Donaldson, (2015)
states that following the education reform act 1988 welsh become compulsory for
every pupil at key stages 1, 2 a 3 in 1990 and from September 1999 compulsion
was extended to Key Stage 4. Donaldson, (2015) states that the value attached
to the welsh language by children, young people, teachers and parents should be
enhanced by strengthening the focus on its commercial value for job markets.
Therefore the Welsh
language is extremely important in primary education, and there are many
advantages to having language skills for employers. Welsh Gov (2015) states
that his Review has accepted the case to retain the Welsh language as a
compulsory part of the school curriculum 3–16, but there are clearly quality
issues to be addressed if it is to be fully accepted by children and young
people, and their parents.
An approach we could
take for children and parents to accept the welsh language would be by
introducing the welsh language and making it more fun and engaging. Baker (2011) states that young children pick up languages so easily, through play and concrete situations. Therefore, it would integral that the welsh language is introduced firstly at the primary education phase as this where they will pick up the language the best.
Welsh language is
valued so highly in wales. BBC NEWS (2017) Have states that they have plans to
increase the welsh medium education and to get one million people speaking
welsh by 2050.
BBC NEWS (2017) state
that “As part of the proposals, pupils in English-medium schools
must devote more time learning the Welsh language”.
Therefore, the welsh language is values in the
sense that as a community we understand that welsh is not spoken enough, and
the government are hopeful that we can improve on this and have set direct
goals in place to reach, which proves the importance of the welsh language. We can see that the
Government highly value the welsh language. Although not everyone in Wales value the welsh language, as Jones, (2017) states that parents who chose welsh medium education consider the welsh language beneficial although parents opting for English education may have concerns regarding the welsh medium education and may have less positive perceptions of the welsh language. Therefore although we live in Wales, parents are concerned about the welsh language being incorporated in their children's education.
We can see from the
graph (1) that, since 1901 the percentage of children in Wales that speak welsh
in slowly decreasing. The welsh language commissioner, (2014) States that it is
important to look at the areas in Wales when considering the population, where
the second charts shows that the percentage of population (3 and over) who
speak welsh in all local authorities.
Careers Wales, (2018)
state that Recent research shows that
being able to speak and write in both Welsh and English can give you an
important advantage whether you’re looking for a job or wanting to further your
career, and state many benefits to being able to speak welsh such as:
·
Stand out from the crowd
·
Increase earning potential
·
Improved thinking and creativity
·
Open new opportunities.
Therefore, employees
value the welsh language and there are many career benefits.
Similarily Wales
Online, (2013) state that recent studies conducted in Wales show that having
two languages can impact on the childs language development, general abilities
and health and well being in ways that are unique to the bilingual learner.
Although
there are many benefits of being bilingual, and the welsh language which is
proven to be valued highly in Wales by Governors and parents and career
prospects. There are critiques that go against the gut feeling of the welsh
language being beneficial for children.
Mail Online. (2018). States
that pupils that have welsh as their first language are less likely to enter
top-ranking universities throughout the UK.
References
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education
and bilingualism. Multilingual matters, 79, pp.7-8.
BBC NEWS (2017). School language plan for 1m Welsh
speakers target. Wales: Alun Davies, pp.1-3.
