The minority language and culture of Wales is under threat. Building on a computer analysis of the 1981 Welsh language Census data, the book provides evidence of a language moving slowly towards extinction. Each chapter examines an issue which is of significance in most minority language situations, but is exemplified in the Welsh context.
This volume showcases recent sociolinguistic research about Wales and offers contributions from scholars working on Welsh, English and other languages spoken in the country. The chapters present a range of frameworks and methodologies used in sociolinguistics and apply them to the Welsh linguistic context. This context is very distinctive compared to the rest of the UK and represents a prime ground to observe different aspects of the interplay between language and society. The structure of the volume reflects the linguistic diversity of the country and is divided into three sections. The first section examines recent research on Welsh, the second section focuses on English, and the third section deals with research on Welsh and English together, as well as research on other languages spoken in Wales. The book will be useful to those wanting to discover more about language and society in Wales, as well as to those already working in the field as it offers new perspectives and insights.
An authoritative collection of papers on the challenges involved in extending and consolidating Welsh medium education, with a view to realising the Welsh Assembly Government's stated goal of creating a bilingual Wales.
Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Discussion and Essays, grade: 1,7, University of Wuppertal, language: English, abstract: This term paper concerns the advantages as well as disadvantages of bilingual education in Wales based on personal experiences I made in a primary school in South West Wales. I chose this topic because I had the great opportunity to have a direct insight into the Welsh primary school system over a certain period of time and therefore can draw on my own personal perceptions. The relevance of this subject-matter is of great importance since Wales can be considered an international character in educating through a minority language. It demonstrates that in one society two languages can co-exist, which contributes to a stronger community-spirit and pride but at the same time exhibits different opinions concerning the effectiveness of early bilingual education. In the following I will provide a definition for bilingualism and explain the meaning of bilingual education as well as its different types, referring to Baker. Furthermore I will introduce the theoretical framework this term paper is based on, making reference to Jim Cummins’ ‘Balance Theory’, ‘Interdependence Hypothesis’ or ‘Dual Iceberg Theory’ and the ‘Thresholds Theory’. The first two mentioned theories can be classified into the idea of ‘Separate Underlying Proficiency’ and ‘Common Underlying Proficiency’, which will be elucidated later on. Subsequently I will move on to the emergence of bilingual education in Wales, illustrating the justification of bilingual education at an early stage of life, the infant and primary school period. Ensuing I will outline my personal experiences made with primary school children in a Welsh village called Letterston, located in Pembrokeshire, from age five to eleven, stating my own observations concerning the educational situation. Ultimately I will present a conclusion relating to the advantageous or unfavourable function of bilingual education performed in Welsh primary schools based on my own experience and theoretical background.
A foundational textbook for students and teachers, providing a comprehensive introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education at individual, language minority group, and national levels. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The book looks at world-wide evidence on issues surrounding bilingualism and bilingual education. These issues include the relationship between bilingualism and intelligence, the advantages and disadvantages of bilingual education and the role of attitude and motivation in bilingualism.
Explores the processes of monolingual language development in pre-school children. Following an overview of child bilingualism, this book looks at the influence of the child's family environment and the factors which predict the language use of the child.