New research commissioned for a BBC Wales programme reveals that Wales could be producing a generation of young people who can speak Welsh, but aren’t Welsh speakers.
Presented by David Williams, The Welsh Knot (Sunday 24 October on BBC One Wales) looks as the reality of how and when the language is used by today’s Welsh teenagers.
As more and more parents – especially in predominantly English-speaking areas – decide to send their children to Welsh medium school, the programme asked over a thousand Welsh teenagers aged 14 and 15 about their attitudes towards the language and how much Welsh they use outside the classroom.
The survey spoke to pupils at Welsh medium school in both the few remaining language heartland areas of Wales – defined as an area with over 70% Welsh speakers – and the predominantly English-speaking areas which have seen the rapid growth of Welsh medium schools.
Asked how often they spoke Welsh outside school with friends:
- 24% said that they mostly or always spoke Welsh
- 76% said they used it sometimes or never
- In the heartland areas, 85% said they used it mostly or always
- Just over 10% in the non-heartland areas said they used Welsh mostly or always.
Outside the classroom, the survey explored the impact of Facebook and text messaging:
- Across Wales more than eight out of 10 said they predominantly used English for text messaging
- Nearly nine out of 10 predominantly used English for their Facebook page
- In the non-heartland areas, fewer than one in 10 mainly used Welsh for either
- In heartland areas, the majority of young people used Welsh.
The survey revealed that, overall, those quizzed were positive about the Welsh language and Welsh medium education, with eight out of 10 thinking it was important or very important that their parents had sent them to a Welsh-medium school.
“Overall, there is general recognition of the importance and worth of being educated in Welsh,” says presenter David Williams “But once they move outside the school gates our survey shows that the majority of children educated in Welsh prefer to use English on Facebook, in text messages or just talking to their friends.
“Only in the Welsh heartlands is the reverse true, with pupils there saying that they prefer to use Welsh – but even there, there are those who opt for English. It’s a mixed message, but we’d better listen because what they’re saying may determine the fate of the Welsh language.”
The Welsh Knot also features interviews with pupils, parents and teachers about their experiences and questions the education minister, Leighton Andrews, about the Assembly Government’s policy for a bi-lingual Wales.
The Welsh Knot, Sunday 24 October at 10.25pm on BBC One Wales.
