The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales
Contemporary Wales Contemporary The Welsh Language in Language Welsh The 1
2 The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales Language in Contemporary Welsh The 3 1 - Introduction
2 - Teacher’s Notes 4 3 - PowerPoint Slides
4 - Worksheets
5 - Further Activities 5
6 - Additional Resources
7 - Glossary 6
7
- Key Skills
- Note
- Aim/Aims
- Time
- Resources
- Directions The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Introduction
Overview Learning objectives The aim of this section is to examine the changes in • Examine changes in Welsh language use over time, 2 Welsh language use throughout the twentieth century and the reasons for these changes; and at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The • Consider future challenges for the Welsh language. prepared lesson provides an overview of these changes, and examines the reasons for them. The Content 3 lesson concludes with a consideration of the challenges • Lesson (50 minutes): ‘The Welsh Language in facing the Welsh language in the future. Contemporary Wales’ - Teacher’s notes The examples utilised in the lesson are drawn mainly - PowerPoint slides 4 from the counties of Ceredigion and Powys, but these - Worksheet (teacher’s copy) can be adapted to make the lesson more relevant to - Worksheet (student’s copy) students. There is guidance on where to find relevant data • Further Activities in the Teacher’s Notes and on the Additional Resources • Additional Resources sheet. A worksheet is also provided to complement the • Glossary 5 lesson; this includes activities designed to develop student understanding of changing patterns of Welsh language use over time. The Further Activities sheet suggests additional activities aimed at developing student engagement with 6 the themes discussed during the lesson.
Key Skills
1. Communication • All activities provide an opportunity to develop this skill; the method 7 of communication can be adapted as required (e.g. group/individual research and/or oral presentation. 2. Application of number • Students are asked to interpret data on the number of people able to speak Welsh (through an examination of census figures, the analysis of graphs and by calculating the percentage of Welsh speakers in different counties in Wales). 3. Information technology • The additional activities require students to obtain information on the number of Welsh speakers, and present this information in the form of tables and graphs. • There is also an opportunity to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on changes in Welsh language use over time. 4. Problem solving • Most of the activities can either be completed individually or in groups. 5. Working with others • Students are asked to assess the challenges facing the Welsh language in the future, and consider possible ways of overcoming these. 6. Improving own learning • Students are encouraged to develop their own views on the role and and performance status of the Welsh language in contemporary Wales. • Some activities require students to formulate a research strategy in order to collect information on different aspects of the topic. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Directions: Below you will find comprehensive A brief history of the Welsh language notes for a 50 minute lesson. These should be used Slide 3 2 in conjunction with the PowerPoint slides. During the Welsh is a Celtic language, and is one of the oldest lesson, various activities are suggested for students; languages in the United Kingdom. It’s interesting to these are included in a Worksheet to be distributed in note the similarities between words that derive from class. Alternatively, students can be asked to complete the Brythonic and Gaelic languages. For example, the 3 these activities independently before the lesson, as latter has harsher sounding consonants, e.g. crann = a preparatory exercise. The Further Activities sheet pren (wood) and capall = ebol (foal). suggests additional activities that enable the themes introduced in the lesson to be explored further. The Slide 4 4 focus is on encouraging students to undertake further Welsh was spoken between 500-800AD in the ‘Old research into aspects of the role and status of the North’, an area known today as northern England and Welsh language in contemporary Wales. southern Scotland.
The Lesson The works of Aneirin and Taliesin, both bards serving 5 the royal courts in the Old North, chronicle the battles Introduction in this Brythonic kingdom. In Taliesin’s work, there Slide 2 is even a reference to a character found in English literature - Old King Cole - in the sentence “a chenau 6 coel byddai gymwyawg” (which, when translated into Note: In order to introduce the lesson’s English, means “and the descendant of Cole would a subject matter, you could start by asking students a frightened soldier be”). simple question such as “How many of you speak Welsh?”. The response can be compared to the Slide 5 7 figures provided later in the lesson on the number of During the reign of the Tudors, the Acts of Union Welsh speakers in Wales at different points in time. incorporated Wales into the political and legal systems of England. With the Act of Union passed in 1536, The lesson aims to do the following: Henry VIII’s intention was to create a uniform England • Introduce the history of the Welsh language; and Wales by eliminating any customs unique to the • Examine the changes in the number of people able latter. to speak Welsh throughout the twentieth century and at the beginning of the twenty-first century; In spite of this, the Welsh language remained strong. • Explore the factors that have contributed to these changes; Slide 6 • Consider the challenges facing the Welsh language For example, Welsh continued to be a language of in the future. poetry during the 14-16th centuries.
