Enlli Thomas is Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Welsh at Bangor University, and Professor of Education Research. She has been a Visiting Professor at Umeå University, Sweden since 2018, and is the 2019 recipient of the prestigious Learned Society of Wales Hugh Owen Medal for outstanding educational research in Wales. 

Her main research interests and expertise span psycholinguistic approaches to the study of bilingual language acquisition, including children’s acquisition of complex structures under conditions of minimal language input, bilingual assessment (psychometric), and education approaches to language transmission, acquisition and use. She has conducted research and published widely in many areas of language study. These span papers on aspects of bilingual acquisition, including impact factors influencing successful L1-L2 acquisition; bilingual transfer; bilingual assessment; bilingual literacy; Executive Function and bilingualism; socio-economic status and language abilities; and factors influencing language use. She gives regular invited lectures to practitioners and child-care workers both in the education and in the mental health sector on topics relating to language development and bilingualism, and had made regular appearances on tv and radio as an expert informant. She has also been invited as a Keynote at numerous international conferences.  Her work has also generated substantial national impact - most notably in the development of statutory Welsh language initiatives that are operational in schools across Wales. 

She has been involved as a co-author on a number of successful large-scale research grants, looking at language transmission practices in the home (Welsh Language Board), cognitive effects of bilingualism across the lifespan (ESRC), developing Welsh language assessment tools (Welsh Assembly Government), neuropsychological assessment of bilingual Welsh-English speakers (North Wales Research Committee & West Wales NHS Trust Research and Development Grants Awarding Committee) and bilingualism and dementia/Parkinson's (ESRC). More recently, she was co-I on the CorCenCC National Welsh Corpus project (£1.8 Million - ESRC/AHRC) where she led on the development of a pedagogical toolkit for use in schools. She has also led on various Welsh Government funded projects related to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

She was a core member of the Executive of the ESRC Centre for Research on Education in Theory and Practice 2007-2012. 

In 2014 she became Head of School for the School of Education and Human Development, before returning to focus on her core research in 2018.

Position: Director of Research and Impact 

Email: enlli.thomas@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: 01248 383053

Location: Eifionydd, Normal Site

Teaching and Supervision

XAC-2033 Ymchwilio mewn Plentyndod 

XAC-3009 Amlieithrwydd mewn Plentyndod

XAE-3009 Multilingualism in Childhood

XMC-4099 Dwyieithrwydd mewn Addysg

MA Supervision

PhD Supervision 

Selected research grants held

2022

Welsh Government (Collaborative Evidence Network): Impact of the pandemic: Welsh-medium recruitment (Thomas & Lloyd-Williams, £62,000)

2021

Welsh Government/GwE: Ein Llais Ni (Thomas, £63,200) 

2020

Welsh Government: The impact of covid-19 on non-Welsh-speaking families with children in Welsh immersion schools (Thomas, Lloyd-Williams, & Waters, £75,000)

2019                       

Hefcw: Provision of Welsh-medium STEM subjects  (Thomas, £39,974)

ESRC IAA: Addressing the literacy needs of bilinguals learning to read and write in languages with transparent orthographies (Thomas, Owen, Young, Lloyd-Williams, Fontaine, Aldridge & Sullivan, £14,800)                                                          

2017                       

GwE/Welsh Government: Y Gymraeg mewn Addysg (Thomas, £65,000)

2016 

ESRC/AHRC: Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg Cyfoes (The National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh): A community driven approach to linguistic corpus construction (Knight, Morris, Fitzpatrick, Rayson, Thomas, Stonelake, Evas, Spasic, £1.8 million)

2015

Welsh Language Commissioner Office: Ymchwil i Sefyllfa gyfredol addysg Gymraeg ar gyfer dysgwyr 3-16 oed/Research into the current state of Welsh education for 3- to 16-year-old learners (Cwmni Iaith (Jones, PI) & Bangor University (Thomas & Williams, £10,980)

Post 16 Education Consortia: Datblygu Systemau a Gweithdrefniadau i Fesur y Defnydd o’r Gymraeg mewn Addysg/Developing Systems and Processes to Measure the Use of Welsh in Education (Cwmni Gweiniaith (Roberts – co-PI) & Bangor University (Thomas, co-PI, Williams, Jones & Young, £35,000)

2014 

National Literacy Trust: Evaluation of Premier League Reading Stars Cymru (Ware, Thomas (co-PIs), Williams, Young, Kyffin & Elliott, £16,000)

2011

Welsh Government: Exploring the role of classroom language transmission practices in developing L1/L2 fluency in Welsh (Thomas & Lewis, £10,000).

