Witaj und 2plus - Sorbischer Schulverein e.V.

In its first three years (2001–2004) as a national
project, Twf focussed upon antenatal –
nursery age children (0–4 years). Since 2005,
it has re-focussed its target audience to concentrate
on antenatal and very young babies,
typically up to 6 months of age.
The Twf Message
Twf’s key message to Welsh speakers is:
«Cymraeg o’r Crud» fiWelsh from the cradlefl.
With Welsh-speaking parents, the emphasis
is to encourage them to speak Welsh
to their new baby. For ‹mixed language families›
and non Welsh-speaking parents the
message is «2 languages from day 1». Here
the emphasis is to encourage mixed language
families to use both Welsh and English with
their newborns and to encourage non-Welsh
speaking households to think about helping
their children become bilingual right from
the start.
Twf draws upon current research to explain to
professionals and families the advantages of
a child learning Welsh and becoming bilingual
and multilingual. The message focuses
on 6 key themes:
(i)
Twf emphasises the cognitive benefits
of becoming bilingual and refers
to international research which shows
that bilingual children may be
able to think with more flexibility
and versatility, be more sensitive to
the needs of listeners, be ahead on
intelligence (IQ) tests and have a
head start when learning to read. In
its work with the parents of very
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
young babies, Twf refers to research
on language and brain development
to illustrate how speaking two or
more languages with a baby from the
day it is born can contribute to maximising
the developing brain’s inherent
flexibility for learning.
Twf also refers to the increased curriculum
achievement of bilingual or
multilingual children. References
are made to research evidence from
Welsh, Canadian, United States,
Basque and Catalan bilingual education
which reveals that children who
operate in two languages in the curriculum
tend to show better performance
in tests and examinations.
It is also claimed that being bilingual
makes it easier to learn a third
language. This claim draws upon
the growing European research tradition
(namely research in The Netherlands,
Denmark, Finland) which
shows that bilinguals tend to be
more attuned to languages and more
linguistically prepared to learn a
third language.
With regard to economic and employment
benefits, Twf refers to the
potential economic advantages of
being bilingual which are continually
increasing in Wales:
«A person with two languages will
probably have a wider portfolio of
jobs available in the future. Bilinguals
are increasingly needed in the
retail sector, tourism, transport, public
relations, banking and accoun-