 Additional Examples from Qualitative Data 359 Appendix 14 Press, media and internet exposure 383 Appendix 15 Presentations at academic conferences and institutions 384 9 List of Tables and Figures Table Title Page 1 Summary of school profiles 76 2 Summary of school responses 93 3a – 3c Pupil questionnaire results 96 4 Relationship of gender to usage and engagement in various 117 contexts (pupil questionnaires) 5 Relationship between gender and influences on language use 118 (pupil questionnaires) 6 Relationship of year group to usage and engagement in various 121 context (pupil questionnaires) 7 Relationship between year group and influences on language use 122 (pupil questionnaires) 8 Parental questionnaire results 124 9 Staff questionnaire results 130 10a - Pupil questionnaire null responses 330 10b 11 Parental questionnaire null responses 349 Figure 1 Significant changes in percentages and numbers 18 of Welsh speakers 2001-2011 2 Example of Excel data file 87 3 Welsh L1 and L2 (pupil questionnaires) 99 4 Parental ability in Welsh (pupil questionnaires) 100 5 Parental use of Welsh (pupil questionnaires) 100 6 Influence of teachers (pupil questionnaires)