Curo'n Hyderus ar y Drws Tri Enw

Abstract

In the Monmouthshire and District National Eisteddfod, August 2016, a new consultation document was launched outlining the Welsh Government's priorities as it aims to reach the target of doubling the number of Welsh speakers to a million by 2050. In the document, education is listed as one of the key vehicles on the journey, with changing attitudes towards the Welsh language (through 'normalisation') also listed as an important engine. In a previous edition of this journal, Gwyn Lewis expressed his disappointment to find the Welsh language in Successful Futures nothing more than a 'subject in the curriculum – rather than a teaching and learning medium across the curriculum'. Contemplating the goal of a 'million Welsh speakers', this article considers what kind of positive changes could be initiated by adopting a more all-encompassing approach to languages, one that frees language from the constraints of a skill-centered mentality. It revisits Successful Futures, and examines the potential for the Welsh language as a key player beyond the 'Area of Learning and Experience: Languages, Literacy and Communication' described by Donaldson. It finds an opportunity to embrace the nation's bilingualism as an agent that can go a significant way towards attaining the core 'four purposes' of the new curriculum.