Bilingualism Student Profiles

Awawdeh, Maryam

Awawdeh, Maryam
Start date:
October 2022
Research Topic:
Reading Skills of Arabic-English Bilingual Children with DLD
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Athanasia Papstergiou and Dr Eirini Sanoudaki
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
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Reading for many children is not just a source of comfort or a hobby, but also an integral part of life; reading is needed to achieve academic success as many exams are word-based. Reading disability is prevalent in around 5-10% of school children, which can lead not only to a difficulty in efficient further literacy development but also in society as a whole (Fletcher, 2009). Many children with DLD are known to have difficulties with their reading, therefore the main aim of this study is to investigate whether being bilingual has a significant effect on children with DLD in regards to their reading development.

As Bonuck et al. (2021) concluded in their systemic review, it can be difficult to diagnose DLD in bilingual children especially Arabic-English speakers, as most of the studies examined Spanish-English bilinguals. According to the 2011 Census, other than being proficient in English, around 160,000 of the population aged 3 and over speak Arabic, hence the purpose of the study will add to the research on DLD and bilingualism.

Based on the previously discussed literature review, the proposed study aims to contribute to the research field by answering the following questions:
1. What are the similarities and differences found between the monolingual and bilingual children with DLD groups regarding their literacy skills in terms of executive functions, vocabulary and reading?
2. What are the potential variables (e.g. mother’s educational level or working memory) that may affect children with DLD’s reading development?

Understanding the aspects that form reading comprehension provides insight to researchers on how schools can improve the literacy skills of students or how best to target intervention for children with reading difficulties. Many children are either being under- or over-diagnosed with certain language difficulties, especially bilinguals, therefore this study aims to contribute to current research by highlighting whether bilingualism has a significant effect on children.

Baker, Sophie

Baker, Sophie
Start date:
October 2018
Research Topic:
Language belonging and psychosis
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Chris Saville and Dr Mike Jackson
Supervising school:
School of Psychology,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

Being a speaker or non-speaker of Welsh is an important signifier of cultural identity in Wales. However, rates of speaking Welsh vary widely throughout Wales – in some areas Welsh speakers are in the majority, whereas in others they represent a minority. Meanwhile on a UK-wide level, Welsh speakers are unambiguously a minority group.

The incidence of psychosis is elevated amongst minority groups (e.g Kirkbride et al., 2006). This association is especially strong in areas that are relatively dominated by the majority group (Boydell et al., 2001; Veling et al., 2009). This has been proposed to reflect a reduced sense of belonging to their area (Bentall, 2009).

The linguistic mix in Wales presents the opportunity for a natural experiment where the association between language and minority status varies geographically.

This project aims to:

  • Identity whether admission rates for psychosis vary as a function of the match between patient language and that of their local community.
  • Elucidate the mechanisms underpinning this with both quantitative and qualitative methods.
ResearchGate:
Sophie_Baker15

Beauchamp, Jazmine

, Jazmine
Start date:
October 2023
Research Topic:
Consonant Development in typically developing Welsh-English bilingual children
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Sarah Cooper and Dr Eirini Sandoudaki
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
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Recent census results show that Welsh is spoken by 11,900 children aged 3-4 and 134,700 children aged 5 to 15. Despite the large number of Welsh-speaking children in Wales, there has been little research on speech development in Welsh-English bilingual children. Work on Welsh phonetics in general is limited, based on descriptive data with small numbers of speakers which poses challenges for SLTs working in Wales, who require detailed information about speech development in Welsh-English bilingual children to assess, diagnose and treat speech disorders.

This project will examine the acquisition of consonants in typically developing Welsh-English bilingual children. Specifically, the project will focus on the development of the consonant inventory in children between the ages of 2 and 7. This project has practical implications for professional use such as SLTs and other professionals working with young children.

Beech, Emily-Louise

Start date:
October 2023
Research Topic:
The role of Welsh in community action groups
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Professor Thora Tenbrink
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
DTP
External Sponsor:
None
Research keywords:
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What are the effects of treating a native language as secondary in a bilingual country like Wales?

Language skills and attitudes affect people’s ability to function in society, for instance affecting Welsh first-language speakers’ engagement in English-medium discussion contexts (Parfett et al.,2019). While decisions about Welsh-medium education frequently relate to employment or heritage rationales (Hanlon, 2015),
diglossia in Wales can also induce conflicts, including strongly experienced ingroup-outgroup oppositions and Welsh speakers contesting typical English domains (Williams, 2009).

In public communication settings like DEG’s community assemblies, diverse attitudes, language backgrounds and skills meet, with participants ranging from ‘native’ via ‘new’ Welsh speakers to monolingual English speakers. To cope with this diversity, translation services are offered, and participants are free to use English or Welsh. However, the significance of this choice and the diversity of reasons behind choosing Welsh over English (frequently by speakers who are entirely capable of speaking English) are not well understood in academic literature. Linguistic and cultural identity clearly plays a key role (Carter et al.,2011); however, many biographical as well as societal and linguistic factors affect one’s conceptualised identity, dynamic communication processes can enhance its importance (Noels et al., 2012), and different degrees of ‘Welshness’ interact with language use and skills (Evans, 2018).