2010 

ESRC: Bilingualism as a protective factor in age-related neurodegenerative disorders (Clare, Gathercole, Thomas, Hindle, Whittacker, Bialystok, & Craik, £630,000)

Hunaniaith and Welsh Language Board: Arolwg o ddefnydd cymdeithasol plant cynradd o’r Gymraeg/Survey of primary children’s social use of Welsh (Roberts & Thomas, £20,000)

2009 

Welsh Government: Continued Development of Standardised Measures for the Assessment of Welsh (Gathercole & Thomas, £90,000).

2007    

ESRC: Cognitive effects of bilingualism across the lifespan (Gathercole & Thomas: £720,000)

North Wales Research Committee: Does bilingualism delay the onset of dementia? A pilot study comparing bilingual Welsh/English and monolingual English speakers (Clare, Thomas, Whitaker, & Jones, £5,000)

2005 

Welsh Assembly Government:  Development of Welsh language assessment tools for children (Gathercole & Thomas: £90,000)

North Wales Research Committee: Neuropsychological assessment of bilingual Welsh-English speakers: meeting the needs of Welsh-speaking older people (Thomas, Clare, Woods, & Jones: £5,000)

2003

Welsh Language Board: Trosglwyddo Iaith mewn Teuluoedd Dwyieithog yng Nghymru (Gathercole, Thomas, Deuchar & Williams; £93,000).

2022

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• E-gyhoeddi cyn argraffujava.lang.NullPointerException
• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• Wedi ei Dderbyn / Yn y wasgjava.lang.NullPointerException
• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2021

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2020

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• CyhoeddwydY Tiwtiadur
  Davies, J., Thomas, E., Fitzpatrick, T., Needs, J., Anthony, L., Cobb, T. & Knight, D., 2020
  Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad arall › Cyfraniad Arall › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid

2019

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2018

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2017

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2016

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2015

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2014

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2013

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• CyhoeddwydBilingual Welsh–English children's acquisition of vocabulary and reading: implications for bilingual education
  Rhys, M. & Thomas, E., 2013, Yn: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 16, 6, t. 633-656
  Allbwn ymchwil: Cyfraniad at gyfnodolyn › Erthygl › adolygiad gan gymheiriaid
• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2012

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2011

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2010

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2009

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2008

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2007

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException
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2006

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2005

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2004

• Cyhoeddwydjava.lang.NullPointerException

2022

• Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education (Cyfnodolyn)

  14 Meh 2022

  Gweithgaredd: Adolygu cyhoeddiadau cymheiriaid (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)
• Addysg, y pandemig a'r Gymraeg

  Prestigious O'Donnell Annual Lecture

  26 Mai 2022

  Cysylltau:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC66xHrGcIE&t=1973s
  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• Welsh language: Parents asked to record baby talk

  Interview given to BBC Wales about new project asking parents to record the way they speak to their babies in Welsh to help others learn the language.

  9 Ebr 2022

  Cysylltau:

  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61011531?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
  Gweithgaredd: Mathau o waith ymgysylltu â'r cyhoedd a gwaith maes - Erthygl neu gyfranogiad yn y cyfryngau (Cyfrannwr)

2021

• Preparing for the delivery of the Languages, Literacy and Communication Area of learning and Experience within the new Curriculum for Wales: Challenges and opportunities

  Keynote Address

  11 Mai 2021

  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)

2020

• Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry

  17 Medi 2020

  Gweithgaredd: Mathau o waith ymgysylltu academaidd allanol - Cyfraniad at waith pwyllgorau a gweithgorau cenedlaethol neu ryngwladol (Cyfrannwr)

2019

• Addressing literacy difficulties in languages with transparent orthographies: issues for Welsh

  Keynote presentation

  10 Meh 2019 – 14 Meh 2019

  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• The long-term outcomes for bilinguals in minority language contexts

  Research Seminar at Department of Language Studies, Umea University, Sweden

  6 Maw 2019

  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• Teacher Education for minority language teachers and immersion school teachers in Wales

  Teacher Training on Teaching Minority Language Oral Skills

  18 Ion 2019

  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech (Cyfnodolyn)

  Editorial Board Member

  1 Ion 2019 →

  Cysylltau:

  • https://journal.equinoxpub.com/index.php/JMBS/about/editorialTeam
  Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)

2018

• Cynhadledd y Gymraeg mewn Addysg a Dwyieithrwydd

  Cynhadledd undydd i athrawon a gweision sifil

  9 Tach 2018

  Gweithgaredd: Cymryd rhan mewn cynhadledd (Siaradwr)
• Multilingual Education in Linguistically Diverse Contexts: The Issues in Wales

  Keynote Address

  30 Awst 2018 – 1 Medi 2018

  Cysylltau:

  • https://meldc18.wordpress.com/keynote-speakers/
  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• Welsh in Education and Bilingualism Conference

  A one-day conference for teachers and civil servants

  22 Meh 2018

  Gweithgaredd: Cymryd rhan mewn cynhadledd (Siaradwr)
• Understanding factors influencing bi- and multilingual development in minority language contexts

  Keynote Address

  8 Meh 2018 – 10 Meh 2018

  Cysylltau:

  • http://multilingualism2018.uw.edu.pl/en/
  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)
• Childhood Bilingualism: the Welsh-English context.