A good example of this was the poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym, who was born near Penrhyn-coch, Aberystwyth. His work was recognised across Europe. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
However, the event that had the most impact on the Slide 8 Welsh language during this period was the translation In 1891, the position of the Welsh language was 2 of the Bible into Welsh. As a result of the Protestant relatively healthy: of the 1,776,405 people living in Reformation, Welsh was losing its status and existed the country, 508,000 spoke only Welsh. In other words, predominantly in the form of local dialects. In her 55% of people living in Wales were able to speak the efforts to create a uniform England and Wales and language. Welsh was thus the language of the majority. 3 to ensure that the Welsh people would not return to Catholicism, Elizabeth I passed an act in 1563 As regards the geographical distribution of Welsh stating that each parish in Wales should have a Welsh speakers across Wales, Welsh was weakest in south translation of the Bible. William Morgan undertook Wales. During the Industrial Revolution, people were 4 to produce such a translation (specifically of the Old attracted to the valleys in search of work, not only Testament, as the New Testament had already been from other parts of Wales but also from across the translated by William Salesbury in 1567). The first United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. English Welsh Bible was published in 1588. This meant that thus became the dominant language in these areas. the people of Wales could read the Bible in their The one exception to this was Merthyr Tydfil, where 5 mother tongue relatively soon after the Bible had Welsh was spoken by a majority of people. been translated from Latin to English. It also, however, facilitated the unification of the northern and southern English was also prevalent in Pembrokeshire, an area halves of Wales by creating one standard language still known today as “Little England beyond Wales.” The 6 across the country. Welsh language had long lost its prominence in this area. Historically, the Vikings had often landed here, leaving Scandinavian placenames, such as Skokholm The Welsh language: The 1891 Census Island. There is also evidence in ‘The Chronicles of the Slide 7 Princes’ (Brut y Tywysogion) – a chronicle of the history 7 A CENSUS is a count of all the people and households of Wales up to the 13th century - and in reports by in the country. The first census was held in 1801. From Gerald of Wales, that Flemings had lived in the area 1841 onwards, a census was held every ten years to the west of Narberth since Norman times. (apart from 1941, due to the Second World War). The 1841 census was the first to gather personal details Even though the position of the Welsh language was from respondents, such as name and age. relatively strong in Wales in 1891, many householders who took part in the census were nevertheless keen The 1891 census was the first to ask about the to boost the number of Welsh speakers. They did this language spoken in each household. As this question by identifying not only themselves as speaking Welsh, has been asked in every census since then, it is possible but also their small children, who were only a few to examine the numbers of Welsh speakers in Wales months, and even a few days, old! from one decade to the next.
The next census will be held in 2011.
Note: At this point, you can ask students to complete Activity 1 on the Worksheet. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Slide 9 Slide 10 One reason for the relative strength of the Welsh In contrast to the prominence of the Welsh language 2 language at the end of the nineteenth century in the chapels, Welsh was not considered suitable as was the boom in religion. This was the heyday of a language of education. At the end of the nineteenth Nonconformity, the Methodist revival was at its century, a government report was commissioned peak, and Welsh was the language of the majority into the state of education in Wales. The report was 3 of chapels. Alongside the weekly services of worship, compiled by three English clergymen. They found the congregational singing festivals (known in Welsh as Welsh people to be lazy and immoral, and the blame ‘cymanfa ganu’) were regular events, and children for this was placed squarely on the Welsh language even organised their own religious gatherings. This and the tradition of religious nonconformity in Wales. 4 enabled Welsh families to socialise and worship entirely The response to the report was fierce, and it became through the medium of Welsh. known as the ‘Treachery of the Blue Books’ (Brad y Llyfrau Gleision). A typical chapel service is depicted in the painting “Salem” by Sidney Curnow Vosper (painted in 1908). In order to prevent Welsh from being used in schools, 5 It shows a morning service at a Baptist chapel near the Welsh Not was used. The Welsh Not was a block Harlech, north Wales. Vosper captures the atmosphere of wood with the letters W.N. inscribed on it. Any of the service perfectly: the people praying hard in child being caught speaking Welsh would have to wear the background suggests that going to chapel was the Welsh Not around their necks. Anyone still wearing 6 something that the Welsh took very seriously. it at the end of a lesson would be punished, which usually meant getting a beating with a cane. The painting is perhaps best well known, however, for the other image implicit in it: it is claimed that the Education wasn’t the only sphere in which the Welsh shape of the devil can be seen in the old lady’s shawl. language was considered unacceptable. In the law 7 The shawl’s paisley pattern forms the devil’s horns, courts, for example, it wasn’t permitted to take the the folds are its eyes and nose, and the tassels are its oath in Welsh without a translator present. It also beard. Furthermore, the bright colour of the shawl wasn’t possible to be tried by a jury through the stands out against the duller clothing of the rest of medium of Welsh. the congregation. This suggests that she was more concerned with her appearance than getting to the At the end of the nineteenth century, therefore, there church on time (the clock in the background shows were several examples of discrimination towards the that she arrived after the service had started). Welsh language.