One experienced effect of these dynamics in DEG’s community assemblies is that the use of Welsh is essential for the decision-making process towards positive joined-up activities. Many locals would refuse to participate in an action that was proposed and discussed primarily through the medium of English, despite having a clear understanding of it. They may neither feel included nor encouraged to engage. If this effect was substantiated through systematic research, it would shed significant new light on the Welsh
Government’s language policies and their implementation, as well as raising concerns about current translation practices – which are not consistently available and often associated with disruptive effects.

This project’s specific research question “What are the effects of treating Welsh as secondary during decision-making processes in bilingual community groups located in primarily Welsh-speaking regions?” will be addressed through standard (socio-)linguistic methodologies (surveys, interviews, observation, discourse analysis). Cognitive Discourse Analysis (Tenbrink, 2020) will be used to address speakers’ concepts and thought patterns beyond those explicitly formulated in the content of what people say, reflected by the way it is said. Resulting insights will be collaboratively translated into guidelines and recommendations for community actions in bilingual contexts.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-louise-beech-8a4846219/

Binks, Hanna Louise

Hanna Louise Binks
Start date:
October 2013
Research Topic:
Exploring the Bilingual ‘Catch-up’ in Welsh-English Bilingual Teenagers
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Enlli Thomas
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
External Sponsor:
Coleg Cenedlaethol Cymraeg

Many studies suggest that bilinguals, who often demonstrate early delays in language, do catch-up with monolingual peers on knowledge of linguistic features. However, the conditions that allow this to happen in minority language contexts are less well-known.This is particularly relevant in Wales. The purpose of this study is to examine: When, and to what extent, secondary school-aged children demonstrate the bilingual catch-up on various aspects of Welsh and English knowledge, To what extent this catch-up is dependent on children’s use of and attitudes towards Welsh and English. Approximately 150 teenagers will be tested on numerous measures of Welsh and English knowledge, including depth of vocabulary knowledge and grammar, across two age groups (12/13 years and 15/16 years), and three bilingual groups (L1 Welsh, simultaneous, and L1 English bilinguals), with measures of daily use of Welsh included in the analysis as a co-variable.

Selected Recent Publications

Thomas, E. M., Williams, N., Jones, Ll. A., Davies, S. & Binks, H. (2013) Acquiring complex structures under minority language conditions: Bilingual acquisition of plural morphology in Welsh. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, pp 1 – 17.

Bragg, James

James
Start date:
October 2017
Research Topic:
The role of mutations in Welsh English bilingual lexical access
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Sarah Cooper and Dr Manon Jones
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

Previous studies looking at how listeners attach meaning to the words they hear (lexical access), found that listeners rely more on word beginnings than word ending. But Welsh word beginnings change in various grammatical contexts. For example, a word like te (tea) may change to de, nhe or the. These mutations result in less stable word onsets for Welsh than many other languages. This project aims to investigate whether Welsh-English bilingual listeners rely equally heavily on word beginnings compared to word endings in lexical access, or whether they rely relatively more on word endings compared to speakers who only know English (English monolinguals). Additionally, do Welsh mutation rules influence lexical access in English for Welsh-English bilinguals? For example, Welsh-English bilinguals may access English blackbird as an onset competitor of planet in a masculine context which would trigger a soft mutation (where p becomes b) in Welsh. Results from the project will directly inform current models of lexical access.

Caulfield, Gareth

Caulfield, Gareth
Start date:
October 2022
Research Topic:
Exploring Immersion Education and its Role in Creating Balanced Welsh-English Bilinguals
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Prof Enlli Thomas and Dr Eirini Sanoudaki
Supervising school:
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
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This project comes at a time where efforts are being made to substantially increase the number of Welsh speakers to a million by 2050. It considers the Welsh Government’s (2017: 21) notion that “Welsh-medium immersion education is our principal method for ensuring that children can develop their Welsh language skills, and for creating new speakers,” especially as the new curriculum being implemented from September 2022, the Curriculum for Wales, aims to equip children with the necessary skills to become citizens of a truly bilingual Wales (Welsh Government, 2020). Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine the role which immersion education plays in creating balanced bilinguals within the Welsh-English context and the various facets contributing to this. It hopes to highlight how immersion-based practices, environments and experiences can be adapted where necessary to produce high numbers of confident, bilingual speakers in an effective manner in the lead up to the Welsh Government’s 2050 target.
In order to achieve this aim, the research seeks to answer the following questions:
1. How do the language skills (with the aim to focus on both English and Welsh language skills) of children attending immersion education compare to those of both children who do not attend immersion education and native Welsh speakers they attend school with?
2. What are children’s attitudes towards Welsh, learning Welsh via education, towards minority languages, and their language use?
3. What are Welsh-medium/immersion teacher’s perceptions of pupils from non-Welsh speaking backgrounds?

