Research project aims to boost Welsh skills among children in Wales

A new research project has launched which aims to support primary school age children who are learning Welsh.

The National Centre for Learning Welsh, the specialist body leading the Learn Welsh sector, is leading an innovative research project to support children aged 7–11 to learn and speak Welsh.

The project involves collating a core vocabulary of over a thousand words – which will form the basis for teaching Welsh to children in English-medium primary schools – and builds on the Centre’s broader objective to share its language learning and acquisition expertise with other sectors.

Relevance

The core vocabulary will include the most elementary and useful nouns, adjectives, and verbs needed to create language, specifically chosen to be relevant and useful to children.

The vocabulary will be organised according to the preliminary levels of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and made available to schools across Wales, and Adnodd and the Books Council of Wales, among other partners.

The Centre has commissioned Dr Steve Morris and Dr Tess Fitzpatrick from Swansea University to carry out the research. Over the past few months, they have held workshops and discussion groups with 50 primary school teachers from across Wales. The final vocabulary will be published in September 2025.

Milestone

Meinir Ebbsworth, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Strategy at the National Centre for Learning Welsh says: “This project is an important milestone in our work with children and young people. It builds on the Centre’s extensive services already available for the younger generation and offers a valuable tool that will have a positive impact on the confidence and language skills of young learners across Wales.

“Our aim is to create a focussed and consistent foundation to support children in strengthening their Welsh language skills.”