The Welsh language: 1901-1911 Slide 11 By the 1901 census, the percentage of people speaking Welsh had dropped. Nearly one million people declared themselves to be Welsh speakers and of those, 30.2% spoke only Welsh. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Slide 12 during the Battle of Passchendaele (Flanders, Belgium). He The position of the Welsh language was strongest died only days before it was declared that he had won 2 in the counties of Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire, the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod of Birkenhead Anglesey and Ceredigion. These counties, located in 1917. A black cloth was laid over the chair and the in the westernmost half of Wales, have often been Eisteddfod was henceforth known as the ‘Eisteddfod of referred to as ‘The Welsh Heartland’ (Y Fro Gymraeg). the Black Chair’ (Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu). (A film based 3 on this story was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Slide 13 Foreign Language Film Category in 1994, an event that Such patterns in the geographical distribution of Welsh brought the Welsh film industry to prominence). speakers have existed for several centuries. Historically, 4 whilst the eastern half of Wales (closer to the border The soldiers killed during the Great War were not with England) has always been more susceptible to the only a loss to the communities from which they hailed; influence of English, the Cambrian Mountains in mid their deaths also had an impact on the Welsh language. Wales have served as a barrier against the anglicisation It is estimated that 20,000 Welsh speakers perished of communities further to the west. This mountainous during the war effort. 10% of those aged between 5 terrain has also been advantageous in other ways. 15 and 25 years old in 1911 and who were bilingual, Owain Glyndwr used it to his advantage during his spoke only English by 1921. rebellion against Henry IV. It is reputed that he was able to hide successfully in the mountains surrounding There were also, however, some important 6 Beddgelert (Moel yr Ogof) and thus avoid capture by achievements for the Welsh language during this the monarch’s armies. time. In 1922, ‘Urdd Gobaith Cymru’ (the Welsh youth movement) was established by Ifan ab Owen Edwards. The Urdd (as it is popularly known) has grown into The Welsh language: 1911-21 one of the biggest youth movements in Europe. 7 Slide 14 The 1911 census revealed the Welsh language to be in further decline. Ceredigion was one of the few counties The Welsh language: 1931-1951 where Welsh remained the language of the majority. Of Slide 16 58,018 people in the county at that time, 7,255 could speak Over the next two decades, the Welsh language only English, compared to 15,150 who spoke only Welsh. experienced some successes but also several setbacks.
Slide 15 Slide 17 The First World War (also known as the Great War) One notable event was the decision of the British took place during this decade (1914-1918). Several government in the mid 1930s to build a Bombing poets wrote of Welsh losses during the war. For School at Penyberth, on the Llyn Peninsula. The example, R. Williams Parry recalls ‘the pain of losing decision was met with fierce opposition across Wales. lads’ (‘Y rhwyg o golli hogia’). Three Welshmen decided to take action.
