Welsh Goverment Petition

Children’s right to learn thorough their native language needs to be debated. 

        Native English-speaking children in Wales have the legal Human Right to be educated through their native English Language. The majority language of Wales. Certain local authorities in Wales are starting to compel children in certain schools to learn Welsh so that they canto be educated through the medium of it. Children will always learn most effectively in their most fluent language because of working memory. The Welsh Government needs to clearly assert native English children’s entitlement.

         Neuro-research illustrates that children’s language develops from birth, not when they start to speak it. Babies have been described as linguistic geniuses in thier first year of life. The neural wiring of their native language(s) phonology is grown by babies first birthday. Native children who acquire their language from birth learn their native language without effort. English speaking parents cannot create Welsh speaking home environments for their children, and they cannot support their Welsh Language education. It takes around four to seven years for a child of average ability to develop an academic vocabulary in a majority language. The learning potential of children is not equal. Welsh is a minority language. The golden age for language is from 0 to 5 years, but it declines after the first year of life. The concept of bilingual education is very complex. There is lack of research on Welsh medium education.

Key Issues
    

1.   Children do not go to school to learn to talk and walk. They go to school to be educated.

2.   The Welsh Language Society is demanding that native Welsh Speakers should be educated through the medium of Welsh but that native English speaker should not educated through the medium of English.

3.     It is very easy for a Welsh Language direct action pressure group to demand what happens to children of different ethnic groups against their parent's wishes.  The conduct is xenophobic prejudice.

4.    New languages are not learnt instantly. They take years to learn and children will always learn more effectively through their most fluent language because of working memory.

5.    Attempting to learn a new language and subject simultaneously will cause cognitive overload. The learning of one or both will be retarded.

This is consistent with the reading fluency levels.

6.   Children with low working memory and dyslexia will find it very difficult to learn a new language to be educated through the medium of it.

7.  The quantity and quality of the language used in children’s home has positive impact on their potential for learning but native English speakers cannot offer that support.

8.   It will take parents years to learn Welsh in adult class, where they learn an artificial Welsh because the Welsh Language is so difficult to learn.

9.   Schooling is always a compromise. Teachers cannot give individual attention to each child. Committed parents support their children's learning, which they cannot do through Welsh.

10.  Whilst there are benefits for children learning new language at very early learning age, but expecting them to learn a new language to be educated though the medium of it very different.

Plenary

       Most children in Welsh medium schools speak English in the schoolyard and at home. The reason why most English-speaking children have retarded Welsh Language development is that the Welsh Language is not all around them in many parts of Wales. It is common knowledge that many Welsh-speaking youth speak slang, and they do not view themselves as native speakers.

      Children in Wales have legal Human Right and the opportunity to reach their full potential. Children cannot learn a new language instantly. They will always learn most effectively in thier most fluent language. They will attain more if they devote the years it takes to successfully learn a new language to develop their native language and schooling. They must surely have the natural Human Right to enjoy the time parents have devoted to investing in their futures and to receive continuing support from them throughout their schooling

Welsh Language Myths  

1.   It is understandable that Welsh speakers are very passionate about the Welsh language. However, the fact that somebody speaks the Welsh language does not make them an expert in learning Welsh or Welsh-medium education.

2.  Professor Sioned Davis, who is retired from Cardiff University School of Welsh, has no legal teaching qualifications. She is a professor of Welsh, not education.

3.  The concept of bilingualism is very complex. Most people's concept of bilingualism is that speakers have equal fluency in each language. This is not the case.

4.   Many people believe that if children learn Welsh, they will retain it for the rest of their lives. This is a myth. Children have a choice of which language to use. The balance between their bilingualism is constantly changing. Around 40% of non-Welsh speakers in Welsh-medium education lose it completely in their everyday

lives.

5.     Welsh-medium schools are selective. This is because children must learn a new language to be educated in it, and if children are struggling to learn through the medium of Welsh at the end of their primary school, they will transfer to English-speaking secondary schools. If English-medium schools could remove their children of lower learning potential, then academic attainment would

increase.

6.   The N.F.E.R. Sutton Trust researcher established that few socially deprived children attend Welsh medium schools.

7.   It cannot be disputed that bilingual brains differ from monolingual speakers' brains. However, the evidence of the cognitive advantages of bilingualism is not proven, even if the claim is valid, there may be other ways of developing the advantage.

8.   English is an irregular language and one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn to read. Welsh is a regular language that is easier to learn to read, which means that if students undertake their G.C.S.E.’s through a curriculum in Welsh, they may be able to reach the standards of English 

9.     The concept of creating a million Welsh speakers is a hollow, meaningless ambition devoid of detail because speaking a language can mean anything. The only country in the world that has resurrected a minority language is Israel, which arose in exceptional circumstances. 

Plenary

       Welsh-medium schools offer more of a grammar school environment than English-medium schools. It is worthwhile for children to learn Welsh in school. It makes them more inclined to successfully learn another language and improves their grammar. Language reflect their environments. They are very fluid, changing. tbc