"The language issue" has long figured prominently in the politics
of Wales. The issue is
conventionally conceived in terms of the assertion of Welsh usage "against"
English usage. Use of the Welsh language has become one of the hallmarks of
Welsh nationalism, of the assertion of a Welsh, Celtic cultural identity to
contrast with the conventions of an Anglo-Saxon "English" culture. It is true that the history of Wales has been scarred by the oppression of the Welsh language, and
of Welsh speakers, by dominant English speakers. Similar linguistic polarities
have scarred other European societies, in Belgium, Brittany, and the Basque
provinces. Against that background,
it is understandable
that those opposing rule from London should have rallied around the
traditional language of Wales. It is no accident that one of the most
radical Welsh political groups should have been called Cymdeithas Yr Iaith,
or The Welsh Language Society.
A future language policy for Wales
should, however, be conceived in much broader terms: it should not be
constrained by the narrow conflicts of Welsh and English speakers. Indeed, there is a
parallel need for a UK-wide language policy to govern the use of multiple languages by the
modern State and its
agencies. As a modern multicultural society, the need is to adapt to the
requirements of multilingualism, and move away from the conventions of a
monoglot, or even bi-lingual, society. In a modern society like Wales, the need
is for a new systematic treatment of the overall
process of communication by language.
Language policy has two quite
distinct dimensions, namely the personal and the communal.
I PERSONAL
The first principle, already formulated at
UK law for the purposes of criminal court proceedings, is that any person, when
faced with the prospect of condemnation and punishment, is entitled to be heard
and to make his defence in his mother tongue.
It is for the Court, as part of the conduct of a fair trial, to ensure that
satisfactory translation/interpretation facilities are available for that
purpose.
That principle should be
developed, as the primary arm of any language policy, for it
constitutes a universal human right, going far beyond rules regulating the use
of Welsh or similar traditional languages. It applies with equal force to the
foreign visitor accused of shoplifting in London's Oxford Street. Wherever any
person is engaged with the modern State, for the purpose of either securing a
benefit or avoiding a penalty, the mother-tongue principle should be assiduously
upheld.
This "mother-tongue" principle
is already well established, as a matter of Common Law and Court practice. It
should be explicitly extended, however, to all situations in which the individual
either faces potential adverse
consequences (e.g. including Customs or immigration investigations) or
stands to gain or lose a valuable public benefit, according to the outcome of the
proceedings.
II COMMUNAL
The second group of principles is communal, or collective,
in character. For each society, the functional need is for a
three-way classification of languages, as deployed by the State
within the
boundaries of its territory.
- First: Every State needs, as a
prerequisite of a settled civic order, an official language.
This is the official language of State, the language of official
pronouncements, the language of statutory legislation, the language of
official public announcements and orders, of the creation of new obligations
and punishments and benefits. Experience suggests that there should
preferably be a single official language. Where states have two or more
official languages (Ireland, Canada) it is easy for differences of
interpretation to generate unnecessary complication, if not conflict. Under the Government
of Wales Act, it was initially intended to constitute both
English and Welsh as having joint official language status, but that
plan was abandoned at an early stage.
- Second: Social convention and history
may support the identification of a traditional
language, a language of culture, learning and social intercourse,
which may be habitually spoken by a large number of citizens but which is not
the official language. Welsh
is a good example of such a traditional language, as is Gaelic in Ireland, and
Breton in Brittany. In this respect, a single State may accommodate
within its borders a range of different languages, at
provincial or regional level and it should be possible to accommodate such
differentiation within a provincial frame (Catalan in Catalunya, Breton in Brittany, Cornish in
Cornwall).
- Third: All societies must now, given
the increased ethic and cultural diversity within each society, deploy a range of communal
languages, being languages other than the indigenous traditional
language, but which are spoken by significant numbers of migrants within their own communities, and
which may still be the mother-tongue of newly-arrived migrants or elderly residents
who have never been able to learn English satisfactorily.
Each State should spell out, by law, the scope of these different categories
of language, and their administrative and political implications. In the
UK, the need is for primary legislation, preferably without imitation to Wales. This essay sets out the principles upon which such
legislation should be prepared.Official Language
The UK should designate a single official language, binding upon all its
territories. All official
statements and requirements, instructions given, benefits conferred should as a
matter of constitutional law be required to be stated in the official language,
and clearly expressed. This principle has been developed as a matter of Common Law,
and is embodied in the principles of construction ("interpretation")
applied by the Courts in deciding the meaning of statutes and statutory
instruments (i.e. primary and secondary legislation).
And in this sense, whether with express statutory provision or not, the
official language of Wales is English.
