In 1999, devolved governance was established in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland which altered the contours of language recognition in the United Kingdom. Whilst much focus has been placed on how devolution improved the status of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish, less attention has been placed on those minority vernaculars with 'contested'…

According to the 2001 Census, there has been a substantial increase in the numbers of Welsh speakers aged 5-15 years, especially in south-east Wales. It is generally accepted that this increase can be largely attributed to the success of Welsh-medium education. Indeed, Welsh-medium education has long been seen as an effective language planning…

The attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers have an important impact on minority languages, and it has been claimed that the long-term success of minority language initiatives may only be achievable if some degree of favourable opinion, or "tolerability", of these initiatives is secured among majority language speakers.…

Research on minority languages is ordinarily not well known by speakers of "big" languages but it has focused on several areas of Applied Linguistics and it is relevant to many areas. This current volume of "AILA Review" features five articles. Each of the articles emphasizes some aspects of research, depending on the recent…

To promote bilingualism, the education authority of Gwynedd, in northwestern Wales, is seeking to increase the amount of compulsory Welsh instruction. Their gradualistic approach has angered both Welsh nationalists, who want fully Welsh schooling, and English-speaking parents who do not want additional school time spent on Welsh. (SJL)