This article explores the reasons for the low number of learners studying through the medium of Welsh and bilingually in the Further Education sector, focusing on vocational learners. It suggests recommendations to improve the situation in the context of the Welsh Government’s target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. The research is based on semi- structured interviews with staff in schools and Further Education colleges, and on focus groups with Year 11 pupils, in four areas across Wales. The study found that economic, cultural and educational factors influence learners’ choices. The article proposes a language awareness programme as a means of expanding the discourse of Welsh as an instrument of employability and the discourse of the advantages of bilingualism to encompass social advantages.

A behavioural approach to policy has already been applied to a range of public policy challenges. This article explores and develops the relationship between a behavioural approach to policy and the field of language policy and planning. The Welsh Government’s recent language strategies offer some evidence of an embryonic relationship between the two fields, with the ambitious target of a million Welsh speakers offering policy imperative to the application of behavioural insights in support of revitalization efforts. This article explains that efforts to revitalize the Welsh language have depended on an understanding of behaviour that emphasizes the rational characteristics of behaviour. It is argued that this dependence neglects alternative understandings of behaviour and associated nudge policies.