A new report published by Dr Elin Royles from Aberystwyth University discusses the use of Welsh in the workplace and what steps could be taken in order to increase use of the language in the world of work. The aim of the report is to discuss best practice when considering the connections that exist between the economy, the language and the workplace. The report was commissioned by the company Wavehill, as part of their work on the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning workstream for the ARFOR II programme.
In a statement Elin Royles said that there was value in looking at the example of the Basque Country in order to better understand the role that workplaces play in promoting language use and encouraging changes in behaviour:
“We know that various efforts initiatives to support language planning in workplaces in the Basque Country have led to extensive expertise over the past two decades, and we can learn more from what is happening there,”
“To date, much of the emphasis has been on how the Welsh language can be an economic advantage for businesses and increasing the opportunities for customers to use the language when dealing with private companies. What this report does is highlight the additional opportunities to develop how we discuss the role of workplaces in language promotion and methods to support using the Welsh language in businesses, cooperatives and social enterprises. Many of the recommendations are also relevant to the public sector.”
The report makes 13 recommendations in total. They are listed here as they appear in the report:
Recommendation 1: Given the discussions in the business studies literature and in the Basque Country relevant to considering minority language use in businesses and social enterprises (Section 2) there is scope to develop the discussion of the reasons for the use of Welsh in these sectors. Two specific elements to be further developed are the discussion of social responsibility as a reason to give attention to the use of Welsh in workplaces and increasing recognition of the significance of workplaces for language planning, in particular internal language use in workplaces.
Recommendation 2: Consideration should be given to whether an initiative can be developed to share good practice and thus encourage positive action in language management in Wales.
Recommendation 3: As part of considering the development of an initiative to promote good practice in language management, it would be useful to evaluate potential models, in particular considering the arguments on following a similar model to the Basque Country where efforts to promote good practice in language management are embedded in the work of an organisation aimed at promoting advanced management practices, rather than a language promotion organisation.
Recommendation 4: Based on the good practice of ‘Leading in a Bilingual Country’, there is scope to develop culture change training that addresses the psychological issues of leaders’ attitudes to Welsh for the business sector and social enterprises.
Recommendation 5: Given the Basque Country’s tendency to address the development of linguistic leadership at different levels, there should be an assessment of whether there is also a need to support the development of leadership capacity within Welsh-language bodies in Wales more broadly.
Recommendation 6: It would be useful to further share the different types of interventions to change language practices with different sectors.
Recommendation 7: Further understanding should be developed of how social, co-operative and community enterprises incorporate Welsh within their principles and operations. A similar project is currently underway in the Basque Country.
Recommendation 8: Based on the work associated with recommendation 7, good practice guidance should be developed for social and co-operative enterprises on how to incorporate Welsh into their work, drawing on examples such as Partneriaeth Ogwen.
Recommendation 9: The call for a tool for social enterprises to assess their linguistic value should be responded to. This would enable going beyond anecdotal information on the contribution of social enterprises to the vitality of Welsh and allow this to be measured.
Recommendation 10: Given the degree of linguistic activity in cooperatives in the Basque Country, there is scope to identify ways of sharing lessons between different initiatives in the Basque Country with similar initiatives in Wales.
Recommendation 11: There is scope to further explore the contribution of different frameworks in supporting businesses and social enterprises to incorporate linguistic considerations within their work in Wales, including considering the value of the linguistic corporate responsibility model in this context.
Recommendation 12: Alongside developing the discussion of the reasons for using Welsh in the private sector and in social enterprises (Recommendation 1), there is scope to assess the support to encourage and enable organisations to develop their use of Welsh as the language of the workplace. The method of including language clauses in agreements could also be expanded and developed. There is also scope to consider the role of legal duties to develop the use of the language in these sectors.
Recommendation 13: Alongside this, steps should be taken to increase the status and use of Welsh as a working language in public sector workplaces as a positive step in itself and as a step to influence other sectors to lead on language use. This is particularly relevant in the Arfor area.
Recently Dr Elin Royles wrote a guest blog for Arsyllfa about her experience of visiting the Basque Country as part of the ARFOR work programme, you can read about her impressions of the trip here.
To read the paper in full, follow this link to Aberystwyth University’s website.