One notable example of loss of life during the Great War was the death of the poet known as ‘Hedd Wyn’. His real name was Ellis Humphrey Evans, and he hailed from Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd. He was killed at Pilckem Ridge The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
In 1936, DJ Williams, Lewis Valentine and Saunders establish dairies. Of those that migrated, 66% were Lewis – three prominent members of Plaid Cymru under 30 years old. This had a significant impact on the 2 – set fire to the Bombing School. At their trial, they Welsh language, as they were people of child-bearing refused to speak English. When the jury at the first age, which meant that Welsh language skills were not trial in Caernarfon failed to agree on a verdict, the case being passed from one generation to the next. And was transferred to the Old Bailey in London. yet, considerable effort was made to maintain the 3 use of the Welsh language in London. Welsh places The case elicited widespread sympathy and support of worship were established, such as the Dewi Sant for the Welsh language. In 1942, the Welsh Courts Act Church in London; a London Welsh Society was also granted a right to use Welsh in courts (if the defendant founded. 4 was judged to be at a disadvantage through having to speak English). Slide 20 The role of chapels in maintaining the Welsh language Slide 18 also declined, not least because more and more In late September 1939, ‘Yr Ysgol Gymraeg’ (the Welsh people preferred going to the cinema than attending 5 School) was opened in Aberystwyth. The school’s chapel services. How could the chapels compete with founder was Ifan ab Owen Edwards (the same man such new forms of entertainment? By today, chapels who founded the Urdd some years previously), and are even less popular and are being adapted to a this was the first Welsh primary school in the country. wide range of uses. For example, the old Wesleyan 6 This was a significant development in the context of Methodist chapel in Aberystwyth is now a pub called the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe ‘The Academy’. The biblical verses are still to be seen in the same month. The war led to many children on the walls, and you can admire the old organ as you from English cities such as Liverpool, Birmingham and order your drinks! London being evacuated to Wales. This made it almost 7 impossible to conduct lessons through the medium of Welsh in many communities. The founding of the Welsh Note: At this point, students could be asked School in Aberystwyth was thus a major achievement to think of other examples of chapels that have been in the history of Welsh-medium education. Having transformed from places of worship to buildings said this, it is worth noting that after the war, many with a very different purpose. evacuees returned to their homes in England as fluent Welsh speakers! The Welsh language: 1950s–1980s Another poignant event during the Second World Slide 21 War was the decline of one of the last Welsh-speaking The 1951 census results show that the number of strongholds in mid Wales. In 1940, the War Office people speaking Welsh had continued to decline. evicted the families living on the Epynt Mountain (near Brecon) in order to establish a military training area.
Slide 19 Between 1920 and 1939, Wales lost ½ million people due to emigration. For example, several families (especially from Ceredigion) moved to London to The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Slide 22 Slide 25 At this time, there were no road signs in Welsh and all In the wake of several agricultural crises, Wales’s 2 the documentation from local authorities and public rural economy had slowly been transformed. Tourism bodies in Wales was available exclusively in English. replaced farming as the mainstay of the Welsh economy. Today, it is estimated that 1 in every 10 However, in a famous lecture broadcast over the person of working age are associated with the tourism 3 radio in 1962 and entitled ‘The Fate of the Language’ industry, and many communities in rural Wales now (Tynged yr Iaith), Saunders Lewis – former Plaid Cymru depend on visitors to the area for their living. President – foresaw the demise of the Welsh language. He encouraged people to make a greater effort to However, in his article ‘Welcome to Wales?’, Dylan 4 live their daily lives through the medium of Welsh. Phillips argues that tourism encourages immigration. He likens the process to a snowball effect, with people In response, the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas who have friends and family already living in Wales also yr Iaith Gymraeg) was established. The organisation’s first deciding to move to the area. Often, these people are protest was held at Trefechan Bridge, Aberystwyth. This of retirement age, and this has a detrimental impact 5 was followed by activities that included throwing paper on Welsh language use in many rural communities. The aeroplanes from the House of Commons gallery, and demand for houses increases their price, which makes climbing TV masts. Their goal was to highlight the fact them no longer affordable for local inhabitants. Young that Welsh wasn’t used as a language of communication, people are forced to move away in order to search 6 either in the media or in the public domain more for better-paid jobs and housing that they can afford, generally. The Society’s activities contributed to the leaving behind them an older generation of inhabitants establishment of bilingual road signs and car tax discs that is less likely to be able to pass on Welsh language in Wales, as well as the launch of Radio Cymru in 1977. skills to the next generation. 