Research at the Department of Linguistics, English Language and Bilingualism

Bilingualism and multilingualism are the study of the way(s) in which speakers of two (or more) languages acquire and use their languages and how these languages are represented in the mind.

Located in the richly bilingual setting of north Wales, our staff conduct research on, teach about, and supervise projects on all aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism from theoretical, applied, experimental and ethnographic approaches using qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

In 2007, the Dept was awarded five-year £5m grant, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) to establish Bangor’s Bilingualism Research Centre. Its membership, which consists of staff from the Schools of Arts, Culture and Language, the School of Human and Behavioural Sciences and the School of Educational Sciences, and its research has continued since the conclusion of the grant funding in 2012. 

Research in the field of bilingualism (and multilingualism) draws on several disciplines, including linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, education, sociology, economics, and political science. Recent years have seen an explosion of research in this area, as a result of our understanding of the nature of the individual bilingual / multilingual mind, of language use and development, of identity construction and (re)construction as well as of the bilingual and multilingual community, is making rapid progress.

The study of bilingualism and multilingualism is an important part of our Linguistics and English Language undergraduate curriculum. We also offer Welsh medium provision throughout our undergraduate and MA programmes.

We have an active diversified research profile that is recognised internationally, with specialisms that cover a wide range of subjects and/or areas in linguistics:

• acquisition
• processing
• comprehension
• disorders and atypical language development
• use
• structure
• variation
• change
• communication
• maintenance
• preservation
• teaching
• technologies

Our research informs our teaching provision at all levels, with our students benefitting from enthusiastic staff at the cutting-edge of academic enquiry and developments. Students can undertake research in these areas from both theoretical and applied approaches using qualitative, quantitative, experimental, and ethnographic methodologies.