Collins, Bethan

Collins, Bethan
Start date:
October 2021
Research Topic:
Bilingual Advantage in Welsh-English bilingual learners in primary schools
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Athanasia Papastergiou
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
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Bilingualism has been suggested to enhance cognition, due to the constant need to monitor, manage, and where necessary, inhibit one of the two languages in a person’s mind. The ‘bilingual advantage’ debate is one of the most prevalent in the field at the current time, with previous findings of cognitive enhancements in bilinguals compared to monolinguals now being questioned.
Previous research suggesting cognitive advantages of bilingualism has traditionally used participants who are equally proficient and actively use both of their languages. The current research proposes that a ‘bilingual advantage’ is more likely to be found in a population who are not balanced in both of their language uses, and consequently need to allocate large amounts of cognitive resources to manage these on a day-to-day basis.
The current study will compare a group of primary school children in Wales – with minimal exposure to and experience with Welsh – to a group of monolingual children in England. The aims of the study are to investigate whether the participants’ minimal experience with an additional language has altered their cognition in any way, and afforded them with any advantage over monolingual peers – similar to those observed in populations of balanced bilinguals. This study will build on previous work completed for my BA and MSc research projects, with the aims to replicate the findings of those studies – that minimal experience with second language Welsh can lead to a ‘bilingual advantage’ on certain cognitive tasks when compared to monolinguals – on a much larger scale.

Davies, Lynne

Start date:
October 2022
Research Topic:
Experiences and attitudes of children and young people transferring to Welsh education
Research pathway:
Supervising school:
School of Social Sciences,
Primary funding source:
ESRC
External Sponsor:
Welsh Government
Research keywords:
; ;

The Welsh Government has a target of a million Welsh speakers by the year 2050. They see Welsh education as an important contribution to this. Facilities exist to allow children and young people to transition into Welsh education, even if they started off in a different language. Research so far indicates that results in terms of language acquisition are quite positive. This study will try to look at this system through the eyes of those who participate in it. What sort of an experience is it? How do experiences differ? What are the ups and downs? Are there lessons to be learnt?

This is just starting. Watch this space.

Day, Rebecca

Day, Rebecca
Start date:
October 2019
Research Topic:
Language Development of Bilinguals with Rett Syndrome
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Eirini Sanoudaki, Kami Koldewyn
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
; ;

Currently, there are no published studies measuring the effect of bilingualism on language development in individuals with Rett syndrome. This study aims to be the first to ascertain not only whether it is possible for an individual with Rett syndrome to be bilingual, but also what affect bilingualism might have on language development in this population.

Previous studies conducted into bilingualism in a range of developmental disorders have not found evidence of any negative effect of bilingualism on language development. Furthermore, a growing body of literature focusing on the positive effects of bilingualism for socio-economic benefits, such as relationships with a person’s community, indicates that linguistics skills are not the only factor that should be considered when exploring the effects of bilingualism in individuals with developmental conditions.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-day-bilingualism

Eccles-Westbury, Hannah

Eccles-Westbury, Hannah
Research Topic:
Contextual Welsh language use in Gwynedd
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Thora Tenbrink
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Research keywords:
; ; ; ; ;

Part-time PhD researcher exploring why, when, and who uses Welsh when and with who, and why this sometimes is not the case.

Working closely with Gwynedd Council, research is based around implementing practical measures to encourage Welsh speakers to use Welsh in more contexts, and to encourage non-Welsh speakers to learn.

Galvin, Tesni

Galvin, Tesni
Start date:
January 2019
Research Topic:
Transfer effects in English-Welsh bilinguals learning French as a third language
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Vivienne Rogers
Supervising school:

This study will test between competing theoretical models of L3 acquisition regarding the role of transfer from either the L1 or second language (L2) and consider the role of individual differences such as WM and language learning aptitude. Specifically, we will investigate an under-researched language native to the UK, namely Welsh. As a bilingual country, Wales has L1 speakers of Welsh, who learn English in primary school and L1 speakers of English, who learn Welsh in primary school. Many of these bilinguals learn subsequent languages in secondary school. We will investigate the role of these two languages and possible transfer effects into L3 French.

This study examines third language (L3) transfer effects by exploring the role of the first language (L1), language dominance & proficiency, working memory capacity (WM) and language learning aptitude on morpho-syntax. Our research questions are:

  1. Do L3 transfer effects occur in Welsh-English/English-Welsh bilinguals learning French? If so, from which language and/or for which structures?
  2. How does language dominance/proficiency in English/Welsh affect transfer into L3 French?
  3. Are L3 transfer effects influenced by WM or language learning aptitude?

This study will contribute in several different ways. For instance, it will distinguish between theoretical models of L3 acquisition, in addition to contributing to the wider discussion of Welsh language provision in Wales by investigating the benefits of Welsh as an L1 or L2 in learning subsequent languages.

