Welsh speakers report stronger connection to nature, study finds

Nation.Cymru staff

Welsh speakers feel more connected to nature than non-Welsh speakers, according to research examining the relationship between language and the environment.

A nationally representative survey of around 2,000 people across Wales found that those identifying as Welsh speakers reported a 15.7% stronger connection to nature, after accounting for age, gender, socioeconomic group and region.

The researchers caution that the findings show an association rather than evidence that speaking Welsh causes people to feel closer to the natural world.

Shared cultural identity, the meanings carried by the language and Welsh place names, and differences in where people live and their access to landscapes could all help explain the results.

The study, published in the journal Cogent Arts & Humanities, also examined attachment to place and how people perceive the relationship between Welsh and their surroundings.

Welsh speakers were 38% more likely than non-Welsh speakers to agree that the language is related to Wales’s natural environment. They also reported feeling more connected to nature when using Welsh and encountering Welsh place names.

Those who did not speak Welsh tended not to regard language as significant to their relationship with nature.

Professor Thora Tenbrink, a linguist at Bangor University, led the research with colleagues from Bangor’s School of Natural Sciences and the universities of Reading and Cambridge.

She said: “This study has confirmed what informal observations and experience suggested – including the work of Public Map, which is where the idea was born. We are very pleased to see such clear results from our representative study.”

The researchers suggest the findings could inform teaching in Wales by linking language learning with environmental issues and local surroundings.

Professor Tenbrink said: “Connecting Welsh-language learning with the natural environment, local place names and cultural traditions could help make language learning more relevant to young people interested in environmental change.”

The research forms part of Public Map, a project led by Cambridge University’s Department of Architecture which supports communities on Ynys Môn to create shared digital maps of what matters to them about their local areas.

The maps are intended to inform local planning and regional policy, as well as work towards more sustainable ways of living.

The paper, How a minority language relates to place attachment and nature connection: the case of Welsh, is available to read free online.

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