Children used as cannon fodder

L LEANNE WOOD has recently invited her critics to voice their concerns about her. The reason why I have no respect for her and Plaid Cymru is that they have been using the children of Wales as cannon fodder to pursue her and her parties’ political ambitions.

Welsh-medium education was not introduced in Wales so that native speaking English children could learn the Welsh language by attending them.

It was introduced because native Welsh speaking children lacked sufficient English language fluency to be able to effectively learn through the medium of English. There will be around a five-year learning deficiency before native English speaking average children will develop the Welsh language fluency that will enable them to be educated as effectively as the native Welsh speakers (Baker, 2011).

Leanne appears ignorant of the fact that children are not inanimate objects that learning can be poured into.

Children are human beings. The learning potential of children is not equal and learners will not learn a new language instantly. She appears ignorant of the fact that children are struggling to develop native English language fluency throughout the United Kingdom.

Research illustrates it takes around 10,000 hours of practice to develop native like language fluency. The dream of creating a million Welsh speakers by 2050 appears to amount to little more than a political marketing soundbite.

Wales is more than a language, it is a people. Children only have one education. Their education is too important to be left to political rhetoric, hope, optimism and guesswork. Howard Gunn Tonteg