Jenkins, Catrin

Start date:
October 2018
Research Topic:
Stategic Bilingualism: identifying optimal context for Welsh as a second language in the curriculum
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Associate Professor Steve Morris, Professor Tess Fitzpatrick
Supervising school:
College of Arts and Humanities,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
; ;

The Welsh Government’s review of Welsh Second Language at Key Stages 3 and 4 (“One Language for All”, 2013) includes the recommendation (15):

” … develop best practice guidance on using incidental Welsh in school activities and using Welsh across the curriculum based on the pilot project to extend the use of Welsh as a medium of instruction in English-medium primary schools; and – set targets to increase the use of Welsh-medium learning across the curriculum…”

The report highlights evidence from teachers that learners need as much daily exposure as possible to the language in order to maximise their achievements in it. This PhD will investigate approaches to embedding Welsh language use strategically and effectively in selected areas of the Key Stage 3 and 4 curriculum. The studentship associated with the PhD will entail active collaboration with the Welsh Government, including short periods of internship in the Department of Education. This will enable the research work to be clearly informed by policy, and will help to shape and define the potential impact of project findings.

The principle research questions in the project will be:

  1. What are the most efficient and practical strategies for embedding exposure to and use of Welsh across the school curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 in order to maximise contact with the language?
  2. How can we measure the success of these strategies?
  3. What are the implications of expanding the use of the Welsh language within the curriculum for staff training and professional development?

Lewendon, Jen

Jennifer Lewendon
Start date:
October 2016
Research Topic:
Bilingual Prosody and Phonology
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Anouschka Foltz
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

My research interests lie primarily in psycholinguistics, specifically the mental and neural processes associated with the perception and recognition of spoken language.
Tasked with processing continuous streams of speech, a listener utilises multiple cues to assist lexical identification. The activation of numerous competing candidates during this process of speech perception is further exaggerated for the bilingual listener by non-selective lexical access, resulting in competition not only from target language candidates but similar items within the inactive lexicon. Using ERP methods, in particular the N400, I intend to explore how certain features of language facilitate or inhibit lexical access in bilingual listeners.

Projects:

  • Sounding foreign: the role of phonology in constraining lexical access within an integrated lexicon.
  • Investigating the role of stress in facilitating lexical-access.
  • Wrong tune, right words? How prosody might break down the language barrier.

My research intends to build upon current models of bilingual word recognition to develop a greater understanding of the role of both suprasegmental information & phonology.

Google scholar:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oMuNHZoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Training resources:
https://j-lewen.github.io/erp/docs/table-of-contents/training/

Website:
https://j-lewen.github.io/

Maguire, Laura

Maguire, Laura
Start date:
September 2022
Research Topic:
Alzheimers Disease and Executive Function
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Eirini Sanoudaki
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
; ; ;

Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia (Snowden et al, 2017): a collection of symptoms involving cognitive decline (Snowden et al, 2017). In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, loss of language skills is the first notable effect (Szatskloki et al, 2015). Retrogenesis (Reisberg et al, 2002), the current model of neurodegeneration, states that knowledge is lost in reverse to the order that they were acquired – what you learn first, you forget last (Reisberg et al, 2002). However, bilingual research does not support this pattern: the second language is not always the language most affected by the disease, the non-dominant language is (e.g., Gollan et al, 2010; Ivanova et al, 2014).

Furthermore, bilinguals with Alzheimer’s disease perform better on executive function tasks than monolinguals with Alzheimer’s disease (Alladi et al, 2013). Perhaps then, as bilinguals use executive functions more often than monolinguals (Mirpuri, 2022), active bilinguals could use executive functions more often than passive bilinguals, leading to an advantage in executive functioning (Barbu et al, 2018). Perhaps then, the more that certain neurons and synapses are activated, the stronger that they become (Kennedy, 2015). This could predict that: active bilinguals with Alzheimer’s disease experience an executive function advantage over passive bilinguals with Alzheimer’s disease.
If this were evidenced, perhaps a new model of neurodegeneration should be concerned with the frequency of activation: the more that a function is used, the longer that it takes to degenerate it throughout Alzheimer’s disease. This research aims to explore this possibility to further understand patterns of bilingual neurodegeneration.

Molina-Nieto, Olivia

Molina-Nieto, Olivia
Start date:
September 2021
Research Topic:
Emotion, memory, and language
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Guillaume Thierry
Supervising school:
Primary funding source:
ESRC DTP Wales
Research keywords:
; ; ; ;

Do we feel more intensely in our first or our second language? And how does this affective bias affect other forms of cognition, such as memory? These are the questions that motivate this research.

Studies on bilinguals over the last decade have gathered evidence showing that emotional arousal is higher when working on the first language, and lower in the second. That means emotion-laden stimuli have a higher impact when they are presented in the bilinguals’ first language.
In general, my research aims to utilize both well established (classical ERPs and behavioural measures) and novel (Frequency Tagging) methodologies in order to further understand the nuances of this phenomenon. Specifically, with this project I aim to study the effects this emotion-language relationship has on episodic memory.

