words that cannot be related to the organic nucleus which the pupil may reasonably be expected to have acquired at that stage. If the social aim, already indicated, in teaching Welsh as a second language is accepted, then the time spent by the English-speaking pupil in trying to master the less familiar groups of words contained in some text-books would have been better spent in acquiring a more complete mastery of habitual vocabulary. A more thorough preparation and a more searching test within a more limited range of vocabulary would serve a more practical purpose. The pupil may know the meaning of many words encountered in books without having his active control of the language appreciably increased thereby, or indeed adding much to his comprehension of Welsh in speech and in writing, since his knowledge of these words would not come to his aid with sufficient frequency. Comprehension of reading involves, of course, a more extended vocabulary than comprehension of speech; but there are limits set to the extent of the former in teaching Welsh to the English child, and these limits are decided mainly by the amount of time which can be spent profitably in acquiring the outer reaches of Vocabulary while making sure of the field within.
The word "vocabulary" has been used frequently in these suggestions, and it may be well to state that it is meant to convey something much more than a mere agglomeration of words whose meaning is known, more or less. It means at least, those word groups, homologues almost, in which ordinary speech abounds, and the idiomatic phrases, almost constant in their force, that are a feature of even the simplest reading matter.[1]
Once a pupil takes to reading outside the range of his class text-book, there will inevitably be a number of words, possibly a large number, whose content he will best appreciate for some time in terms of his first language; and for that reason they will tend to remain isolated words, that is, they will not be easy to associate with groups of words that constitute units of speech or idiomatic phrases in the second language. This fringe of passive words will always exist however far the study is pursued, and need not be feared so long as its magnitude is not overwhelming in relation to that part of the language under active control. Progressive language teaching should always be converting some part of the passive vocabulary into an active possession, and however much this is done there will always be more of it to do, as long as the pupil continues with his reading. It need hardly be said that the provision of reading books for secondary school pupils taking Welsh as a second language is still far short of the need.
(e) Much stress has been laid on the need for an organic development in the acquisition of vocabulary and control of the language, year by year, throughout the time that Welsh is being taught as a second language. There is, therefore, an equal need to stress the
- ↑ E.g. See the vocabularies published in connection with the "Early Stages in Welsh "Broadcasts of the B.B.C.
