Thursday 8 March 2012

Use it or lose it : Welsh Language Strategy 2012-2017

Last week, Education Minister Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda) unveiled the Welsh Government’s 56-page (sigh), five-year plan (sigh) for the Welsh language covering promotion, education and daily use.

In his foreword Leighton acknowledges exciting developments in the last few years, including the launch of Welsh-language "online newspaper" Golwg360, the formal establishment of a virtual Welsh-language higher education institution (Coleg Cenedlaethol Cymru) and the rise of “e-Cymraeg” – through social network sites like Twitter and the use of e-books and e-periodicals.

In legislative terms we've had the previous Assembly's Welsh Language Measure 2011. In February, the Assembly Commission laid the short-but-sweet National Assembly of Wales (Official Languages) Bill in front of the Senedd which - if passed - will make English and Welsh official languages in the Assembly and ensure “publication and simultaneous translation” in both languages.

So what comes next?

The Vision

The Welsh Government wants to “see the Welsh language thriving in Wales”. Easier said than done of course. What should be cause for some optimism is the growth in the number of Welsh speakers in the south, in particular Cardiff. However, this is balanced by a decline in the number of Welsh speakers in the heartland. It seems as though Welsh is - judging by statistics - being “diluted”. Rising in one area, falling in another.

So in future we could have a situation whereby there's an average 20-odd% Welsh-speaking minority in every local authority (though still higher in Y Bro) but no real “heartland”.

Acquiring the language” and “using the language” are the two core elements to the new strategy.

Acquiring the language

“Acquiring” primarily focuses on Welsh-medium education, with a special focus on post-14 opportunities and improving Welsh-medium planning based on parental demand.

There's also a focus on families, and the role using Welsh within families and the home, passing Welsh down the generations, reinforced by Welsh-medium education. Use it in school, use it at home. Pretty straightforward. It's said that this will help create a “community of speakers”, combined with the influence of social media and the mainstream media.

The Welsh Language Board's TWF project – where parents are encouraged to speak Welsh to their children is cited as an ongoing example of encouraging “language acquisition”.

Using the language

The second strategic area is children and young people. The numbers of Welsh-speaking people aged 3-14 has risen from 15% in 1971, to 37% in 2001. I wouldn't be surprised if it rises again in the 2011 census. There's a special focus on teenagers, and discussing the need for a “wider range of social opportunities (to use Welsh) outside school”, but acknowledging that getting teenagers to use a minority language is “a complex matter”. Seeing as Leighton Andrews is something of a technophile, new technologies are there of course, with teenagers being encouraged to use Welsh online and engage in creative activities that use Welsh.

The third strategic area is the community. The strategy acknowledges that for minority languages to survive, there needs to be an area where it is the “predominant language”. With migratory pressures affecting Y Bro, and the Welsh Government by all accounts welcoming these changes, this is going to be a tough one to deliver. The language won't survive in Y Bro without the retention of Welsh-speaking people in their 20s and 30s who will, in turn, hopefully raise Welsh-speaking children. An “online community” of Welsh speakers - of which there's already a pretty strong one - is probably going to be the future I'm afraid to say. The report hints at that.

Strategic area four – the workplace.As individuals, we spend a considerable amount of our time at work.Herp a derp. On a more serious side, the report does say that increasing opportunities to speak Welsh at work poses a “considerable challenge”. I don't think I need to revisit in detail the “Thomas Cook incident" in Bangor a few years ago. There's a desire to “mainstream” the use of Welsh at work, and hints that the Welsh Language Commissioner (Meri Huws) will play a key role in this.

The fifth an final strategic area in increasing the use of Welsh are Welsh language services. The report says there's clear evidence that there's a “lack of supply of services in Welsh” and a low uptake from non-fluent Welsh speakers due to “lack of confidence”. I can empathise with that. In future the Welsh Government will attach conditions to grants awarded to fund relevant services (and it's important to stress that before the chimps tea party gets overexcited) to provide Welsh-language services – in particular public sector bodies.

Language infrastructure


An umbrella strategic area covering both acquisition and use of Welsh is Welsh-language “infrastructure” that should “reflect the official status of Welsh”. This encompasses : TV, radio, books etc. There's once again a focus on digital content, including the suggestion that major private sector companies provide interfaces in Welsh (quite a few already do in fairness). There's no hint at devolution of Welsh-language broadcasting, however, interestingly, there's the possibility of a standardised online Welsh language dictionary in the medium term. But doesn't that already exist?

The role of the Welsh Language Commissioner is outlined in some detail, including responsibilities over aforementioned standardisation, language research, building links with other countries with minority languages, “language planning” and “promoting the value of Welsh”.

Conclusion

I hope I haven't come across as pretentious. A Cymry-di-Cymraeg commenting on the future of the Welsh language might come across as rather patronising and if so I apologise.

There are those out there who have nothing but bile for a language and culture they simply don't “get”. I consider Welsh - even in my limited capacity of being able to use it - an important part of my identity and an inheritance to be handed down. Leighton Andrews should be applauded for this comprehensive assessment, but many of the strategic aims are going to be very difficult to deliver without the ongoing continued goodwill of the majority of Welsh people and a Welsh-speaking heartland.

If there's one single thing I would like to see, it would be the relaunch/expansion/continuation of the Welsh Language Board's "Iaith Gwaith" scheme, with a new, universally-recognised symbol that would indicate that a shop, service or person is able and willing to use Welsh.


2 comments:

  1. Let's hope there is some way to keep the Welsh language alive and strong. Not just the EU, but the world at large, is becoming anonymously similar, and keeping a language alive is part and parcel of keeping a culture alive.

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