Study to explore how family life shapes children’s Welsh language development

Nation.Cymru staff

Researchers at Aberystwyth University are seeking bilingual families to help investigate how language choices at home influence young children’s development of Welsh.

The study will examine how families’ beliefs, decisions and everyday routines relate to Welsh vocabulary growth in children aged between two and four.

Led by Dr Hanna Binks and Dr Elin Royles, the project will explore how parents and children use Welsh and English, and what helps families pass Welsh from one generation to the next.

Researchers say language habits established in early childhood can have a lasting influence on the languages people choose to use later in life.

While schools play an important role in teaching Welsh, the project will focus on everyday interactions at home and how families manage and support their children’s use of both languages.

Dr Binks, a Lecturer in Aberystwyth’s Department of Psychology, said relatively little research had examined how different family language practices influence children during the pre-school years.

“By examining young children’s language experiences, this project will provide valuable insights into how Welsh vocabulary develops and how language use within the home may shape that process,” she said.

“The findings will help address an important gap in our understanding of Welsh language acquisition and bilingual development, providing evidence that can support families, educators and policymakers alike.”

The research focuses on what academics call “Family Language Policy” — the ways families make decisions about language use and pass languages on to their children.

The team hopes to identify factors that encourage children to use Welsh naturally in family life, alongside the opportunities and challenges bilingual households encounter.

Dr Royles, a Reader in the Department of International Politics, said passing the language between generations was central to its future.

“One of the key challenges facing any minoritised language is ensuring that it is passed from one generation to the next,” she said.

“The Welsh Government has recognised the need to increase language transmission in the family to contribute to its aim to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and produced a national policy on Welsh language transmission and use in families in 2021.”

Language choices

She added that researchers currently had a limited understanding of how bilingual families negotiated and maintained their daily language choices, and how those decisions affected children’s learning.

“By working with bilingual Welsh-English families across Wales, this project will help us better understand the experiences, opportunities and challenges that shape children’s use of Welsh at home and their language development.”

Welsh-English bilingual families with children aged between two and four are invited to participate.

Parents or guardians can contact the research team here or here to find out more about taking part.