of languages can facilitate home–school cooperation. If a pupil can explain
to a parent in their home language, the parent can support the pupil in
their schoolwork. Translanguaging involves much more than translation of
words and the reprocessing of content material may lead to deeper under-
standing and learning. Therefore, what the pupil has learned through one
language in school can be expanded and intensified through discussion
with the parent in the other language. This additive element of translan-
guaging was highlighted by a headteacher in a Welsh medium secondary
school where approximately 75% of pupils came from non-Welsh-speaking
backgrounds.
Fydda i’n diolch, ac yn edmygu’r rhieni di-Gymraeg hyn sydd wedi... dangos
ffydd... yn yr addysg Gymraeg. Mae’n gam enfawr i anfon plant trwy system
addysg fedran nhw ddim deall yr iaith, ac yn medru cynorthwyo eu plant. Ac
mae ‘na bryder.. .sut maen nhw’n gallu cefnogi’r plant. Ond y funud rydach
chi’n darbwyllo nhw fod y broses ddysgu ei hunan... o blentyn yn gorfod trosi
o Gymraeg i esbonio i riant yn Saesneg, beth yw natur y dasg... mae hynna yn
broses ddysgu hynod, hynod werthfawr. Pan fo rhieni yn dod i ddeall bod
hynna’n rhan bwysig ac yn gymorth i blant, gan fod nhw’n gwbl ddwyieithog,
ac yn gwbl rugl yn y ddwy iaith, mae’n tynnu’r ofn rhywfaint allan o’r sce-
nario. Ac wrth gwrs rydych chi’n cael pob math o gefnogaeth gan yr ysgol
wedyn, os oes unrhyw bryderon, codwch y ffôn, neu dewch draw i sgwrsio ac yn
y blaen...
[I often thank, and admire the non-Welsh-speaking parents who have...
shown faith.. .in Welsh medium education. It is a huge step to send
children through an education system when they can’t understand the
language and assist their children. And there’s a concern... how they can
support their children. But the minute you convince them that the learn-
ing process itself... of a child having to convert from Welsh to explain
to a parent in English, what the nature of the task is... that’s an
extremely valuable learning process. When parents come to understand
that this process is important and helpful to children, because they are
fully bilingual, and completely fluent in both languages, it takes some of
the fear out of the scenario. And of course you get all kinds of support
from the school then, if there are any concerns, pick up the phone or
come over for a chat and so on.. .]During this study it was found that pupils themselves recognise the advan-
tages of being bilingual, for example, some considered bilingualism to be a
resource for educational purposes. Here is one response from two 10-year-
old pupils (one from a Welsh-speaking home and the other from a mixed-
language home) when asked how using two languages helped them at school:
‘We can read many more books’, ‘And receive much more information
166 Part 4: Bilingual Education