This principle extends to public requirements issued under legislation, made
by any arm of government, national, provincial or local: in a highly mobile
society, the most common of these takes the form of highway signage, but the
principle also applies to the conduct of all legal proceedings, both criminal
and civil. A further vital feature of contemporary society is the
informational leaflet, particularly in the welfare sector, and this may shade
into binding or procedural or advisory administrative directives, affecting a
citizen's position. All such "official" statements should be made in the
official Language. The same should hold true of official public records
of public proceedings, including parliamentary and Civil Service records; where
any statement was made, in such proceedings, in any language other than the
Official Language, the record should always carry an official translation.
And in all cases, the official language alone should generate legal effect.
Traditional Language
For most parts of
the UK, there is no language capable of contending for designation as a
traditional language, other than English itself. But in Wales, the Welsh
language is the traditional language, occupying a very distinctive position,
historically, culturally and politically. This status has already been
recognised by the Welsh language legislation, the provision of S4C television,
and the work of the Welsh Language Board. Indeed, in some respects, this
legislation has already conferred on the Welsh language greater currency than a
traditional language should necessarily, as a matter of general principle,
enjoy.
But the concept of a traditional
language should be developed further, by way of new statutory entitlement.
- Place names should be designated in either the official
or the traditional language, but no other. Every place should
be accorded one name and one name only, whichever the language of choice. The choice of
language should be a matter for decision by the most relevant local authority:
Cardiff City Council should decide on the naming of Cardiff (either Cardiff
or Caerdydd, but not both). For Dinas Powis, the relevant
Authority would be the Dinas Powis Community Council.
- Public facilities could, at the
discretion of the relevant authority, also be designated in either language - cemetery or mynwent,
school or ysgol, church or eglwys, museum or amgueddfa.
- Public Documents: In the case of specific public documents (whether bearing coercive
force or merely advisory) the State should always, if properly requested
by a citizen to do so, make them available in the traditional language, as
well as the official language. There should be no requirement that all
public documentation should be made available in the traditional language
(unless of course the mother-tongue principle were engaged). And the State should
have the residual power to determine a request to be vexatious or otherwise
without proper foundation.
- Active support should be given by the State for the cultivation of the
traditional language, both within the educational system and otherwise. In
Wales, education authorities should make many more facilities available for
residents seeking to learn Welsh.
The relevant authority should always retain a jurisdiction to avoid
dual-language deployment where other overriding considerations apply.
For example, it is a dangerous and destructive feature of Welsh highway
signage that operational instructions are conveyed in both English and Welsh,
thus running the risk of confused perceptions in an environment where highway
safety should be the prime concern.Communal Languages
The status of communal languages
will increase in importance, as the incidence of international migration
increases, and new ethnic and cultural groupings become established within the
territory of each State. Procedures should be put in place for the
official designation of a language,
within any territorial unit of governance,
as a communal language.
For those speaking minority foreign languages,
the two most important factors are bound to be (a) learning the official
language, and (b) benefitting from the mother-tongue principle. But if a
community became firmly established within any locality (which is the
common experience of migrating groups) their settlement should be
recognised in other ways. For example, cultural grant facilities should
be accessible for the cultivation of communal languages and cultures, and
individuals should have the right to call for public advisory documentation to
be made available in the communal language (e.g. as many educational
authorities provide foreign-language translations of material relevant to
children's education).
The Welsh
Assembly is well suited to the development of a new statutory
framework, pointing the way ahead, internationally, for this dimension of UK
public life. Within the UK, it is only in Wales that the
relevance of
these issues is widely perceived and
understood. There should be no
question of any
crude stand-off between the protagonists of English and the
devotees of Welsh. The issue is a much more
profound one, going to the
dignity and human rights of
each individual within modern society.
Wales should take the
international lead,
with the promotion of
a new UK Language Act, embodying the
above principles.
A Language Policy for Wales
Response to Roger Warren Evans by Fabian Chris Castle
Cji-castle@cymru.new.labour.org.uk
RWE has offered us a reasonable attempt to reconcile
Welsh people’s commonly-held assumptions, misapprehensions,
prejudices and ignorance with his obvious goodwill towards non-English languages.
However, assumptions misapprehensions, prejudices and ignorance are features of his essay.
I will argue that these negative attitudes lead to a confusion of language and ethnicity.
A confusion, which is the most disgraceful aspect of the
“language issue”.
However, I wish to begin with two more obvious examples of
linguistic prejudice.
(1) In an otherwise liberal-minded article on languages and their
value (You are what you speak New Scientist 30 November 02) a subtle
“pro-English” linguistic chauvinism became evident. The
linguist Slobin has done research into the way that a
group of languages (including English) have “colourful” verbs
which express movement in terms that are “dynamic, full of energy”.
