and various courses in higher education in general, and should be considered
when discussing bilingual implementation in other areas.
Language balance in the lectures
Five of the lecturers said that they endeavoured to use both languages
equally, but three of them suggested that they did not always succeed. When
the language balance is unequal, English is prioritized. In the words of one
lecturer interviewed on 6 March 2008, ‘Y Gymraeg sy’n dioddef o hyd. [It’s
always Welsh that suffers.]’ In the experience of another lecturer, the lan-
guage balance of his sessions changed during the academic year. Although he
started with the ambitious aim of using both languages equally, by the end
of the year he estimated that he used Welsh for only 20% of the time.
Two lecturers explained that although they present the main points of
the lecture bilingually, Welsh and English are not used equally throughout
the session. Another, interviewed on 7 November 2008, explained that his
sessions could only be described as bilingual ‘to a certain extent’, as he spoke
more English than Welsh during his presentations. However, he used bilin-
gual slides and resources, and arranged opportunities for the students to
interact in their preferred language. Two of his students, interviewed on
13 January 2009, echoed his comment on the situation when they described
the sessions as ‘slightly bilingual’.
In their interviews, the students discussed variation in the language use
of the lecturers. This ranged from the equal use of both languages (according
to 19 Welsh-medium students and 11 English-medium students) to the pri-
oritisation of English over Welsh (three Welsh-medium students and seven
English-medium students). On two courses, the language balance changed
with the result that more English was used during the second semester
(according to eight Welsh-medium students and two English-medium stu-
dents). Two Welsh-medium students on one course were dissatisfied as their
‘bilingual’ lectures were mainly presented through the medium of English, a
situation which was also mentioned by an English-medium student.
Four of the Welsh-medium students praised the strategy of some lectur-
ers of questioning the class bilingually and eight praised the practice of
reserving time to speak Welsh to the Welsh-medium students. Six of the
English-medium students praised the lecturers’ effective method of switch-
ing languages and two praised their efforts to include all students in the
sessions. However, class discussions tended to switch to English, possibly
because English-medium students were in the majority. Four BA (QTS)
students stated that the effectiveness of bilingual provision depended on
the lecturers.
Implications of classroom organization
Classroom organization has implications for the language balance in
bilingual sessions. During interviews, four of the lecturers explained that
classroom organization was decided by the students. Consequently, the
Bilingualism in Higher Education 185