332,022 research outputs found
Validation of Welsh language cognitive assessment tools (CATs): stage one
No full textThe primary aim of this research (stage one) is to identify the most frequently used Welsh language CAT in Wales. This information will be used to establish the requirements and set the foundation for subsequent stages of validation.
The primary objective of this research is to perform a desk-based review and engage with stakeholders to:
• determine the most frequently used CAT(s) in Wales during the study period (2021 to 2023)
• evaluate the psychometric properties of the CATs that have been translated into Welsh
• identify strategies for gathering high-quality normative data on the most frequently used, robust Welsh-language version(s) of CATs to ensure psychometric validation and facilitate reliable interpretation of assessments in clinical settings
The report is structured as follows:
• Section 2: methodology used for the desk-based review and consultation with
stakeholders
• Section 3: main findings
• Section 4: conclusions
• Section 5: recommendations for further validation work
SUBTLEX-CY: A new word frequency database for Welsh
No full textWe present SUBTLEX-CY, a new word frequency database created from a 32-million-word corpus of Welsh television subtitles. An experiment comprising a lexical decision task examined SUBTLEX-CY frequency estimates against words with inconsistent frequencies in a much smaller Welsh corpus that is often used by researchers, the Cronfa Electroneg o’r Gymraeg (CEG), and three other Welsh word frequency databases. Words were selected that were classified as low frequency (LF) in SUBTLEX-CY and high frequency (HF) in CEG and compared with words that were classified as medium frequency (MF) in both SUBTLEX-CY and CEG. Reaction time analyses showed that HF words in CEG were responded to more slowly compared to MF words, suggesting that SUBTLEX-CY corpus provides a more reliable estimate of Welsh word frequencies. The new Welsh word frequency database that also includes part-of-speech, contextual diversity, and other lexical information is freely available for research purposes on the Open Science Framework repository at https://osf.io/9gkqm/
Huw T. Edwards: British Labour and Welsh Socialism
No full textThis book is the first full-length biography in English of Huw T. Edwards (1929–70), a key figure in the Welsh labour movement who was known in the 1950s as the “unofficial Prime Minister of Wales.” Paul Ward explores Edwards’s working-class origins, his growing involvement with trade unions and other political activities, and his eventual place in the high reaches of the Welsh establishment, which included a role as Welsh representative to the BBC, a seat on the Welsh Tourist Board, and the presidency of the Welsh Language Society
Audiences' willingness to participate in Welsh-language media
No full textPhDContemporary media audiences expect to be able to interact with content, but in a minority language context, audience participation presents challenges related to audiences’ linguistic confidence. This thesis focuses on Wales, where media producers have suggested that audiences are often reluctant to interact with broadcast and online content in Welsh. To begin to understand this unwillingness, and how it might be overcome, the concept of willingness to participate (WTP) is coined as an extension of willingness to communicate (McCroskey & Baer 1985).
First, interviews with producers are analysed qualitatively to identify potential influences on audiences’ WTP. The analysis aims to assess the relative importance of various factors: audiences’ feelings of apprehension, self-perceived competence, language background and Welsh language ability, as well as the modality of participation (oral/written) and the level of demand placed on the audience.
Second, a questionnaire is designed and administered to 358 Welsh speakers, to examine audiences’ perceptions of different opportunities to participate in media content. A path model of WTP is proposed and tested using quantitative data from the survey. The results support the hypothesis that audiences’ apprehension and self-perceived competence predict WTP and that audience response varies according to the media context. While audiences’ Welsh language skills are important in explaining their WTP, other aspects of language background, such as Welsh language acquisition context, are found to be less important.
Third, the survey sample is grouped according to common patterns of WTP, to test whether the above effects are consistent across the population or whether different ‘types’ of audience exist. Using a combination of cluster analysis and thematic analysis of audience comments, four types of audience are proposed and described in detail. Finally, implications for sociolinguistic theory, language maintenance and media production practice are considered and recommendations made.Arts and Humanities Research Counci
Likelihood inference for small variance components
No full textIn this paper, we develop likelihood-based methods for making inferences about the components of variance in a general normal mixed linear model. In particular, we use local asymptotic approximations to construct confidence intervals for the components of variance when the components are close to the boundary of the parameter space. In the process, we explore the question of how to profile the restricted likelihood (REML), show that general REML estimates have a lower probability of being on the boundary than maximum likelihood estimates, and show that the likelihood-ratio test based on the local asymptotic approximation has higher power against local alternatives than the likelihood-ratio test based on the usual chi-squared approximation. We explore the finite sample properties of the proposed intervals by means of a small simulation study
Clear red water? Devolved education policy and the Welsh news media audience
No full textPreprint submitted to Participations, 2012.The long-running debate about the information gap between the Welsh voting public and the processes of devolution tends to revolve around structural, cultural and economic deficiencies in the media. However, there is little empirical evidence for assertions about the effects of these alleged deficiencies on public opinion, which typically argue that an inadequate news media fails to properly inform Welsh residents about the evolution of, and rationale for, devolved policy. The earlier work of Thomas, Jewell and Cushion (2003) examined the public consumption of news about Welsh Assembly elections, finding that ‘very substantial’ proportions of the population consumed little or no news relating to devolved politics. But fewer attempts have been made to examine the ways in which audiences understand specific areas of devolved policy via the media. This article focuses on a key area of devolved decision-making, education, and attempts to quantify that alleged ‘disconnect’ through the use of focus groups in which the parents of children progressing through the foundation stage of a Welsh primary school (a key post-devolution policy difference) are questioned about their understanding of the main issues
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth : the making of a Welsh prince
No full textLlywelyn ab Iorwerth (1173-1140) has long been considered one of the leading heroes of Wales. The life and rule of Llywelyn, known as Llywelyn the Great, is explored in detail in this thesis. The grandson of Owain Gwynedd, ruler of North Wales from 1137-1170, Llywelyn grew up during the period of turmoil following Owain’s death. After wresting control of Gwynedd from his rival family members in the latter decade of the 12th century, he proceeded to gain recognition as the foremost representative of Wales on the political stage.
