A comparative study of regional-language immersion education in Brittany and Wales
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12677828 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George Wilson (0000-0002-6620-9427, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 418-439 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Issues in Language Planning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1466-4208 • E-ISSN: 1747-7506 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14664208.2022.2111927 |
| OpenAlex | W4294884686 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 21 |
This article compares the immersion-education systems in Brittany and Wales. The number of Welsh speakers is growing thanks to its well-developed immersion-education system. Brittany has a much less well-developed system and the number of Breton speakers is falling dramatically. Urgent action is needed if Breton is to survive. Using an approach based loosely on ‘comparative history as a comparison of contrasts’, the paper examines differences in political support for immersion education between the two regions. It considers the impact of this support on planning strategies and mechanisms and considers how a range of pedagogical factors including age of exposure, language-use in the classroom and teacher training are tackled in the two contexts. It finds that the Welsh system enjoys far greater political support than that of Brittany because control of the education system is in the hands of a devolved regional authority which fully supports the regional language. The situation may be about to improve for Breton owing to the publication of a recent circular authorising full-immersion education within the state-education system for the first time. The paper recommends close collaboration between the two regions moving forward in an attempt to save Breton from extinction
Archaeology · Geography · Language planning · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Welsh · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Political Systems and Governance · Second Language Learning and Teaching
Saving Languages
Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
Language Policy Evaluation and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
Welsh-medium education and parental incentives – the case of the Rhymni Valley, Caerffili
Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies
The community as a language planning crossroads
Minority language abandonment in Welsh-medium educated L2 male adolescents
Multilingual interaction and minority languages
Welsh in the twenty-first century
Minority languages and sustainable translanguaging
Institutional Breton language policy after language shift
Language Policy and National Unity
The Uses of Comparative History in Macrosocial Inquiry
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |