Page 78 - 《客語及少數族群語言政策》附錄_少數語言法律

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A long-term strategy

Setting a long-term target reflects the fact that activity aimed at increasing the number of
speakers does not happen overnight: language planning is a long-term endeavour. This approach
allows us to consider the bigger picture, and to concentrate on the truly strategic changes which will
make the greatest difference to the language over three decades.

However, while this is a long-term vision, and the number of speakers is something that can only
be measured meaningfully every decade, we have to take action and lay the foundations now.
These actions must reflect the scale of our ambition.

The initial years of this strategy will focus on laying the foundations to facilitate an increase in the number
of Welsh speakers in the longer term.

Our targets

As well as achieving a million Welsh speakers by 2050, we are clear that the success of this strategy
must also be judged in terms of levels of Welsh language use. The overarching targets for this
strategy are
as follows.
• The number of Welsh speakers to reach 1 million by 2050.

• The percentage of the population that speak Welsh daily, and can speak more
than just a few words of Welsh, to increase from
10 per cent (in 2013–15) to 20 per cent by 2050.

The target of a million speakers by 2050 leads inevitably to the question of what defines a
‘speaker’, that is, how competent someone should be before being considered a ‘Welsh speaker’.
Our starting point is the census figures, which are derived from a self-assessment of Welsh language
1
skills. According to the most recent census in 2011, there were 562,000 Welsh speakers in Wales .
A number of factors are likely to influence how individuals assess themselves and other family
members in terms of their language skills (for example their linguistic points of reference or how
they measure their ability against the skills of others they know, or the extent to which their
motivation or aspirations prompt them to value their skills in Welsh). Our aim through this
strategy is to create the conditions whereby everyone in Wales will have access to the Welsh
language, and that every speaker, regardless of their level of ability, will be able to choose to use
their Welsh language skills and receive encouragement
and support to further develop their skills if they so wish, in an inclusive and positive environment.

1 The census asked respondents in Wales if they were able to understand spoken Welsh, speak Welsh, read Welsh or write Welsh (or if
they had no ability in Welsh).

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