Previous research has shown that episodic memory is affected by language. Memories can be coded with language and language is also the main modality used to recall those memories. It is also well established that episodic memory is affected by emotion so that higher affective salience leads to better encoding. In addition, bilinguals seem to have better recognition abilities when tested in their first than in their second language.

The aim of this project is to investigate the nature of the interaction between the three factors described above, that is, how a) memorization and recall, b) affective salience, and c) language of operation interact in bilinguals. The project aims to find evidence for such interactions both at an explicit (conscious, metacognitive) and an implicit (unconscious, automatic) level, based on records of EEG measures (classical ERPs and Frequency Tagging), reaction times, and explicit answers to questionnaires (behavioural). Despite the growing literature researching either language and memory, or language and emotion, this project will be one of the few to control both factors combined and probably one of the first to do so utilizing EEG recordings.

These findings could have a strong social impact. Currently, more than half the population worldwide speaks more than one language. Hence, measuring and understanding how bilinguals remember emotional events could have implications for their daily lives. It could give us insight into how bilingual children memorise and react to traumatic events, and how to better address them. It will also allow us to comprehend and adapt to the specific experiences and performances of bilinguals in academic and work settings. Importantly, it could offer new insights on how to address bilinguals’ court accounts reliability depending on the language in which they were taken in order to maximize accuracy, as well as to interpret them during legal proceedings.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-molina-nieto-83186a199

Nicholls, Sally Ann

Nicholls, Sally Ann
Start date:
October 2022
Research Topic:
The relationship between the Welsh language and the new curriculum that will operate in schools and non-maintained settings from September 2022
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Geraldine Lublin
Supervising school:
Primary funding source:
ESRC Wales DTP Studentship
Research keywords:
; ; ; ;

The new Curriculum for Wales, which will be taught from nursery to year 7 from September 2022, combines language learning and teaching in one area of learning and experience called ‘Languages, Literacy and Communication’. The curriculum guidelines state that the main aim is to ‘enable learners to become multilingual, be able to use Welsh, English and at least one international language and develop an openness to and curiosity about all languages and cultures of the world. The curriculum underlines that languages are ‘key to social cohesion’ – a cornerstone of fostering learners’ sense of their own and others’ identities.
Given the aim of creating a million Welsh speakers by 2050, the crucial role of Early Years Education in providing a solid foundation in the 3 to 16 learning continuum is undeniable.

In collaboration with Mudiad Meithrin, the research will be conducted in Welsh medium funded non-maintained nursery settings in Wales, and English language settings who will also be required to teach the Welsh language to young learners, hence in accordance with the new curriculum, enabling all young children to be ‘citizens of a bilingual Wales in a multilingual world’. This will ensure that every child in Wales will benefit from all the advantages associated with being bilingual.

It is anticipated that the results of the project will improve our understanding of how young learners from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds can be encouraged to learn an additional language or languages on the basis of their Welsh-English bilingualism.

Proposed methodology will include appropriate case studies to develop an understanding of the experiences of learners and practitioners in different linguistic, geographical, and socio-economic contexts. Qualitative data will be collected through ethnographic observations (site visits to Welsh medium ‘Cylchoedd Meithrin’ and English nurseries), group activities, and interviews with practitioners, parents and children.
A combination of structured and semi structured interviews will also be conducted.
If practicable, bilingual, and multilingual settings may be considered beyond Wales.

Key questions to be addressed include:
• What practices can encourage young learners to develop as bilingual and multilingual speakers with ‘positive attitudes to learning’ as envisaged in the curriculum?
• In considering the inclusive ethos of the curriculum, what lessons can be learned from how the linguistic and cultural identities of the diverse populations of contemporary Wales and its under-represented groups interact with one other?

