How the Learn Welsh sector influences pedagogy and language acquisition in other sections in Wales and beyond
Quick links:
- Information about the provider
- How the area and excellent practice/sector-leading practice identified during an inspection relates to a key question, quality indicator and/or a specific aspect
- Context and background to best practice/sector-leading practice
- What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Information about the provider
On 1st August 2016, full responsibility for the Welsh for Adults sector was transferred to the National Centre for Learning Welsh (the Centre). The Centre is an arm’s length body funded by the Welsh Government and housed at the University of Wales Trinity St David.
The Centre restructured Welsh for Adults provision across Wales, establishing 11 Learn Welsh providers. The Centre funds these Learn Welsh providers to provide a Welsh for Adults offer within their communities.
One of Estyn’s recommendations to the Centre following the inspection in 2021 was to share a successful second language teaching and acquisition methodology with other relevant sectors to support the Welsh Government’s aim of reaching a million active Welsh speakers by 2050.
How the area and excellent practice/sector-leading practice identified during an inspection relates to a key question, quality indicator and/or a specific aspect
The Work Welsh scheme, which was established in 2017, has allowed the Centre to engage with a high number of employers and various sectors and this has supported learners to gain easy access to lessons as a key part of their day-to-day work. The scheme has worked with more than 1,000 diverse employers and has now developed sector-specific schemes, which include the following:
- Health and Care
- Palliative and end of life care
- Social care
- Education and Care Workforce and the early years
- Further and higher education workforce
- Local authorities
- Sport
In 2023, a new directorate was created within the Centre’s structure to further support the work of teaching Welsh to the education workforce. In 2023, a study was submitted to the Government presenting a case to extend the Centre’s work to co-ordinate a national programme of learning Welsh to the education workforce for the Welsh Government. This was realised in 2024 with the intention of continuing to extend the role of the Centre in the area in the future.
The Welsh at Home programme has also grown and now includes the Clwb Cwtsh programme in partnership with Mudiad Meithrin, which gives parents and carers access to lessons that give them a taste of the Welsh language. This, in turn, often inspires them to start using the Welsh language with children and to learn Welsh in mainstream lessons. Similarly, a partnership between Mudiad Meithrin and the Centre, called Camau, provides courses for the early years education and childcare workforce. Welsh at Home has also developed a new programme which places tutors in Welsh‑medium schools to offer free Welsh lessons to families who have chosen Welsh education for their children.
Context and background to best practice/sector-leading practice
The Centre also shares its pedagogical and language acquisition knowledge outside Wales and has developed a number of international links. This includes link with Brittany where the Centre has shared resources to create the first self-study course in Breton. It has also shared information about the Work Welsh scheme with policy planners in Quebec and has shared pedagogical practices in the Isle of Man and Ireland. There was also an opportunity in 2024 to share information about the Centre’s work at the conference of the Association of Language Commissioners in Cardiff.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Mainstream lessons are an essential element of the Centre’s work and learners in their communities are at the heart of provision. However, the Centre has evolved provision to reach new, different audiences, tailoring the Welsh learning offer for them. This, in turn, has a positive effect on learners’ standards and, in the case of sectors such as the education workforce, on practitioners’ understanding of pedagogy and successful language acquisition methods.
Over time, the National Centre for Learning Welsh is evolving from being a provider of Welsh language courses and activities for adults only to being a linguistic influencer. It is central to numerous initiatives to normalise the use of the language among learners and reluctant speakers of all ages, in the community and within key sectors.