Although viewed as a legendary hero in Welsh history, poetry and culture, Llywelyn's route to power is more complex than that. The thesis explores the development of the man from rebel and warlord, to leader and spokesman, to statesman, traces the expansion of his hegemony throughout Wales, and discusses the methods he used to gain and maintain power. Particular attention is paid to his use of family, marriage, allies, rivals and the church to achieve his goals. These insights can be derived from the surviving charters, letters, and other acta of Llywelyn and the Royal Chancery of England, the titles accorded therein, Welsh and English chronicles, as well as, occasionally, Venedotian Poetry. Finally, this thesis seeks to address the limitations on Llywelyn’s successes, in light of succeeding events and concludes with a discussion of Llywelyn’s legendary status in the modern world
A critical evaluation of linguistic minorities from a postmodern perspective: the case of Welsh
No full textMy aim in this thesis is to consider language policy and minority languages from the viewpoint of postmodernism – a theoretical framework that has much to offer beyond mere explanation and support for the concepts of diversity and pluralism. I argue there is a shortage of texts that interrogate language policy from a postmodern perspective – notwithstanding the contributions of a relatively small group of linguists including Pennycook (2000, 2006), Wright (2000, 2004), Cameron (1995) and Edwards (1985-2003). Thus, I combine some arguments from the domain of postmodernism articulated by theorists such as Foucault (1980), Lyotard (1997), and Connor (2004) with other arguments from the fields of language policy, language ideology and minority language rights formulated by theorists such as Phillipson (1993, 2003), Crystal (2000, 2003).In the first chapter I consider how language policy and planning has developed as a subject of academic inquiry since World War II. In the second chapter I focus on a primary objective for language policymakers, namely minority language maintenance. I conclude that characteristics and trends associated with postmodernism are neither wholly supportive nor wholly unsupportive of minority language maintenance. In the third chapter, I concentrate on the minority language Welsh, tentatively concluding that a truly bilingual Wales is not achievable. In this fourth chapter, I analyse findings from my ethnographic research into Welsh language usage in Newport. I tentatively conclude once more that the Welsh Assembly Government’s bilingual objective is unachievable. Finally, I argue that postmodernism is a useful theoretical perspective for academics in the field of language policy and planning
A review of databases and other statistical sources reporting ethnic group and their potential to enhance the evidence base on health promotion
No full textThe Health ASERT Programme Wales is a research programme commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government to investigate health promotion issues among Minority Ethnic Groups, Refugees/Asylum seekers, and Gypsy Travellers. The acronym ASERT stands for Asylum Seekers, Ethnic minorities, Refugees and Travellers. Research was undertaken by the Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University and the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent at Canterbury between February 2003 and March 2004. The study aimed to enhance the evidence base on health promotion issues related to minority ethnic groups, refugees/asylum seekers and Gypsy Travellers in Wales in
order to inform policy and programme development in the Welsh Assembly Government’s Health Promotion Division (now known as Health Improvement Division) and elsewhere in the Public Health and Health Professions Department. The study objectives were to: identify
gaps in the existing evidence base of health needs and health promotion issues for the study groups; identify existing good practice of health services and promotion for the study groups; explore ways of delivering health promotion policy/programmes targeting these groups in a
culturally and socially sensitive manner; identify issues for further research
Stanley L. Welsh Record Books: Botanical Collections
No full textAbstract
This work attempts to present data available previously only in a set of bound field books in which location data was recorded along with numbers assigned to plant collections taken at the places cited. The record begins in 1953 and has been added to in all subsequent years including 2012. The records give indication of the species collected and of the localities where they were taken. Nomenclature has been updated in some instances where changes in names allow interpretation of early collections wherein names were derived from publications then out of date, but not in all instances. Especially not changed are the most modern ones wherein persons overwhelmed with the importance of modern technology have thrust that supposed importance ahead of common sense. The work is in three parts, the first deals with the record books per se, the second with the names of plants collected, and/or named by Welsh alone or in conjunction with others, or by others in conjunction with Welsh; and the third is a photo gallery of some of the people involved. Named as new in Part II is Lupinus higginsii S. L. Welsh, N. D. Atwood, & L. Johnson, sp. nov.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
The Record Books (32 total, spanning 1953–2012)
Contents by Year (1953–2012)
Selected References
Index of Place Names
Index of People’s Names
Part II. List of Plant Taxa Collected by and/or named by S.L. Welsh and Collaboratorshttps://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mlbm/1052/thumbnail.jp
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