Welsh-Medium Education: Exploring the attitudes, beliefs and experiences of parents and pupils from non-Welsh speaking households.

The aim of this research is to develop a systematic understanding
of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of parents and children
from non-Welsh speaking households towards Welsh and Welshmedium
education (WME) to better inform Welsh Assembly
Government (WAG) policy. Previous research has recognised the
importance of parents' motivations in informing WAG's Welsh
language policy and the autonomy of children in these decisions as
they get older. However, an increasing number of young Welshspeakers
do not come from Welsh speaking households and there
is a dearth of literature focusing uniquely on their parents' and
their own attitudes and beliefs about the Welsh language, and
their experiences of WME. Therefore, an updated account of
young Welsh speakers' and parents' beliefs about the Welsh
language and experiences of WME could provide an important
basis for WAG's future language policies, that are more
comprehensive and inclusive of 'new speaker' (O'Rourke et al.,
2015 p. 1) perspectives. A sample of approximately 450 parents
and children from the anglicised area of Southeast Wales will
provide a comprehensive overview of non-Welsh speaking parents
and new speakers' attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. Data will be
collected via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and
participatory research. Quantitative data will be analysed using
descriptive and inferential techniques and qualitative data will be
analysed using thematic analysis. This will provide a deeper
understanding of non-Welsh speaking parents and new speakers'
unique motivations, challenges and experiences regarding WME,
which could be used to tailor policy to their needs and strengthen
WAG's current language revitalisation policies.