Welsh-medium students on the BA (QTS), BA Childhood Studies, BSc and
PGCE (Secondary) courses agreed.
In 2008, the majority (81%) of the BA (QTS) students agreed with the
following: ‘I’m happy speaking English in front of a bilingual group’. In 2009,
the majority of students on all courses (82%) agreed with this, with the
exception of the Welsh-medium students on the BA Childhood Studies
course who disagreed (71%). During interviews, one Welsh-medium student
said that he was unhappy about speaking English during the bilingual lec-
tures and another stressed that he sometimes needed to speak Welsh in order
to express himself correctly.
The lecturers used a variety of the following strategies when responding
to students’ questions and comments in Welsh:
- translating immediately into English
- responding in Welsh and then translating into English
- responding in Welsh without translating
- discussing the comment in Welsh and summarizing the discussion in
English - discussing the comment in English.
During interview, one lecturer explained that his strategy on hearing a
question in Welsh was to translate the question into English and then hold
a bilingual discussion, seeking answers from the whole class.
In the case of comments made in English by students, the lecturers
responded in English on the whole, only occasionally translating into Welsh.
Four lecturers made an effort to translate important terms mentioned in
discussions into Welsh, for example ‘self evaluation’ – ‘hunan werthuso’ and
‘parallel play’ – ‘chwarae cyfochrog’.
Student presentations in a bilingual setting
As regards formal student presentations, a variety of arrangements
were seen. On two courses, separate Welsh and English presentation ses-
sions were held and the English-medium students were not expected to be
present for the Welsh presentations. However, when the students were pre-
senting in mixed sessions, it was essential to ensure that the non-Welsh
speakers understood the students who chose to present through the
medium of Welsh.
Two such sessions were observed and the lecturers used two different
strategies to cope with the situation. One lecturer encouraged the students
to present through the medium of Welsh, and he himself translated or sum-
marized the Welsh presentations little by little. In the other session, the
lecturer experimented during the Welsh presentations. He asked the students
who understood Welsh to explain the content of the presentation to the non-
Welsh speakers, that is to provide simultaneous translation. Then the lecturer
188 Part 4: Bilingual Education