Sector report: Welsh for adults 2021-2022

Learners

Provision

Nearly all provision continued online during 2021-2022. As well as Learn Welsh provision, most Work Welsh programmes to increase Welsh language skills in the workplace restarted this year. Following a rapid review of provision,  https://gov.wales/rapid-review-national-centre-learning-welsh-html (August 2021), provision will extend to provide 16 to 25-year-olds with free access to Welsh for adults courses.

Inspections

3 core inspections undertaken during 2021-2022.

In WfA we give summative judgements – see outcomes below.

Nearly all lessons in the providers inspected were held online and all inspections were carried our virtually.

Case studies

Learn Welsh North West

Using research to underpin teaching and learning strategies: Research that underpins teaching and learning strategies | Estyn (gov.wales)

Implementing formal and informal learning methods that enable learners to integrate into the Welsh language community: Formal and informal learning approaches that enable learners to assimilate into the Welsh-speaking community | Estyn (gov.wales)

Learn Welsh Ceredigion Powys

Working purposefully with other organisations to provide Welsh language training for the education workforce. Inspection report Dysgu Cymraeg Ceredigion – Powys – Sir Gar 2022 (gov.wales)

Inspection reports

Learn Welsh North West (November 2021)

Inspection report Learn Welsh North West 2022 (gov.wales)

Learn Welsh Carmarthenshire (February 2022)

Inspection report Dysgu Cymraeg Sir Gâr 2022 (gov.wales)

Learn Welsh Ceredigion – Powys – Carmarthenshire

Learn Welsh Ceredigion – Powys – Carmarthenshire

Learn Welsh Statistics 2020-2021

Follow-up

There is no follow-up in the sector. Progress against all recommendations to individual providers is discussed with the National Centre for Learning Welsh and considered as part of their inspection. We last inspected the Centre in January 2021 and will inspect it again in 2024.

Learning

Many learners made effective progress in acquiring and improving their Welsh language skills, particularly their speaking skills. In a few cases, however, learners were reluctant to engage with the online provision or had difficulty doing so because of connectivity issues. This resource provides self-reflection questions to support Welsh for adults providers to improve learners’ speaking skills.

A notable strength of the sector is how it successfully encourages many learners to use their language skills outside the classroom and integrate positively within Welsh-speaking communities and networks. In the best examples, learners took responsibility for proactively arranging activities to practise their Welsh.

Well-being and attitudes to learning

Many learners stated that the fact that learning continued online throughout the pandemic was beneficial to their mental health and well-being. This allowed them to acquire new skills and interact with others when many aspects of their usual lives were no longer available to them.

Providers succeeded in creating close-knit, caring communities of learners, with nearly all learners undertaking their learning online during 2021-2022. Nearly all learners clearly enjoyed their lessons and learners from all over Wales, the UK and across the world interacted beneficially with each other in distance learning that broadened their horizons. They discussed matters about their own countries and lives while practising and improving their Welsh language skills.

Teaching and learning experiences

Teaching was highly effective in two providers inspected and ensured that learners made strong progress. Where teaching was most effective, tutors challenged learners effectively through using a wide range of techniques to extend their language skills, particularly their ability to hold extended conversations appropriate to their level. Generally, most tutors adapted their teaching approaches well to online learning. A few tutors across providers, particularly at the formative lower course levels, did not take sufficiently purposeful steps to correct recurring errors and inaccurate pronunciation. In these cases, tutors did not ensure that learners used new vocabulary and language patterns with increasing accuracy and confidence. In a very few instances, tutors did not challenge learners well enough and, as a result, learners did not extend their answers, which in turn limited their progress.

Many tutors enriched learners’ knowledge of Welsh history and culture during lessons, providing valuable context for their learning. They also encouraged learners successfully to use their Welsh language skills outside of the classroom.

During the year not all providers returned to offering some level of face-to-face learning for learners who were unable, often due to poor connectivity, or unwilling to continue their courses online.

Care, support and guidance

The standard of care, support and guidance was an area of strength and was good or better in all providers inspected. Tutors created a supportive, positive, and motivating environment where nearly everyone felt safe and contributed to lessons without fear of making mistakes. Providers offer effective support and guidance to learners before and after enrolment, including appropriate provision for learners with additional learning needs. They operated established and effective arrangements to seek learners’ views and act upon them beneficially.

Leadership

Leaders in all providers had a clear vision and aims that aligned well with those of the National Centre for Learning Welsh and Welsh Government policy to increase the numbers of active Welsh speakers. Providers played a vital role in influencing the increasing use of the Welsh language within their host institutions and assisting them to strategically plan to achieve this. Two of the providers implemented innovative strategies to improve and extend provision for learners. For example, they used research to underpin teaching and learning strategies, implemented formal and informal learning methods that enabled learners to integrate into the Welsh language community and worked purposefully with other organisations to provide Welsh language training for the education workforce. This work links well with the new wider remit for the National Centre to collaborate with local authorities and regional consortia to support the teaching of Welsh in English-medium schools and provide a language learning pathway from school to post-compulsory education.

Providers offered valuable continuous professional development to their tutors, either themselves or through training provided by the National Centre for Learning Welsh. For example, beneficial training was provided to improve tutors’ ability to teach online. This professional learning had a positive impact on the standards of teaching and learning.

In some instances, providers had overlapping responsibility for the same geographical area. However, national data systems did not allow providers to track the progress of learners who moved between providers. This prevented providers from making effective use of data to validate the standards and progress of learners who move between them.

Overall, providers evaluated their work honestly and effectively. However, in one provider self-evaluation did not identify strengths and areas for improvement in teaching and learning well enough. This affected the effectiveness of the teaching and the standards that learners attained.