Other languages (including Romance languages) are described has having “prosaic verbs” and “lacking colourful verbs”. All these terms are value laden. Would it not be better to consider why English/Russian etc are so “subjective” in comparisons with “objective” Romance languages? Are French/Spanish etc really “lacking”?
In this context I ask readers to note RWE’s use of the words
“devotee”, “protagonists”, “unnecessary complication”,
and “[the] dangerous and destructive [bilingual] highway signage.”
(2) My second example is Paul Starling’s Welsh Mirror.
Readers of Planet magazine will be aware of Patrick
McGuiness’s close readings of the Daily Mirror’s Welsh edition.
Patrick has shown that by carefully selective translation and
omission the Mirror is conflating all Welsh Language activists
and Welsh speakers with the most violent forms of nationalism,
xenophobia, and nazi-ism. The Mirror is careful to
separate “decent Welsh-speakers” from this, but in
Mirror terms these can only be those who are prepared to stay
silent in the face of linguistic bigotry from any English
speakers with negative attitudes towards Welsh. The true
horror is that Labour HQ at Transport House Cardiff,
and some Labour representatives, are implicated in this
black propaganda.
Dimensions of Language Policy, as proposed by RWE, which
need to be reconsidered
“Personal rights”
The “mother-tongue principle” could lead to unintentional
but institutional racism.
“Mother tongue” denotes
ones language of ethnic origin. Many Sikhs may have
Punjabi as their mother-tongue, yet English may be their
language of choice, they may be more comfortable speaking
English away from the home. Using their mother-tongue in
dealings with the State, however, may be an important way for
them to express their ethnic identity. A right to use Punjabi
in relations with the State, if it is provided for one group,
must be available for all who speak Punjabi – including Sikh
converts who may be non-Aryan. Punjabi in this case becomes a
communal language, not an ethnic language. A close reading of
RWE’s essay will reveal that “ethnic language” is a better
description what he outlines.
English is my mother tongue, but Welsh is my chosen communal
language in dealings with the State (form filling, advice
lines etc). This, for me, is an important signifier that I
have reinstated the “Cymreictod” (Welshness) of my father’s
family who were bullied and cajoled into raising their
children as monoglot English speakers.
Welsh is likely to be my language of choice in Court if I ever
feel it necessary to engage in civil disobedience.
Speaking Welsh is a major component of my sense of identity but
the language does not define my ethnicity in any way shape or form.
I have argued long and hard in the welsh language media
against arguments for "Cymreictod Ethnig" (Ethnic Welshness).
“Communal/Collective rights” >
Whilst RWE’s assertion, that two official and
equal
languages can cause problems in interpretation of legal
documents, is correct, that is not sufficient to argue against
making Welsh an Official Language. I fail to see any logical
reason or even argument against the creation of a subordinate
Official Languagestatus for Welsh.
English then would become theprimary Official Language,
and it alone would generate legal effect. I also see no
reason why other languages with a British or any other
origin could not one day become subordinate Official
Languages within British towns, counties or regions.
Turning to road safety, if problems exist due to linguistic
problems with road signs, we need to seriously consider
confiscating the cars and lorries of non-English-speaking
drivers the second they reach Dover. I accept that there is a
problem with the design of bilingual road signage – the
confusion is usually caused by alternating monoglot English
and Welsh signage, or by changing the relative position of
the two languages, sometimes with Welsh on top, sometimes English.
But the only way to “promote” Welsh is to make it visible, and
accepted as normal. Bilingual road signs and official documents
are amongst the best ways to do this. RWE’s idea of a
“traditional language” seems designed to make Welsh
disappear from any areas that are not ethnically Welsh-speaking
i.e. where the majority are Welsh-speakers born and bred.
More Welsh Assembly work must first be carried out in Welsh.
More work must be done to assimilate non-Welsh speakers into
their naturally Welsh-speaking communities. Most importantly, we
must tackle the economic and social problems which are
“linguistically cleansing” the traditional heartlands of the
Welsh language. These processes exist in many parts of Britain.
Language difference however makes the effect more obvious in
Welsh-speaking areas.
As a party, Labour must take a long, hard look at the provision of
Social Housing. We must find ways of funding real council housing
and consider modifying the right to buy. We must be prepared
to acknowledge that in some cases property rights militate
against the welfare of stable communities.
Language shift in Wales is an indicator of social
processes which Labour is failing even to acknowledge - let alone
deal with. We are not, at present, protecting working-class
young people throughout Britain - from Cornwall to Bournmouth
to Oxford to Abersoch - anywhere, in fact, where the right
to buy a pretty view, an executive development or a
luxury apartment is more important than the
welfare of a community.
Chris Castle
CAERDYDD/CARDIFF
Cji-castle@cymru.new.labour.org.uk
End