Mae’r Cwricwlwm Newydd i Gymru (a roddir ar waith o’r dosbarth meithrin i flwyddyn 7 o fis Medi 2022) yn dwyn ynghyd ddysgu ac addysgu iaith mewn un Maes Dysgu a Phrofiad o’r enw ‘Ieithoedd, Llythrennedd a Chyfathrebu’. Mae canllawiau’r Cwricwlwm yn nodi mai ‘galluogi dysgwyr i ddod yn amlieithog, gallu defnyddio Cymraeg, Saesneg ac o leiaf un iaith ryngwladol a datblygu meddwl agored a chwilfrydedd tuag at holl ieithoedd a diwylliannau y byd’ yw’r nod dysgu yn y Maes hwn. Mae’r Cwricwlwm yn tanlinellu bod ieithoedd yn ‘allwedd i gydlyniad cymdeithasol’ – yn gonglfaen i feithrin ymdeimlad dysgwyr o’u hunaniaeth eu hunain a dealltwriaeth o hunaniaeth pobl eraill. Ni ellir gorbwysleisio rĂ´l Addysg Blynyddoedd Cynnar wrth ddarparu sylfaen gadarn yn y continwwm dysgu rhwng 3 ac 16 oed. Gan ystyried y pwyslais penodol yn Strategaeth Iaith Gymraeg Llywodraeth Cymru, ‘Cymraeg 2050’, ar gyfraniad Addysg Blynyddoedd Cynnar at gyflawni’r nod o filiwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050. Yn Ă´l ‘Cymraeg 2050: Miliwn o Siaradwyr’ (2017), mae Llywodraeth Cymru o’r farn mai addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg yw’r ffactor allweddol i gyrraedd y targed hwnnw. Fodd bynnag, bydd dwyieithrwydd Cymraeg-Saesneg yn sylfaen ar gyfer dysgu ieithoedd eraill. Ni waeth a ydynt yn gweithredu drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg, mae’r holl leoliadau meithrin a ariennir nas cynhelir yng Nghymru yn gyfrifol am gyflwyno’r iaith Gymraeg i’r dysgwyr ifanc hynny y mae’r Cwricwlwm am iddynt fod yn ‘ddinasyddion Cymru ddwyieithog mewn byd amlieithog’.

Bydd y prosiect hwn yn canolbwyntio ar ddarpariaeth Blynyddoedd Cynnar cyfrwng Cymraeg a chyfrwng Saesneg yn fframwaith y nodau uchelgeisiol a bennir gan y Cwricwlwm ar gyfer lleoliadau meithrin a ariennir nas cynhelir yn y Maes ‘Ieithoedd, Llythrennedd a Chyfathrebu’.

Mae’r cwestiynau allweddol yn cynnwys:
Pa arferion a all annog dysgwyr ifanc i ddatblygu’n siaradwyr dwyieithog ac amlieithog ag ‘agweddau cadarnhaol tuag at ddysgu’ fel y’i rhagwelir yn y Cwricwlwm?
Gan ystyried ethos cynhwysol y Cwricwlwm, pa wersi y gellir eu dysgu o’r rhyngweithio rhwng hunaniaethau ieithyddol a diwylliannol poblogaethau amrywiol Cymru gyfoes a’i grwpiau sy’n cael eu tangynrychioli?

Y bwriad yw defnyddio cyfuniad o ddulliau wrth ymgymryd â’r ymchwil hon. Cynhelir astudiaethau achos priodol er mwyn meithrin dealltwriaeth o brofiadau dysgwyr ac ymarferwyr mewn cyd-destunau gwahanol. Cesglir data ansoddol drwy arsylwi ethnograffig (ymweliadau â safleoedd), gweithgareddau grĹľp a chyfweliadau ag ymarferwyr, rhieni a phlant.

Mae canlyniadau disgwyliedig y prosiect yn cynnwys gwell dealltwriaeth o’r ffordd fwyaf effeithiol o annog dysgwyr dwyieithog ifanc o amrywiaeth o gefndiroedd cymdeithasol ac ethnig i ddysgu ieithoedd ychwanegol, a llunio canllawiau i arfer gorau, a’r effeithiau y gall ymagwedd amlieithog a lluosieithog o’r fath eu cael ar eu hunaniaethau ieithyddol a diwylliannol.

O’Riordan, Caitlin

O'Riordan, Caitlin
Start date:
October 2018
Research Topic:
The Protective Properties of Welsh-English Bilingualism in Older Adults
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Professor Debbie Mills
Supervising school:
School of Psychology,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship
Research keywords:
; ; ;

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by year 2050 the proportion of the worlds’ population over aged 60 will double to 22%. The global increase in the aging population combined with evidence supporting inevitable cognitive decline in older age, highlights the pertinence of investigating factors that interact with cognitive aging. Investigation into protective factors against cognitive aging is important from a theoretical and social perspective.

Bilingualism is one lifestyle factor that has been under intense investigation within the last few decades. It has been suggested to delay the onset of neuro-degenerative diseases and decrease the rate of cognitive decline. Bilinguals have also been shown to outperform monolinguals on a range of non-linguistic tasks – a pattern dubbed the ‘bilingual advantage’ – and this advantage increases with older age. However, this bilingual advantage is not consistently shown in all bilinguals, with all tasks.

My research will focus on Welsh-English older adults and will contribute to the understanding of boundary conditions of bilingual advantages i.e. why some bilinguals experience an advantage when others do not. Moreover, it will highlight the efficacy of short-term language immersion interventions on cognitive reserve in Welsh-English older adults.

From a wider standpoint, conclusions will help us to understand how cognitive decline in older adulthood can be modified by life experiences.