7 Slide 23 Slide 26 In 1980, Gwynfor Evans (Plaid Cymru President and a The 1990s were not all bad for the Welsh language. former Member of Parliament) threatened to go on hunger There were important efforts during this decade to strike in order to force the Conservative government of improve the language’s status in Wales. For example, the time to deliver on their promise of a Welsh language the Welsh Language Act came into force in 1993. The television channel. In 1982, S4C was established. Act stated that both the Welsh and English languages should be given equal status in Wales. The public sector in Wales was required to provide public services in The Welsh language: The 1990s both languages. Slide 24 The end of the twentieth century brought further With regard to education, Welsh was made a change for the Welsh language. One hundred years compulsory language at Key Stages 1-3 (5-14 year earlier, the influx of people coming to work in olds) in 1990. In 1999, it was made a compulsory the industrial areas of South Wales had led to the subject for Key Stage 4 pupils in every school in Wales. substantial anglicisation of this part of the country. By the end of the twentieth century, a second wave of immigration was affecting the number of Welsh speakers, albeit in a different way. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Moreover, as the twentieth century came to an end, a Slide 29 new era began for Welsh politics. In 1999, the National Other changes were also apparent from the 2001 2 Assembly for Wales was established. This body was census. If we look at the geographical distribution given new responsibilities for supporting the Welsh of those aged 3+ who speak Welsh, for example, it language. becomes apparent that the so-called ‘Welsh Heartland’ has become increasingly fragmented. 3
The Welsh language: 2001 to the present Slide 30 Slide 27 There are only a few parishes in Carmarthenshire, By the 2001 census (the first census to incorporate Gwynedd and Anglesey where the number of people 4 young people aged between 16 and 18 years old), the speaking Welsh remains higher than 70%. These three position of the Welsh language had improved slightly. counties, along with Ceredigion, were the only counties in Wales to experience a decline in the numbers Slide 28 speaking Welsh between the 1991 and 2001 censuses. 16.3% of people living in Wales possessed the three 5 linguistic skills (speaking, reading and writing Welsh) Slide 31 whilst 23.5% had at least one of these skills. A map of the 2001 census results also shows that the percentage living in Wales but born elsewhere was especially high in west and mid Wales. This may be 6 Note: The PowerPoint slide provides attributable to the effects of tourism and in-migration, additional information on the linguistic abilities of the latter fuelled by perceptions that the standard of the town of Llandysul. However, the slide can be living in the Welsh countryside is higher than in many adapted to suit any location; relevant information urban areas of England. can be found on the website of the Welsh Language 7 Board (see ‘2001 Census: Main Statistics about Slide 32 Welsh’, available at: http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/english/ In Ceredigion, 52% of people speak Welsh according to the publications/publications/332.doc). 2001 census. This is a decline of 7.17% compared to 1991.
It is interesting to note the following points about the Welsh language in education in this county: Note: Students can be asked to complete • 74% of Ceredigion’s primary school pupils are in schools Activities 2 and 3 on the Worksheet at this point. where Welsh is the main or only medium of education; Having done so, the teacher may want to ask • 52% of pupils are fluent in Welsh by Year 6 (aged 11); students if any of their answers were unexpected. • 56% continue to study Welsh as a first language after Year 6. Cardiff experienced the highest increase in the number of Welsh speakers. An additional 14,415 people spoke Welsh in the capital in 2001, compared to 1991. The Note: This data can be adapted for specific valleys of South Wales also experienced an increase. locations. Local statistics from the 2001 census can be For example, in 2001 11.1% spoke Welsh in Torfaen found on the website of the Welsh Language Board compared to 2.5% in 1991. (see ‘Statistics’, available at: http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk english/publications/pages/index.aspx?categoryid=24). The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Slide 33 What does the future hold for the Welsh It is also interesting to look at the number of Welsh language? 2 speakers by age. Slide 35 The results of the 2001 census suggest that the position of the Welsh language at the beginning of Note: It is possible to ask students to the twenty-first century is more promising than it was 3 describe and give reasons for the patterns in the in the previous century. bar graph on this slide, which shows the numbers able to speak Welsh in each age group between Slide 36 1921 and 2001. The Welsh language is also being supported financially 4 by the Welsh Assembly Government. In 2003, Iaith The graph shows that, whilst there has been an overall Pawb was published, a scheme to support and decline in the number of people able to speak Welsh promote the Welsh language in order to achieve a since 1921, the decline has been particularly significant bilingual Wales. in the 16-24 and 25-44 age groups. 5 Several targets were set to achieve this goal by 2011: One explanation for this could be migration: younger • To stop the decline in the number of communities where people are more likely to move out of Wales to find Welsh is spoken by over 70% of the population; work or to attend university. At the same time, since • To increase the number of people able to speak 6 1971 there has been an increase in the number of Welsh by 5%; children aged 3-15 years who are able to speak Welsh. • To increase the number of families speaking Welsh This can be attributed to the growing number of at home; Welsh-medium schools in Wales over the last thirty • To provide more services through the medium of Welsh. years. 7 The Welsh Language Board receives money from the Slide 34 Welsh Assembly Government in order to support In order to get a different perspective on the changing organisations such as the Mentrau Iaith (community- status of the Welsh language, it is useful to compare its based organisations that work to promote and increase position to that of other minority languages, especially the use of Welsh) and campaigns such as Twf (to the Celtic languages. encourage parents to bring up their children bilingually). Financial resources are also being provided to create When comparing the Welsh language with Scottish more opportunities for university students to follow Gaelic, for example, it is evident that more people Welsh-medium courses. Furthermore, at the time of speak the former. The fact that so many children aged writing, there is talk of appointing a Commissioner 3-15 years speak the language is once again evidence for the Welsh Language. This individual would be of the success of teaching Welsh in schools. responsible for ensuring that public bodies and some larger private companies (i.e. telecommunications, utilities and transport) make sufficient use of the Welsh language. The Commissioner would have the right to reprimand companies if expected standards are not maintained. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Teacher’s Notes
