Dyfodol i’r Iaith will be holding a Public Meeting at Arad Goch, Aberystwyth on March 11 at 11 a.m.
Our guest speaker, Sion Aled Owen, will be discussing The Welsh Language – Crossing the School Border. The talk is based upon his research into the use or non-use of the Welsh language beyond the classroom by pupils in Welsh-medium schools. Elinor Jones, Dyfodol’s President will chair the talk and discussion.
You are welcome to join us to hear more about this key piece of research.
We had an useful meeting with Alun Davies and his officials on Friday morning, January 31st. Here are the matters we discussed and some of the responses received:
It was agreed that more attention should be given to the Welsh language in the context of the community.
Matters including in-migration, housing planning, education, teaching Welsh to adults, the language on the high street and within work were all given attention.
Welsh Language Agency
The Government have £2 million to spend this year, but there is no agreement for next year. A White Paper will be published for the new Bill / Welsh Language Measure and this will provide an opportunity to to establish a Welsh Language Agency. Alun Davies favoured an arms’-length Agency. If this years’ expenditure is successful, it is hoped that this will lead to a stable Agency, with the possibility of it growing into a wider-reaching body which can bridge the work of the different Government departments. An announcement on the Bill is expected before Christmas, following the consultation on the White Paper.
Our points on promoting the language were welcomed, and can be worked upon this year:
Government officials said that the Welsh Government is currently working with the Language Commissioner and Mudiadau Iaith on a pilot scheme for promoting the language within small businesses.
TAN 20
There was an understanding of the need to consider the language in relation to individual housing developments even though they might already be part of Local Development Plans.
Government officials said that they hoped that ongoing work with Horizon (Wylfa) would yield a language impact assessment methodology, that could be used throughout Wales. Dyfodol have already been in touch with Lesley Griffiths, Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs regarding TAN 20, and we will be requesting an update, as soon as this work is completed.
Welsh Education
It was agreed that local authorities’ Schemes were vague, and that the Government need to review the majority of them, and then discuss their contents with the Councils. It was agreed that it was not useful to set a target to increase the number of 7 year-olds in Welsh education within 3 years, as these children will already be within the system. The Minister was anxious to see stronger Schemes.
The Government Officials said that they expected an improvement in the Welsh language skills of pupils in English-medium schools following the introduction of the continuum . We are however doubtful that this will be significantly successful.
According to Dyfodol i’r Iaith, cafes, shops, pubs and centres need to demonstrate clearly that people are welcome to use the Welsh language over the counter. This would give Welsh speakers confidence to use their language.
The organisation wants the Welsh Government to introduce attractive window signage for businesses who welcome the use of Welsh.
If the Welsh Government is to create a million Welsh speakers by the middle of the century, more people must be encouraged to speak it, and in as many different informal situations as possible. This lies at the Centre of Dyfodol i’r Iaith’s vision, and the organisation is convinced that private businesses and services have a key role to play in this.
This is the principle behind Dyfodol’s call for a voluntary system which would outline businesses’ ability and willingness to provide a Welsh language service for its customers. Such a system could be based upon arrangements that are already widely familiar to all; food hygiene standard scores, for example, or CAMRA’s good beer guide. Ceredigion has already introduced certificates to organisations who promote the Welsh language.
Heini Gruffudd, Dyfodol’s Chair said:
“Cafes, shops, pubs and a host of other private sector services provide excellent opportunities to use the Welsh language in a community setting. Such a scoring system would provide businesses with an opportunity to display the fact that the Welsh language is part of their customer service ethos. It would also provide an incentive to raise the profile of the Welsh language within the workplace, and to appreciate and encourage staff language skills.
Over time, and backed up by a far-reaching campaign by the Welsh Government to raise language awareness, we would foresee that this system would provide an easily recognisable quality mark, and one that would be attractive to the businesses themselves, as well as their customers.