Considering ‘heritage language education’ can be helpful when considering the Welsh context. According to Baker and Wright (2021, p.237), this is a term that refers to a wide range of programmes that aim to provide an opportunity for learners to develop a higher level of proficiency in a minority language. ‘Heritage language education’ focuses on protecting and reviving minority languages, and it tends to target those who already speak that language. Redknapp (2006) and Lewis (2006, 2011) note that Welsh-medium schools often teach learners from Welsh and non‑Welsh-speaking homes in the same class. This means that ‘immersion education’ and ‘heritage language education’ principles are often combined in classrooms in Wales. That is, immersion education in Wales is usually a combination of what has been recognised internationally as ‘immersion education’ and ‘heritage language education.’
The Welsh Government (2021a) published research on ‘Welsh-medium education through late immersion: mapping the provision in Wales’ in October 2021. It provides useful background information about immersion approaches for latecomers in 10 local authorities in Wales.
Outside academic circles, the terminology that is used to describe ‘immersion education’ varies. In our report on Welsh language acquisition, we describe Welsh language immersion as follows:
‘The immersion method is a way of working that focuses on using Welsh as the only medium of teaching and learning, by using practical and visual techniques to support learners to develop vocabulary and syntax' (Estyn, 2021, p.63)
The Welsh Government describes Welsh language immersion by explaining:
‘Schools providing Welsh-medium education use Welsh to deliver the curriculum. Learners in these schools come from a variety of linguistic backgrounds, some from homes where Welsh is spoken and others where Welsh is not spoken. Learners receiving their education through the medium of Welsh and who do not speak Welsh at home undergo a process of language immersion (the target language in this case is Welsh). All learners in Welsh-medium education are taught in the same classroom, whether or not they speak Welsh at home.
Examples of schools practising immersion can be found all over the world. The Canadian model for implementing immersion is widely documented. It shows that learners need to be taught fully through the target language for two to three years to ensure that language competence is developed sufficiently. Another language is then introduced.
This is the model we use in Wales. It means that learners are taught fully in Welsh up to and including the school year in which the majority of learners turn 7. After that, we introduce English as a subject, and to varying degrees as a medium of instruction. Welsh remains the predominant language of the classroom.’ (Welsh Government, 2021b, p.5)
The Welsh Government recognises two main categories of immersion education that we will use for the remainder of this report:
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The Welsh Government uses the term ‘early immersion education’ to refer to immersion education in the foundation phase (Welsh Government, 2021a, p.6). This includes learners’ experiences in Welsh-medium non-maintained settings and schools. According to its definition of schools in the Welsh-medium category, learners are taught fully in Welsh until the end of the foundation phase in these providers. We will use the term ‘early immersion’ for the remainder of this report.
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The Welsh Government uses the term ‘late immersion education’ to refer to immersion education that targets ‘latecomers’ (or ‘newcomers’) to Welsh-medium education (although it recognises that academics use additional terms, such as ‘mid immersion’) (Welsh Government, 2021a, p.3-4). It defines ‘latecomers’ as ‘children (aged 7 years or over) who do not speak Welsh but wish to access Welsh medium education after the end of the foundation phase. We will use the term ‘late immersion’ for the remainder of this report.
This report considers ‘early immersion’ in Welsh-medium non-maintained settings and schools, and in Welsh streams in bilingual schools. When considering ‘late immersion’, this report outlines provision that is available to support 7 to 11-year-old learners. Such support can be provided in primary schools, language immersion centres, or as part of a transition programme with Welsh-medium secondary schools. Local authorities use several different terms to refer to these centres, including ‘language immersion centres’, ‘Welsh language units’ and ‘Welsh immersion centres’. In this report, the term ‘language immersion centres’ is used, unless we are referring to a particular provider. Some local authorities provide late immersion support in key stage 3. However, we did not visit secondary schools as part of this thematic review.
Of the 22 local authorities in Wales, 10 maintain language immersion centres to provide an intensive ‘late immersion’ programme to latecomers. In the 10 authorities that maintain language immersion centres, there are a total of 21 centres. Many of these centres tend to be in the local authorities with a high proportion of Welsh speakers and, in some of these authorities, Welsh-medium and bilingual education is more common than English-medium education. They are often located in ‘host’ schools but they part of the local authority education service’s provision. See appendix 1 for a list of the language immersion centres in Wales in the autumn term, 2021. Welsh Government recently announced that it would fund language immersion centres in a number of local authorities that do not currently have provision (Welsh Government, 2021c).
Figure 1: Location of language immersion centres in Wales
