Language use and language attitudes in Wales

Abstract

This book chapter is the result of interdisciplinary research of an international group of researchers into language attitudes in diverse linguistic situations in Europe and reports on situations where several languages exist in the school system. A feature of the research was that the same questionnaire was used in all contexts and the researchers worked together as a team investigating the subject through a focus on education students’ attitude to language. The book was edited by two researchers from the Basque country and published in English in a series on bilingualism by Multilingual Matters. The chapter on Wales examined English Welsh and Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). and contributed new knowledge about student teachers' attitudes to three languages, rather than the more usual two languages. Further aspects of the research were presented at the British Educational Research Association (BERA )2005 in a symposium on Welsh medium and bilingual education.