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