A blueprint for the future of the Welsh language has been unveiled.

The Welsh Assembly Government's action plan - "Iaith Pawb : Everyone's Language" - was published on Wednesday, but attracted criticism from Welsh language campaigners.

Ron Davies leant Welsh

When census results were calculated 11 years ago, more than 500,000 people spoke Welsh - but half lived in just four counties in the north and the west, and the other half were spread across Wales.

The new vision for the language aims to reverse the decline, with assembly money for new "language action areas", and bilingualism being promoted across Wales through government policy.

But pro-language campaigners were quick to criticise the plans.

"There is a refusal to realise the need for a new Welsh Language Act that would extend to the private sector and give Welsh speakers the right to use the language in relation to their private business," said Huw Lewis, chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

Assembly Culture Minister, Jenny Randerson, said : "Even if you do not speak Welsh as a first language, it is a tradition, an inheritance that helps you enjoy your culture."

The Welsh Assembly Government was responsible for drawing up the policy document.

It was based on a review with four main objectives:

• Ensuring the normalisation of bilingualism in national life.
• Strengthening the language in the family and the community.
• Ensuring opportunities to learn the language.
• Ensuring a consensus and goodwill in favour of bilingualism.

Details revealed show there will be more money for the Welsh Language Board, and a promise to make language issues central to policy-making right across the assembly government's work.

However there is concern that Welsh-medium education will not have enough funding.

Plaid Cymru's Rhodri Glyn Thomas, chair of the assembly culture committee, said: "It will certainly stabilise the present situation but in terms of linguistic growth we have to create an educational system which is turning out bilingual children."

In July this year the assembly government unveiled a �450,000 package to support and promote the Welsh language.

The funding package will pay for a variety of schemes, including a project to help parents understand the advantages of raising their children bilingually, and to encourage them to use Welsh in the home.

In February this year, a BBC Wales poll revealed one-third of Welsh-speaking parents never used the language when talking to their own children.