Academia.edu:
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/psychology/people/profiles/caitlin-ellen-oriordan.php.en
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-oriordan/

Owen, Carla

Carla Owen
Start date:
October 2015
Research Topic:
Literacy and Welsh: Identifying and Exploring the Markers of Literacy Difficulties in the Welsh Language
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Professor Enlli Thomas, Dr Nia Young
Supervising school:
School of Education,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

Children who receive their education in Wales will be exposed to 2 very different language structures: English (an opaque orthographic system) and Welsh (a transparent orthographic system). Due to the structure of the Welsh curriculum, children attending Welsh-medium schools are not being formally introduced to English until the end of the Foundation Phase at the age of 7. This poses a problem for children who experience literacy difficulties as the assessment tools are currently only available in English. As a consequence, children with literacy difficulties such as Dyslexia can only be formally identified once a child has produced ample pieces of work in English. This results in children potentially not receiving the support they need until a later stage in their education. This study will therefore explore the potential markers of literacy difficulties in the Welsh language. This information will then be used to create a screening tool for use by professionals working with Welsh-speaking children to help identify literacy difficulties at an earlier stage.

Owen, John Aled

John Aled Owen
Start date:
October 2012
Research Topic:
Use of Welsh outside the classroom
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Jean Ware, Rhian Hodges
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

An analysis of the reasons for the use or non-use of the Welsh language outside the classroom by students of Welsh-medium secondary schools in areas of Wales where Welsh is not the majority language of the community, with proposals on means of enhancing the use of the language in the extra-academic context.

Papastergiou, Athanasia

Athanasia Papastergiou
Start date:
October 2014
Research Topic:
Language and cognitive abilities in bilingual children and the role of educational context
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Eirini Sanoudaki, Dr Enlli Thomas, Dr Vicky Chondrogianni
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

Current studies highlight the benefits of bilingualism on children’s cognitive development, especially executive functioning. Cognitive benefits can be modulated by language proficiency and the age of acquisition of the two languages, among other things. Furthermore, recent research seems to suggest that the type of educational programme may be as important in shaping the relationship between language and cognitive abilities. However, recent studies examining executive functions in bilingual children have provided mixed results.

The purpose of this study is to investigate i) how age of acquisition and language proficiency, among other factors, affect executive functions and ii) if the length of exposure to a bilingual educational context influences language and cognition. The language and cognitive abilities of bilingual children, aged 5-12, will be examined in both languages using a range of tasks investigating grammar, vocabulary, as well as cognition and working memory.

We aim to contribute to the existing literature and to theories of language and cognition regarding how bilingual language and cognitive abilities are shaped by educational experience among other variables.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/athanasia-papastergiou-bb4ba5105

Prys, Myfyr

Start date:
October 2011
Research Topic:
Style shifting in Welsh
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Peredur Davies / Enlli Thomas
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

The aim of my research is to explore the nature of stylistic variation in Welsh. Sociolinguistic work on Welsh has been sparse since the eighties, meaning that our understanding of style in modern Welsh may be outdated. My study will attempt to elicit stylistic variation by recording speakers in different situations (informal conversation and interviews) and with different interlocutors (peers and authority figures). A corpus linguistic analysis will then attempt to establish what variables Bilingual Welsh speakers vary to reflect changes in social distance and formality. The thesis of my study is that speakers will vary their use of code-switching and mutation between less formal and more informal conditions. It is further predicted that some other variables suggested by traditional grammar books, such as periphrastic vs. synthetic clause constructions, will not vary significantly.

Selected Recent Publications

Prys, M. Deuchar, M. and Gwerfyl, R. (2012) Measuring speech accommodation in rural welsh pharmacies. In Hamburg Studies in Multilingualism 13: Multilingual Individuals in Multilingual Societies, BraunmĂźller and Gabriel (eds). Amsterdam, John Benjamins.

Sadiq, Azra

Start date:
October 2022
Research Topic:
Race inequality
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Katy Greenland and Dr Marco Pomati
Supervising school:
School of Social Sciences,
Primary funding source:
ESRC
External Sponsor:
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Research keywords:
; ;

My PhD research is a collaboration between Cardiff University and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The EHRC is a publicly funded body that promotes and upholds equality and human rights ideals and laws across England, Scotland and Wales. Its research and analysis is used to influence policy, inform its strategic priorities and improve people’s lives.

The EHRC is interested in the underlying causes of inequality and seeks to promote change through research that is transparent and persuasive. The EHCR are alert to the difficulties of persuading people of the existence of structural inequalities with the available data (and particularly those who are not already sympathetic to equality issues).

Statistics on race inequality highlight the main areas in which BAME groups are affected and need improvement, these are: some aspects of employment and education, crime, living standards, health and care (Is Britain fairer 2018). Nevertheless, it is difficult to demonstrate whether or not these inequalities are structural (i.e., caused by obstacles or the restriction of opportunities).

My research aims to maximise the impact of EHRC research in that it seeks to understand:

The ways in which people make sense of inequalities data and circumstances under which they interpret this data as evidence of structural inequality.

Sorvisto, Pauliina

Pauliina Sorvisto
Start date:
October 2015
Research Topic:
The neural organisation of lexical knowledge in Welsh-English bilinguals
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Marie-Josèphe Tainturier, Dr Paul Mullins
Supervising school:
School of Psychology,

The literature suggests that bilingual language processing takes place in similar brain regions for both of the individual’s languages. However, more recent developments in the field of neuroimaging have suggested that a bilingual’s languages may be separated to some degree on micro-anatomical level.