  Keynote Address

  12 Ion 2018

  Cysylltau:

  • https://yellow.place/en/e/trinity-long-room-hub-arts-and-humanities-resear-201801121200 https://childbilingualismresearch.com/january-2018-meeting/
  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)

2017

• Lansio llyfr Agweddau Ar Ddwyieithrwydd [Book launch]

  Lansiad y llyfr newydd Agweddau ar Ddwyieithrwydd i'r cyhoedd, ar stondin Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, gyda chyfweliad gan Ifor ap Glyn gyda' awduron, Enlli Thomas a Peredur Webb-Davies.

  Public book launch of Welsh textbook about bilingualism, at the stall of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, featuring an interview by Ifor ap Glyn with the authors, Enlli Thomas and Peredur Webb-Davies.

  9 Awst 2017

  Gweithgaredd: Cyflwyniad llafar (Siaradwr)
• Welsh Government (Sefydliad allanol)

  Aelod o Gyngor Partneriaethau'r Gymraeg

  1 Gorff 2017 – 1 Gorff 2020

  Gweithgaredd: Aelodaeth o gyngor (Cadeirydd)
• Psycho- and socio-linguistic factors influencing minority language competence in bi- and multilingual contexts: implications for education

  Keynote Address

  11 Mai 2017 – 13 Mai 2017

  Cysylltau:

  • https://bragaconfmultiling.wordpress.com/keynote-speakers/
  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)

2016

• International Conference on Bilingualism in Education, Bangor University

  International Conference on Bilingualism in Education

  10 Meh 2016 – 12 Meh 2016

  Cysylltau:

  • http://bilingualism-in-education.bangor.ac.uk/
  Gweithgaredd: Cymryd rhan mewn cynhadledd (Trefnydd)

2015

• John Benjamins (Cyhoeddwr)

  Editorial Booard Member, Studies in Bilingualism, John Benjamins

  31 Rhag 2015 – 31 Rhag 2025

  Cysylltau:

  • https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/sibil/board
  Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)
• Applied Psycholinguistics (Cyfnodolyn)

  Editorial Board Member

  30 Tach 2015 – 31 Rhag 2019

  Cysylltau:

  • https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/appliedpsycholinguistics/information/editorial-board
  Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)

2014

• Applied Psycholinguistics (Cyfnodolyn)

  Editorial Board Member

  2014 – 2018

  Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)
• John Benjamins Publishing Company (Cyhoeddwr)

  Studies in Bilingualism Book Series Advisory Editorial Board member

  2014 →

  Cysylltau:

  • https://benjamins.com/catalog/sibil/board
  Gweithgaredd: Gweithgarwch golygyddol (Aelod o fwrdd golygyddol)

2011

• Psycholinguistic aspects of the acquisition of Welsh: Challenges to the sustainability of a minority linguistic community.

  Keynote Address

  28 Maw 2011

  Gweithgaredd: Sgwrs wadd (Siaradwr)

• Translanguaging and Mediation Resources (CEN 17)

  01/11/2021 – 15/08/2022 (Wedi gorffen)

• COVID-19 LOT 3: The impact of this on learners in Welsh-Medium education, particularly those who live in English-Medium homes.

  01/09/2020 – 31/01/2022 (Wedi gorffen)

• Travel grant to Department of Language Studies, Umeå University, Sweden for Enlli Thomas

  01/06/2020 – 21/09/2022 (Wedi gorffen)

• The role of Initial Teacher Education (ITA) programs and research in the field of bilingualism and promoting the Welsh language

  01/01/2018 – 01/08/2019 (Wedi gorffen)

• CorCenC: Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg (The Welsh National Corpus)

  01/03/2016 – 31/12/2020 (Wedi gorffen)

  Cysylltau:

  • http://www.corcencc.org/

• Use of Welsh in post-16 education - Gwynedd and Môn

  01/02/2015 – 14/07/2017 (Wedi gorffen)

• Manteision Addysg Gymraeg a Dwyieithog: Ysgoloriaeth PhD

  01/09/2009 – 30/09/2012 (Wedi gorffen)

• Survey of Primary School-Aged Children's Social use of Welsh

  01/09/2009 – 31/07/2010 (Wedi gorffen)

  Cysylltau:

  • http://moodle.cynnal.co.uk/course/view.php?id=397