Slide 37 Slide 39 In addition, there are efforts to support Welsh The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 2 in Patagonia (Argentina), a colony established by Organization (UNESCO) has claimed that between emigrants from Wales in 1865. ‘Ysgol yr Hendre’ 50% and 90% of the world’s languages will have (Hendre School) was established in Trelew in 2006, disappeared by the end of the twenty-first century. whilst in Esquel, ‘Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes’ (the Welsh Many scholars have also argued that globalisation and 3 School in the Andes) was founded. the internet are developments that may undermine minority languages and cultures. Slide 38 So there is some cause for optimism about the future Slide 40 4 of the Welsh language. Currently, statistics show that only 1 out of every 5 child living in Wales is fluent in Welsh by the age However, it must be noted that there was only a small of 11. This number declines between the ages of 11 increase in the number of Welsh speakers between and 16. The challenge, therefore, is to ensure that 1991 and 2001. This may have been a consequence young people continue to use their Welsh skills as 5 of a change in the question asked about language-use they mature. This is the key to securing the future of in the 2001 census (see Haselden, 2003). In 1991, the Welsh language. people were asked “Do you speak Welsh?”; in 2001, the question was “Can you speak Welsh?”. 6
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Slide 40 The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Worksheet - Teacher’s Copy
Activity 1 The graph below shows the number of Welsh speakers in Wales over the period 1891-2001. 2
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Describe how the number of Welsh speakers changes over time. In 1891, the number of Welsh speakers was relatively high, at about 55% of the Welsh population. At that point in time, Welsh was 5 thus the language of the majority of the people who lived in Wales. From 1891 onwards, however, the number of Welsh speakers declined repidly. By 1921, only 38% of the population spoke the language. This figure remained stable between 1921 and 1931, although it declined once more from 1931 onwards. The number of Welsh speakers reached its low-point in 1991 (19%). By 2001, however, there had been a slight increase, with 21% of people living in Wales speaking the language. 6
Activity 2 This map shows all of the counties in Wales. 7 Enter the number that corresponds to each county in the table below:
No. County No. County No. County Vale of 6 Ceredigion 7 Conwy 21 Glamorgan Blaenau Rhondda 22 Wrexham 1 18 Gwent Cynon Taff Neath Port 3 Caerphilly 19 Swansea 14 Talbot
8 Denbighshire 17 Powys 15 Newport
2 Bridgend 20 Torfaen 10 Gwynedd
Merthyr 12 5 Carmarthenshire 4 Cardiff Tydfil
16 Pembrokeshire 11 Anglesey 13 Monmouthshire
9 Flintshire The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Worksheet - Teacher’s Copy
Activity 3 a) Complete the table below, by calculating what % of people in each county speaks Welsh. Write your 2 answers to one decimal point.
County Inhabitants aged 3+ Welsh speakers No. No. % 3 Anglesey 64,679 38,893 60.1 Gwynedd 112,800 77,846 69.0 Conwy 106,316 31,298 29.4 Denbeighshire 90,085 23,760 26.4 Flintshire 143,382 20,599 14.4 4 Wrexham 124,024 18,105 14.6 Powys 122,473 25,814 21.1 Ceredigion 72,884 37,918 52.0 Pembrokeshire 110,182 23,967 21.8 Carmarthenshire 167,373 84,196 50.3 5 Swasea 216,226 28,938 13.4 Neath Port Talbot 130,305 23,404 18.0 Bridgend 124,284 13,397 10.8 Vale of Glamorgan 115,116 12,994 11.3 Rhondda Cynon Taff 223,924 27,946 12.5 6 Merthyr Tydfil 54,115 5,532 10.2 Caerphilly 163,297 18,237 11.2 Blaenau Gwent 67,795 6,417 9.5 Torfaen 88,062 9,780 11.1 Sir Fynwy 82,351 7,688 9.3 7 Newport 131,820 13,135 10.0 Cardiff 294,208 32,504 11.0 WALES 2,805,701 582,368 20.8 b) Can you describe the geographical distribution counties closest to the English border, the highlands of mid Wales of Welsh speakers across Wales? served as a buffer that protected the western counties from More people speak Welsh in the western half of Wales (between this influence. However, more recently, immigration and tourism 50% and 69%). The largest number of Welsh speakers is to have contributed to the decline of the Welsh language in these be found in the county of Gwynedd (69%). The only exception strongholds. to this pattern is Pembrokeshire, where only 21.8% of people speak the language. There are lower levels of Welsh speakers in The Welsh language has not been strong in Pembrokeshire for the southern and eastern counties of Wales (between 10% and many years. This county has a long history of being invaded (e.g. 15% of people). The smallest number of Welsh speakers is in the by the Vikings), and there is also a record of Flemings having lived county of Monmouthshire (9.3%). in the area in the past. c) Can you think of reasons for this geographical The counties in north-east, east and south Wales were anglicised distribution? as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, which bought people The strength of the Welsh language in the counties in the western from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland to the country to half of Wales, compared to the south and the east of the country, look for work. As noted above, the eastern part of Wales has also can be explained in part as a result of topography. Historically, always been more susceptible to the influence of English, due to whilst the English language has had a significant impact on the proximity to England. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales
Activity 1 The graph below shows the number of Welsh speakers in Wales from 1891-2001.