My research will attempt to explore the neural organisation of bilingual language processing further by completing a series of fMRI studies in both healthy Welsh-English bilinguals, and individuals with brain damage. The participants will perform several word recognition and other language processing tasks in both Welsh and English. By combining different methods of analysis, such as univariate and multivariate techniques, my aim is to explore how language processing may differ between the two languages, and to create a comprehensive overview of neural activation during language processing in Welsh-English bilinguals.

Ward, Rebecca

Rebecca Ward
Start date:
October 2016
Research Topic:
Systematic Linguistic Profile of Welsh English Bilinguals with Down Syndrome
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Eirini Sanoudaki
Supervising school:
Centre for Research on Bilingualism,
Primary funding source:
ESRC Studentship

My thesis explores the language profile of bilingual children with Down syndrome and aims to build the first systematic profile of Welsh/English bilinguals by identifying strengths and weaknesses in development. Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disorder, however, little is known about bilingual language acquisition for this population and the potential language outcomes that may be achieved by these children. Parents are often advised against exposing their children to a second language, however, this recommendation is not evidence-based. The research questions are as follows:

    • What are the language abilities in this population?
    • How does development of the two languages in bilinguals with down syndrome compare to development in monolinguals with down syndrome and typically developing children?

This project will aim to enhance our understanding of the language profile of individuals with Down syndrome in general and will provide new insights which will have important implications for educational policies and clinical practice for these populations.

Conference Presentations and Posters:
Ward, R. & Sanoudaki, E. (2018) Profiling Language Abilities in Bilinguals with Down Syndrome. Oral Presentation at the Down Syndrome Research Forum, 17-18th September, Reading University.

Ward, R. & Sanoudaki, E. (2018) Language development of bilingual children with Down syndrome in Wales. Oral presentation at the International Conference on Welsh Studies (NAASWCH), 25 -27 July 2018, Bangor University.

Ward, R. & Sanoudaki, E. (2017) Bilingualism and Down syndrome: Evaluating the developmental trajectory of language and phonological awareness. Invited speaker at the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group: Annual Winter Meeting; November 3rd, 2017, London, UK.

Ward, R. & Sanoudaki, E. (2017) Bilingualism in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Wales: An Investigation of Advice Received and Family Practices. Poster Presented at the International Symposium of Bilingualism, Limerick, Ireland.

ResearchGate:
Rebecca_Ward14
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-ward-57586973?trk=hp-identity-name

Williams, Jago

Start date:
October 2021
Research Topic:
Welsh-English Bilingualism in Individuals with DS-ASD
Research pathway:
Research Supervisor:
Dr Eirini Sanoudaki
Supervising school:
School of Linguistics & English Language,
Primary funding source:
ESRC
Research keywords:
; ; ;

This project aims to contribute to the literature on language development of children with co-occurring Down Syndrome and Autism, and the impact of raising these children bilingually vs monolingually. Individuals with DS-ASD have different symptoms to individuals with only one of these disorders, and face additional challenges, including regression of language abilities. Caregivers naturally want to confer every advantage they can, but advice, which is not at all empirically supported, to raise children with DS-ASD monolingually is often given to these caregivers. The relative dearth of literature looking at bilingualism and DS-ASD could be contributing to this problem.

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jago-w-98a955b0/

More than one million children in British schools study through a language that is not their mother tongue. Business, science, medicine, politics in Europe, and diplomacy worldwide are routinely conducted by speakers of English but mostly as a second or foreign language. In a global context, bilingualism is increasingly the norm but is poorly understood despite its educational and cultural salience. The study of bilingualism is therefore an area of growth, and fast becoming mainstream in social science research.

The pathway draws upon an extensive track record in bilingualism research, encompassing the ESRC-funded Centre for Research on Bilingualism and Theory and Practice at Bangor and the Language Research Centre at Swansea. Bangor and Swansea have complementary expertise, covering bilingual development and education, unconscious language co-activation, bilingual aphasia or linguistic relativity, the bilingual lexicon, as well as language policy, law and socio-linguistics. The institutions are also partners in the creation of the Cardiff-led ÂŁ1.8m ESRC project to produce the first ever large-scale corpus of Welsh.

The pathway is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining approaches from linguistics, social linguistics, education, psychology, cognitive neuroscience; the training involves core and joint teaching and supervision across different schools. Students on a 1+3 route will complete their Masters year (or part-time equivalent) with either the MA in Bilingualism or the MSc in Psychological Research at Bangor. The PhD stage will be based at either Bangor or Swansea.

Students become part of a rich research culture which includes seminars, conferences and summer schools. They can also benefit from extensive links with international research centres in Europe and the USA, and from the many research relationships we have established with non-academic organisations in the public, private and third sectors.