Education and Lifelong Learning Committee
Review of the Welsh Language: S4C Response
1.
Introduction1.1 This paper sets out S4C’s response to the review of the Welsh language being conducted by the National Assembly’s Education
and Lifelong Learning Committee. It seeks to build on the evidence provided during 2001 in response to the parallel review being conducted by the Culture Committee. S4C’s earlier evidence highlighted the contribution that Welsh language television
makes across a broad range of policies that support the language. The powerful role that television can make in support of all sectors of education is one of the most important. S4C believes that through working in partnership television could make an even more
powerful impact in future.
2.
S4C’s Contribution2.1 S4C’s prime responsibility is to discharge as effectively as possible its remit as a public service broadcaster.
This includes the requirement to broadcast a wide range of high quality television programmes which serve to educate, inform and entertain. In discharging this duty S4C is, however, conscious of the very significant contribution that television makes in support
of the National Assembly’s wider policies for promoting and strengthening the Welsh language.2.2
Some of the broader impacts of television on education include:(i) what it means for the
status of the language in general, and for young people’s
perceptions of the language in particular, that Welsh is a prominent and established feature of what is probably the single most powerful medium in people’s every day lives. S4C’s presence on each of the main digital television platforms
holds open the prospect of an expanded service bringing still wider benefits in future.(ii)
S4C’s subtitling service provides an important means of
access into Welsh language and culture for non-Welsh speakers and for those interested in learning the language. Welsh language television will for many people be their main if not only exposure
to the Welsh language. S4C is encouraged by the growing number of non-Welsh speakers that enjoy Welsh language programmes. During a normal week more than 700,000 people in Wales will tune in to at least part of our service. S4C can also be received by some 60,000
individuals outside Wales.(iii)
television also makes an important
economic contribution. Some 85% of S4C’s programme expenditure is spent in Wales and 41% in the Objective 1 areas. A recent report from the Wales Economy Research Unit indicated that S4C is responsible for some 2,000
jobs altogether. A significant proportion of the most highly skilled are in traditional Welsh speaking areas. Welsh language television is one of the best examples of an industry where young people with the requisite skills can pursue their careers through the
medium of Welsh.2.3
However, from the perspective of the Committee’s current review, it is perhaps most useful to focus on the direct impact of television on Welsh language education. S4C programmes currently offer benefits both in relation to children and adults:(i)
our pre-school programmes represent an important resource for non-Welsh speaking parents seeking to introduce their children to the language at home. Programmes for this age group also offer a valuable resource able to support and reinforce the concept of learning
through play in a variety of early years settings(ii)
for the 5-16 age group imaginative and lively Welsh language programmes can complement the efforts of schools and teachers to introduce children to the language. As the ICT infrastructure available in schools develops over the next few years, the development
of interactive applications possibly featuring well known television characters, that can be delivered over broadband networks offers the prospect of a powerful new resource to support teachers. These new interactive tools will have a rôle in support
of the teaching of Welsh and in relation to all other subjects taught through the medium of Welsh.(iii)
we are anxious to build on the success of the
Welsh in a Week
initiative launched during 2001.
