Witaj und 2plus - Sorbischer Schulverein e.V.

two-parent households reportedly speaks
Welsh, the rate drops to around 40%. This
percentage varies by location within Wales.
In Gwynedd, in the north-west of Wales, for
example, the rate of transmission for ‹mixed
language› families is at its highest at 55.7%,
while it is as low as 19% in Newport in southeast
Wales 6. It is evident, therefore, that the
low proportion of Welsh language reproduction
in families with one Welsh-speaking
parent, should it continue, seriously threatens
the future of the Welsh language.
Since its formation in 1999, the Welsh
Assembly Government has responded to this
concern by giving priority to the issue of
«family language transfer» in its political
agenda for creating a «Bilingual Wales».
Family language transfer is one of the five
priority targets set out in Iaith Pawb: A National
Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales to
ensure that by 2011: «The percentage of
families where Welsh is the principal language
of conversation/communication between
adults and children at home has increased»
(Welsh Assembly Government 2003: 11).
TWF: A strategic approach
to promoting Welsh
and bilingualism in families
In order to meet its target for increasing the
proportion of adults who speak Welsh with
their children, the Welsh Assembly Government
funds a project called Twf.
Linguiste Composition of houschold
Couples with 2 adults able to speak Welsh
Live with lone parent who speaks Welsh
Couples where 1 adult speaks Welsh
Couples where no adults speak Welsh
5 Source Table S143 2001 Census of Population
6 Welsh Language Board (2003) Transmission of the Language within
the Family: A Statistical Analysis
7 Welsh Assembly Government (2003) laith Pawh fiEverybody’s
Languagefl: A National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales 8 Iath Cyf. Twf Action Plan 2007
Kathryn Jones
(IAITH:Welsh
Centre
for Language
Planning)
TABLE 2: Language transmission rate for children age 3–4, 2001 5
% of children
age 3–4
able to speak
Welsh
82
55
40
8,8
«We see family language transfer as a
key element of our language strategy. So
many parents who are fluent in Welsh do
not pass on the language to their children
... the Welsh Language Board has developed
a successful pioneering project to
stimulate and support Language Transmission
in the Family, now branded as
Twf.» 7
In Welsh Twf means ‹growth› and in English
the name is also used as an acronym for
«Transmission Within Families» or «Taking
Welsh to Families». Following a successful
pilot project in one county in Carmarthenshire,
West Wales during 1989–1999, the project
was publicly launched in March 2002
under the name of Twf and has grown to
employ over 20 field officers located in most
parts of Wales.
Twf has the following two strategic aims:
to bring the message of the advantages
of bilingualism into the mainstream
work of midwives and health
visitors; and
to raise awareness amongst parents,
prospective parents and the public at
large of the advantages of bilingualism8.
(i)
(ii)
■
■ 44 ■ 45
■
% of all
children age
3–4 living
in Wales
5,4
1,6
4,0
6,9