Welsh-medium linguistics: Approaches and challenges Peredur Davies, Bangor University ‘How to teach linguistics of Modern Foreign Languages’ workshop Aston University, Birmingham June 3rd 2011

Outline The Welsh language situation up to today Welsh-medium linguistics at Bangor Module example Exercises example Challenges faced in WM education Some ways to combat these issues

The Welsh language (Watkins 1993, Jones 1993) Celtic language, spoken in Britain for >1500 years Flourished in its first millennium, but downturn in later centuries, e.g. 16th century Acts of Union Non-Welsh migrants into Wales’s industry English more socially attractive/administratively encouraged Reduction in Welsh monolinguals in 20th C: 1901 1961 14% 0%

Current status of Welsh (Davies 2010) Reduction in speakers reversed in 2001: Decrease in monolingualism co-occurs with increase in Welsh-English bilingualism: Increase in Welsh language maintenance since 1960s: Welsh in public & private sector Welsh in media (e.g. S4C, Radio Cymru, online) Welsh in education Highest increase in 10-15 year-olds 1981 1991 2001 503,500 508,098 582,368 19.0% 18.7% 20.8% 1901 2001 69.8% 100%

Welsh in education (Lewis 2008) First WM state primary schools set up in 1947; secondary schools in 1956  Today: 20.3% of primary schools teach mainly through Welsh; 15.3% assessed through Welsh at KS3 (2007 stats) Welsh compulsory (as native language or second language) until GCSE Pupils generally taught together in primary but streamed into L1 vs. L2 in secondary

Welsh in higher education Historically, only in (some) Welsh lit/lang departments 2011: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol: “[Their] main aim is to increase, develop and broaden the range of Welsh medium study opportunities at universities in Wales” (colegcymraeg.ac.uk) WM undergraduate & postgraduate funding WM fellowship and lectureship funding Across all Welsh universities, incl. Bangor

Linguistics at Bangor WM Teaching Fellow (me) employed since 2009; hope for long-term provision Only university to offer linguistics undergraduate modules through Welsh Students can take WM modules if they can understand spoken Welsh; modules optional as replacement for EM modules WM = only 5 modules out of ~18 students take during a BU degree course

Overview of WM provision cf. EM module Language and Society 1st year: Y Gymraeg a chymdeithas [Welsh and society] Disgrifio’r Gymraeg [Describing Welsh] 2nd year: Ieithyddiaeth Gymraeg [Welsh linguistics] 3rd year/MA: Sosioieithyddiaeth Gymraeg [Welsh sociolinguistics] Agweddau ar ddwyieithrwydd [Aspects of bilingualism] cf. EM module Describing Language Lectures together, seminars separately

Rationale for WM provision i.e. What are Welsh speakers interested in?  Based on ‘hot topics’ in Welsh psyche: History, dialects, standard vs. nonstandard Language (= English) contact, maintenance, the future of Welsh Important to distinguish WM provision from EM provision—modules not just “WM versions” of existing modules

Module example Ieithyddiaeth Gymraeg [Welsh linguistics] Phonology & orthography of Welsh Mutation in Welsh Morphology of Welsh Nonstandard Welsh syntax Welsh and typological universals Lexicon of Welsh Linguistic corpus planning in Welsh Language maintenance and language contact Language change, loss and death Making use of language resources Grammar Minority language / Bilingualism issues

What this module allows students to do Build on existing linguistic knowledge and use previously learnt skills (in 1st year etc.) Describe Welsh with reference to linguistc theory Give students familiarity with Welsh linguistic resources Consider Welsh in its (inter)national context Compare Welsh with other languages and linguistic communities

Resources  In-class exercises Corpora, e.g. Siarad Bangor Analyse nonstandard speech Analyse code-switching / borrowings / contact effects Discourse analysis Dialectal studies, e.g. Linguistic Geography of Wales (Thomas 1976), Welsh Dialect Survey (Thomas 2000) Analyse dialectal variation Analyse diachronic change (vocabulary, etc.) Use of EM resources (publications etc.): Translanguaging activities  capitalise on students being bilingual

Challenges in WM linguistic teaching Teaching and learning resources Shortage of WM textbooks, studies Old-fashionedness of existing provision Numbers of students Sometimes as few as 1 in a class Students prefer to ‘blend in’ in larger EM classes? Language ability: Domain-specific vocabulary Pessimistic self-perceived competence common L1 vs. L2 speakers; passive bilinguals

Solutions? Teaching and learning resources  Numbers of students  Use corpora / data sets Encourage fieldwork Produce original WM textbooks Numbers of students  Emphasise beneficial student-tutor ratio Emphasise unique content of WM modules Language ability  CCC-funded terminology expert at Bangor Make module bilingual, e.g. CS by tutor, use of translanguaging Allow students to submit work in English (Bangor’s bilingual policy)

Conclusion Identifying common cultural tropes allows us to produce unique and attractive modules Present challenges include: Increasing WM module take-up rate Increasing general awareness of WM provision  Finding new ways of making WM linguistics interesting, attractive and useful Any suggestions you might have would be greatly welcomed!

References Davies, P. 2010. Identifying word-order convergence in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals. Bangor University PhD thesis. Jones, R. O. 1993. “The sociolinguistics of Welsh” in The Celtic Languages, M. Ball with J. Fife (eds.), 536–605. London: Routledge. Lewis, G. 2008. “Current challenges in bilingual education in Wales.” AILA Review, 21, 69–86. Thomas, A.R. 1973. The linguistic geography of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Thomas, A.R. et al. 2000. The Welsh dialect survey. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. Watkins, T. A. 1993. “Welsh” in The Celtic Languages, M. Ball with J. Fife (eds.), 289–348. London: Routledge.

Diolch yn fawr / Thank you very much Dr. Peredur Davies p.davies@bangor.ac.uk Bangor University 12/11/2018