The word "bilingual" has varying meanings. In Wales it has almost come to mean a person who speaks Welsh, since it is usually taken for granted that he can speak English as well. "Bilingual areas" and "bilingual" schools are defined as areas or schools where the majority of the children speak Welsh as well as English. Consequently, the "bilingual" problem in Wales, as elsewhere, is the problem of reconciling the claims of a more powerful with a less powerful language. The claims of the former are obvious: it is the language of a neighbour to whom Wales is joined by economic, geographical, political and cultural ties; it is the language of business and commerce used in a great part of the world by ever-increasing numbers, and it is the language of one of the world's greatest literatures. The claims of Welsh call for a different emphasis, but are not less impressive; it is the native language of Wales; it is still the mother tongue of about two-fiths of the population of Wales; it is a language with a tradition and a literature that have been maintained for well over a thousand years.
A The Position of Welsh in the Secondary Schools of Wales
A representative selection of statistics illustrating the present position of Welsh in the secondary schools of Wales and other facts have been considered and some general conclusions emerge from a study of the language position within the schools:—
(a) The secondary grammar schools of Wales as a whole have no general policy of even the broadest kind, within the terms of which it would be possible to define the place and function of the Welsh language in the school. In this respect secondary education in Wales is probably unique.
(b) Of the 52,412 pupils in the secondary grammar schools in April, 1946, 21,515 (a little over 40 per cent.) took Welsh as a subject. Of the languages other than English studied in the Sixth Form, French, German and Latin, in that order, take precedence over Welsh. Of the 8,198 pupils who sat for the School Certificate of the Central Welsh Board in 1946, 34 per cent. took Welsh.
(c) In April, 1946, at only 10 schools out of 151 was Welsh taken by all pupils up to the School Certificate stage. In the remainder the position varied. At some schools no Welsh is studied by any pupils. At others a variety of alternatives to Welsh (either from entry, or from the second or third year) makes it impossible for a pupil to take Welsh up to the School Certificate except at the cost of dropping some subject (usually French) in which he may be interested, or knowledge of which may be necessary to his subsequent career. The fact that this policy is a feature of the organisation of many schools in the Welsh-speaking areas merely makes a bad situation worse. first condition of a healthy language policy in the Secondary school is that any pupil who so desires should be able to take Welsh up to any stage in the curriculum, unhampered by any complication of organisa-
