Category Archives: Dyfodol

CALL FOR LANGUAGE TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR TEACHERS

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Dyfodol i’r Iaith is calling for significant investment in a language training programme for teachers.

The call comes following the announcement of education Minister Kirsty Williams that Welsh second language will no longer be offered.

Heini Gruffudd, Chairman of Dyfodol i’r Iaith, says: “We welcome the Minister’s announcement, but there must be an intense program of language training for thousands of teachers.”

“Currently, Welsh-medium schools that teach subjects through the medium of Welsh are the only model that successfully gives equal language skills in Welsh and English to every pupil.”

“Teaching Welsh as a subject is not enough – other subjects must be taught through the medium of Welsh. Wales’ schools will not be able to do this without a large increase in the number of teachers of Welsh with a qualification in the language, and a significant increase in the number of subject teachers who can teach through the medium of the language. ”

“We have to follow the Basque Country pattern, where a huge investment was made in ensuring that teachers have sufficient linguistic skills. Without doing this, there is a danger that the Minister’s hopes will be vain hopes. ”

“We are therefore calling on the Government to introduce an extensive programme of language training for thousands of teachers.”

 

ROBUST GUIDELINES NEEDED TO REGULATE THE USE OF ENGLISH ON S4C

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With an increasing amount of English content being broadcast within S4C’s programmes, Dyfodol i’r Iaith have called for robust guidelines controlling its use so that it is the Welsh language that is heard when viewers tune in to the Channel.

Eifion Lloyd Jones, Dyfodol’s spokesman on broadcasting, said:

“We are very worried to hear an increasing amount of English within S4C’s programmes. S4C after all is a Welsh channel, not a bilingual one, which begs the question as to whether BBC Wales for instance would be willing to provide a bilingual service? We want S4C to provide a secure home for the Welsh language, a place in which it can thrive as the natural default medium. The increasing use of English undermines its role as a Welsh medium channel and becomes a barrier to the representation and expression of the language.

There will of course be some exceptions – where time constraints on news programmes for instance prevent dubbing into Welsh – but only when the excerpt justifies direct inclusion rather than being paraphrased in Welsh.

However, we find it surprising that there are seemingly no clear policies or guidelines regarding the use of English within Welsh programmes. We believe this to be a fundamental shortfall, and we will continue to discuss and press for a practical arrangement to ensure S4C’s status as one of the Welsh language’s most important domains.”

 

DYFODOL’S CALL TO DEFEND THE SERVICE AND PRINCIPLE OF GWYNEDD’S LANGUAGE CENTRES

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Dyfodol i’r Iaith has expressed dismay over possible cutbacks to Gwynedd Council’s Language Centres. These Centres provide immersion in the Welsh language to primary pupils who are new to the area, thus preparing them for Welsh education and facilitating their introduction to life within Welsh communities

Heini Gruffudd, Dyfodol’s Chair said:

“Any cutbacks to such a priceless service would be sheer nonsense. These Centres have already proved their worth and success. They also encapsulate the principle that is essential to the success of the Government’s Strategy to create a million Welsh speakers – that the Welsh language must to be accessible to all if it is to flourish.

We therefore call on the Government and Gwynedd Council to acknowledge and sustain the impressive work of these Centres; to hold them up, indeed, as a shining example of what can and should be achieved for the good of the Welsh language.”