Describe how the number of Welsh speakers changes over time.
Activity 2 This map shows all of the counties in Wales.
Enter the number that corresponds to each county in the table below:
No. County No. County No. County Vale of Ceredigion Conwy Glamorgan Blaenau Rhondda Wrexham Gwent Cynon Taff Neath Port Caerphilly Swansea Talbot
Denbeighshire Powys Newport
Bridgend Torfaen Gwynedd
Merthyr Carmarthenshire Cardiff Tydfil
Pembrokeshire Anglesey Monmouthshire
Flintshire The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales
Activity 3 a) Complete the table below, by calculating what % of people in each county speaks Welsh. Write your answers to one decimal point.
County Inhabitants aged 3+ Welsh speakers No. No. % Anglesey 64,679 38,893 60.1 Gwynedd 112,800 77,846 Conwy 106,316 31,298 Denbeighshire 90,085 23,760 Flintshire 143,382 20,599 Wrexham 124,024 18,105 Powys 122,473 25,814 Ceredigion 72,884 37,918 Pembrokeshire 110,182 23,967 21.8 Carmarthenshire 167,373 84,196 Swasea 216,226 28,938 Neath Port Talbot 130,305 23,404 Bridgend 124,284 13,397 10.8 Vale of Glamorgan 115,116 12,994 Rhondda Cynon Taff 223,924 27,946 Merthyr Tydfil 54,115 5,532 Caerphilly 163,297 18,237 Blaenau Gwent 67,795 6,417 Torfaen 88,062 9,780 Sir Fynwy 82,351 7,688 Newport 131,820 13,135 10.0 Cardiff 294,208 32,504 WALES 2,805,701 582,368 20.8 b) Can you describe the geographical distribution of Welsh speakers across Wales?
c) Can you think of reasons for this geographical distribution? The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Further Activities
These activities provide the opportunity to further develop the themes introduced during the lesson. 2 Activity 1: Understanding and explaining changes in Welsh language use
Aim 3
• To further develop student understanding of the patterns of Welsh use over time, and the reasons for these changes. 4 Time
• One lesson (50 minutes); • Students can be asked to prepare the activity beforehand (either as homework or during preceding lessons) and present their findings to the class. 5
Resources
• Computers with access to the internet and software such as Excel and PowerPoint in order to collect 6 and present information.
Directions
Students can work independently or in small groups to prepare presentations outlining the main changes in the 7 number of Welsh-language speakers over time, and the factors that explain these patterns. The presentation should aim to go beyond the information provided during the lesson.
The Additional Resources sheet suggests several websites and other sources that may be useful for gathering information.
To develop this activity further, you can ask students to look at the websites of different organisations and institutions, and to assess the extent to which the Welsh language is used on these sites. On the basis of their findings, students can be encouraged to draw conclusions about the current status of Welsh language use in the public and private domains. This can be followed by a discussion of what steps should be taken in the future to promote the further use of Welsh. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Further Activities
Activity 2: Do we still need the Welsh language? 2
Aims
• Consider the different possibilities with regard to the future of the Welsh language; 3 • Develop a personal opinion on the importance of supporting the Welsh language.
Time 4 • One lesson (50 minutes).
Resources
• Computer with internet access; 5 • A selection of the books and journals listed on the Additional Resources sheet.
Directions 6 Below, two questions are suggested as the basis of a debate between groups of students:
“At the beginning of the twenty-first century, we are all citizens of the UK and we live in a global economy. In such a context, the Welsh language is no longer needed, and it will inevitably decline.” 7 or
“The Welsh Assembly Government is wasting valuable money on trying to maintain a minority language; it would make more sense to spend the money on improving the economic situation of our country.”
Students can be divided into teams to argue for or against these statements. Preparation work can be undertaken either as part of the lesson or as homework.
