Wales: Bilingualism research centre opens

[Harold Schiffman]

17 November 2007:

Bilingualism research centre opens

Nov 16 2007 by Abbie Wightwick, Western Mail

A £5m research centre on bilingualism will be officially opened in
Wales today. The centre at Bangor University has already begun its
work into all aspects of bilingualism from studying conversations
between bilinguals in Caernarfon and Miami to the first words of
infants. The Economic and Social Research Council Centre for Research
on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice will involve international
experts in bilingualism from linguistics, education and psychology. It
has 15 new members of staff and is about to appoint two new
professors.

Research already begun includes investigating how infants aged between
14 and 20 months attach meaning to words, and the differences or
similarities between infants who hear one or two languages. Education
experts at the centre are also studying the best ways of using Welsh
and English in the same classroom, while ethnographers are studying
how Welsh and English are used in everyday life at home, school, work
and leisure in Caernarfon. How bilinguals unconsciously "understand"
the rules of grammar in each language, and whether these influence the
other language, is also being researched.

A "library" of recorded real-life conversations in Miami and Patagonia
will also be used by academics at the centre to test existing theories
about how bilinguals manage to switch between languages. Centre
director Professor Margaret Deuchar said, "This major investment in
the study of bilingualism will no doubt influence the public
perception of bilingualism and the formulation of language and
educational policy, not only in Wales but worldwide.

"The investment in our research puts Wales and Bangor University at
the forefront of international research on bilingualism.

"Wales is regarded as a worldwide leader in language planning and
bilingual education.

"This centre ensures that Wales will continue to innovate and enhance
bilingual policy and practice both nationally and internationally."

Centre co-director Professor Virginia Gathercole said, "We are
carrying out studies on theoretical issues, such as bilinguals'
linguistic knowledge of their two languages and any potential
interactions between those languages, the neurological basis of
bilingualism, language development in bilinguals, and cognitive
benefits of bilingualism throughout the lifespan."

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/education-news/tm_headline=bilingualism-research-centre-opens%26method=full%26objectid=20114802%26print_version=1%26siteid=91466-name_page.html

**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************