Now You’re Talking
and the earlier series that were also developed in conjunction with Acen have already demonstrated the effectiveness of television as
a medium to support adults learning Welsh. What
Welsh in a Week
has underlined is that television also has a part to play in generating an interest in learning in the first instance. S4C aims to build on the success of last year’s initiative during
2002.(iv)
digital television could potentially play a powerful rôle in support of the National Assembly’s wider lifelong learning policies. Our experience with the Wales Digital College does, however, indicate that the contribution of television may
be restricted to those areas where colleges share a common agenda. If the development of high quality learning packages and other curriculum materials is a part of the lifelong learning agenda in Wales, S4C believes that the Digital College model provides a
means of ensuring that such content is made available in Welsh as well as English. What is also clear is that high quality content will only be generated if sufficient funding is allocated for this purpose.2.4
S4C’s programmes offer a valuable learning resource therefore. However, since those programmes can be made available in digital form, we are conscious that they also reflect a valuable source of raw material which could in future be repackaged to provide
new sorts of learning resources. S4C looks forward to working with others to explore these possibilities in future.2.5
In highlighting the valuable contribution that Welsh language television can make in support of learning, particularly where young people are concerned, S4C believes that it is essential to stress that a crucial ingredient in our contribution is that we are
not primarily an educational medium and neither are we perceived as such. S4C’s programmes are not a tool for language teaching. First and foremost, they reflect the fact that television is a creative medium which seeks to entertain (as well as educate
and inform). To the extent that S4C’s programmes do have an educational value, therefore, a large part of that value is that they are entertaining and fun to watch. Whilst there may be greater scope in future to work more closely with the education
system, it is essential that this distinctive aspect of our contribution is not lost. The risk otherwise must be that Welsh language television would be perceived as a worthy, 'Open University’ type service, rather than a vital imaginative medium reflecting
the more contemporary and cutting edge aspects of Welsh culture.
3.
Looking to the Future3.1 Our final comments relate to the contribution S4C belives that education can make in ensuring its continuing success. Television
gives every indication of remaining the powerful medium it has become over the past 50 years. We believe that in conjunction with the BBC and others, S4C has succeeded in ensuring that the power of television extends to broadcasting in Welsh as well as in English.
S4C also believes that for the foreseeable future Welsh language television will have a still more important rôle to play in support of the Welsh language. While traditional Welsh speaking communities remain under threat the ability of the best television
to draw people together, especially when supported by interactive new media, will become more, not less, important. But the challenge of delivering S4C’s core Welsh language service will become greater as broadcasting grows more competitive, with an
ever expanding number of English language channels. Given the necessary investment S4C is confident that it has the right strategy for a multi-channel environment. But our success will in part be dependent on a continuing flow of talent and on the creative strength
of the companies that supply programmes. 3.2
S4C’s further observations in response to the culture Committee’s review are directed specifically at the contribution we believe that the education and training system needs to make in enabling us to respond to the challenge of greater competition
and in order to ensure that there is a sufficient pool of young creative talent from which we can draw. If television is to remain a powerful tool that can support the Welsh language S4C believes:(i)
that the need to allow young people to express and develop their creative skills and talent, in Welsh as well as in English, should be an even more important component of the National Assembly’s education policies. The aim should be to foster the broadest
possible range of creative and cultural pursuits in both languages. These could include extending the opportunities for young people in schools to develop their writing and performing skills; maintaining and, if possible, expanding the opportunities during and
surrounding our national festivals and eisteddfodau; and making greater use of bursaries and other incentives provided by the Arts Council, Lottery Bodies and others;(ii)
that the skills needs of the audio visual and creative industries should be a key priority for post-16 education and training in Wales. These sectors already benefit from considerable amounts of public investment. They are sectors which both act in support of
the language and which provide invaluable employment opportunities for young people with bilingual skills. In order that they may be strengthened still further the National Assembly should build on the work already underway involving ELWa and Skillset Cymru
(the employer body for the audio visual sector) to ensure that this investment is targeted so as to secure the maximum economic impact. (iii)
S4C also believes that the National Assembly’s education policies should place a growing emphasis on developing content and skills in relation to the Welsh language aspects of the new electronic media. This offers the prospect of benefits both to the
language and to the Welsh economy. We have already seen how the addition of new interactive services in support of programmes can enrich the experience of viewers and enhance the ability of television to act in support of the Welsh language. The development
of new broadband services in future are likely to bring still greater benefits. As we have seen in the development of television and before that radio these will, however, be dependent on ensuring that Wales and the Welsh language secure a sustainable means
of developing content for the new media. This in turn requires that early steps are taken to ensure that young people are equipped with the necessary technical and creative skills and that they are given every opportunity to develop this content in Welsh as
well as English. S4CMarch
2002
