These advantages were also mentioned by students during group inter-
views. One PGCE (Secondary) student, interviewed on 22 January 2009,
emphasized the importance of having an opportunity to develop bilingual
skills:
‘Dw i’n dysgu dipyn o fod yn gwneud y peth yn ddwyieithog, a dweud
y gwir. Dw i’n lot cryfach yn fy Nghymraeg na’n Saesneg, felly mae’n
help i fi gael defnyddio ychydig bach o Saesneg hefyd.’
[I’m learning quite a bit from doing the thing bilingually, to be honest.
My Welsh is much stronger than my English, so it helps me to use a little
bit of English as well.]The main weaknesses of the bilingual sessions, noted by students in
every cohort in their answers to the same questionnaire, were as follows:
- repetition, as the lecturer switched from one language to another, which
wasted time and meant that not enough work was completed (Welsh-
medium students: 18%; English-medium students: 41%) - difficulty concentrating (Welsh-medium students: 20%; English-medium
students: 29%) - students remaining apart within their own language groups (Welsh-
medium students: 4%; English-medium students: 9%).
The main concerns of the Welsh-medium students regarded:- an imbalance between the two languages in the sessions, to the detri-
ment of Welsh (35%) - feeling uncomfortable when speaking Welsh in front of non-Welsh speak-
ers (6%) - difficulty making notes and preparing assignments (4%).
The English-medium students’ main concern was:- missing information when comments and questions in Welsh were not
translated by the lecturer (17%).
These issues were raised by students again during subsequent interviews.
Four Welsh-medium students explained that writing notes in Welsh while
the lecturer spoke in English could pose difficulties. Switching language was
described as confusing by three of the non-Welsh speakers, especially if they
had not realised that the lecturer had started speaking English again after a
period of speaking Welsh. This was summarized by one BA (QTS) first year
student, interviewed on 13 March 2008:
192 Part 4: Bilingual Education