Efforts to increase Welsh language use in workplaces need to be strengthened, according to a new report.
The report by Dr Elin Royles from Aberystwyth University lists 13 recommendations on how to improve good practice in the relationship between the economy, the language and the workplace across different sectors.
The study was commissioned by research firm Wavehill as part of an evaluation of the Arfor II programme – a Welsh Government-funded initiative funded which brought together local authorities in Gwynedd, Anglesey, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire to develop plans to promote economic development, and in turn, boost the prospects of the Welsh language.
Although the research focus sought to inform developments in these four western counties of Wales, Dr Royles says that implementing many of the recommendations is most relevant to bodies that lead on the Welsh language and the economy at a national level across Wales.
“We know that various efforts initiatives to support language planning in workplaces in the Basque Country have led to extensive expertise over the past two decades, and we can learn more from what is happening there,” said Dr Royles, who is a Reader in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.
“To date, much of the emphasis has been on how the Welsh language can be an economic advantage for businesses and increasing the opportunities for customers to use the language when dealing with private companies. What this report does is highlight the additional opportunities to develop how we discuss the role of workplaces in language promotion and methods to support using the Welsh language in businesses, cooperatives and social enterprises. Many of the recommendations are also relevant to the public sector.”
Among the recommendations are:
- establishing a plan to share good practice and encourage innovation in terms of language management and promoting language use in workplaces amongst businesses in Wales
- work on establishing best practice in terms of how social and cooperative enterprises can incorporate the Welsh language into their methods of operation. Developing a good practice guide based on the work and a method for assessing their linguistic value.
- reassessing the support and arrangements in place to encourage and guide organisations to develop their use of Welsh as the language of the workplace, internally and externally including at leadership level
- taking steps to increase the status and use of Welsh as a working language in public sector workplaces as a positive step in itself and to influence other sectors to lead on language use.
The research was funded as part of Wavehill’s contract to evaluate the Arfor II programme.