This activity can be adapted by inviting a range of guest speakers to the school, and asking them to argue for or against the statements above. Alternatively, students can propose their own statements to be debated, or a ‘Question Time’ format could be adopted whereby students pose questions to the speakers on various issues related to the Welsh language. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Additional Resources
Books, articles and reports • Davies, J. (2005) The Welsh Language: A Pocket Guide (Cardiff: University of Wales Press). 2 • Haselden, L. (2003) Differences in Estimates of Welsh Language Skills (Cardiff: Office for National Statistics). Available at : http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fow/WelshLanguage.pdf - This report considers how changing the wording of the question on the Welsh language between the 1991 and 2001 censuses, impacted on the number of people who identified themselves as Welsh speakers. 3 • Jenkins, G.H. (2000) Let’s Do Our Best for the Ancient Tongue: The Welsh Language in the Twentieth Century (Cardiff: University of Wales Press). • Phillips, D. (2001) Welcome to Wales. Available at: http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/CentreforAdvancedWelshCelticStudies/ ResearchProjects/CompletedProjects/SocialHistoryoftheWelshLanguage/WelcometoWales.aspx 4 • Phillips, D. and Thomas, C. (2001) The Effects of Tourism on the Welsh Language in North-West Wales (Aberystwyth: Centre For Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies). • Welsh Assembly Government (2003) Iaith Pawb (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government). Available at: http://wales.gov.uk/depc/publications/welshlanguage/iaithpawb/iaithpawbe.pdf;jsessionid=p3hlLjLF9tRYmjZ86 NpWFsTvn6p8CcjJp9tTN3mp6dLnsDjrnh1p!1719244923?lang=en 5 • Mercator Education (2001) The Welsh Language in Education in the UK (Ljouwert/Leeuwarden: Mercator). Available at: http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Welsh_in_Education.pdf - The article examines the position of the Welsh language in education. Data is presented from pre- school through to adult education. 6 • BBC (2007) ‘S4C viewing figures down by 15%’. Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7449253.stm • Office for National Statistics (2004) Welsh Language: Welsh Speakers Increase to 21% (Cardiff: Office for National Statistics). Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=447 • Office for National Statistics (2001)Census 2001: Report on the Welsh Language (Cardiff: Office for National Statistics). Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/census2001/Report_on_the_Welsh_language.pdf 7
Websites Welsh Language Board - http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/Pages/Hafan.aspx A comprehensive website where it’s possible to browse census reports since 1891. Detailed data is available for the 1991 and 2001 censuses, including maps of and data for local authorities. It’s also possible to get information at the community level, and according to age group. See the section Publications > Research, Evaluation and Statistics.
The Office for National Statistics –http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/index.html An informative website containing an introduction to, and a history of, the census; there is also a wide range of data from different censuses. The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales 1 Glossary
Nonconformity (anghydffurfiaeth): A religious movement that broke away from the Church of England. 2 Treachery of the Blue Books (Brad y Llyfrau Gleision): The name given to a report commissioned into the state of education in Wales at the end of the nineteenth century. The report was written by three Anglican clergymen. They concluded that the Welsh were lazy and immoral, and that the Welsh language and Nonconformity were at the root of the problem. 3
Chronicle of the Princes (Brut y Tywysogion): A book chronicling important events in Welsh history up to the thirteenth century. It recounts outbreaks of the plague and lunar eclipses, but focuses especially on the princes of Gwynedd, Powys and the Deheubarth (a kingdom that existed in the south-western part of medieval Wales). 4 Census (census): A method of counting the number of people living in a country and gathering information about them. In the United Kingdom, a census is held every 10 years. The first census was undertaken in 1801, but it wasn’t until 1891 that a question was included about the language spoken in the household. 5 The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg): An organisation that campaigns for the Welsh language. It was established in 1962.
The Welsh Language Act (Deddf yr Iaith Gymraeg): A piece of legislation passed in 1993, which granted the 6 Welsh language an equal status to English in Wales. The Act required public sector organisations to provide all of their services bilingually.
Iaith Pawb: A Welsh Assembly Government Action Plan that outlined a number of objectives with regard to the Welsh language. 7
‘Welsh Not’: A piece of wood inscribed with the letters W.N. Children that spoke Welsh during their lessons had to wear this piece of wood around their necks. Any person wearing the Welsh Not at the end of the lesson was punished, which usually meant being beaten with the cane.
The Welsh Heartland (Y Fro Gymraeg): The areas of Wales - Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire - where historically the Welsh language was most widely spoken. By today, the Welsh language remains predominant in only a few isolated areas in these counties.