ARFer programme

What is ARFer?

The ARFer programme is a behaviour change methodology. It is inspired by the Soziolinguistika Klusterra company in the Basque Country. ARFer is intended to change language practices to enable colleagues who can speak Welsh (but have established a habit of using English) to use more Welsh at work. This is done by applying two principles that derive from the behavioural sciences:

  • Commitment to behaving in a particular way;
  • Capitalising on the significant influence that defaults can have on people's behaviour.

Evidence of ARFer's impact

We have implemented ARFer in a variety of workplaces. Before the ARFer programme is implemented in a workplace, we have ensured that we establish baseline measurements of language use – that is, measuring how much Welsh is used normally in the workplace. We then collect data on the language use of staff when ARFer is in place. This offers us the opportunity to compare language behaviour between the periods in order to assess the programme’s potential impact on the use of Welsh.

The graph below provides a snapshot of our initial results and highlights the impact of the programme on staff language use.

graff ARFer

Further information:

If you have any queries about the ARFer programme, please contact:

Dr Lowri Angharad Hughes, (Project Director).
Arwel Tomos Williams, (Researcher)

Other members of the research team

Professor Carl Hughes, (Head of the School of Education & Human Development)
Dr Emily Roberts-Tyler, (Lecturer in Education)
David Stephen Parry, (PhD student in the School of Psychology)