Skip to main content

Language, Policy and Planning Research Unit

The Language, Policy and Planning Research Unit (LPPRU) was created early in 2005. Our emphasis is on understanding the social, economic and environmental implications of language over both time and space.

The Language, Policy and Planning Research Unit (LPPRU) was created early in 2005 to formalise the long established research interest within the School of Welsh in the fields of language policy analysis, development of new methodologies and behavioural studies.

The Unit aims to be at the leading edge in national and international language-planning developments. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the social, economic and environmental implications of language over both time and space. The Unit's work ranges in geographic scale from the local to the global whilst the full spectrum of quantitative and qualitative research techniques is deployed.

Aims

The LPPRU is an interdisciplinary unit that:

  • undertakes research on language policy and planning issues
  • supervises and teaches at MA, MPhil and PhD level
  • fosters university-wide networks and outreach work within the international policy community

Our research is organised around six themes:

  • the Welsh language
  • language politics, activism and conflict resolution
  • language rights and status
  • language policy, governance and the State
  • linguistic diversity and multiculturalism
  • behaviour change.

Staff research (highlights)

Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

Research monograph entitled The Welsh Language Commissioner in Context: Roles, Methods and Relationships, arising from the unit’s recent ESRC sponsored project on language commissioner.

Reviews for Professor Mac Giolla Chríost's monograph:

"A key question in language policy is the effectiveness of central management. In this book, a pioneering and highly documented account of the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner in attempting to regulate the statutory provisions of recent legislation concerning the language, the author has provided a balanced account of the complexities of the process and the many competing interests involved."

Emeritus Professor Bernard Spolsky, Bar-Ilan University.

"This detailed, scholarly and robust examination of the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner is essential reading for anyone with an interest in language rights, democratic scrutiny and law-making in Wales. Drawing on comparative research, the author casts a sharp and critical eye on one of the principal achievements of the Welsh legislature since its inception, and confronts misconceptions and false precepts with ruthless precision. In particular, this book exposes the potentially conflicting demands made of the Welsh Language Commissioner in fulfilling a regulatory role within the constitutional and legislative terms of reference, and championing the demands and expectations of the Welsh-speaking community. A paragon of policy analysis, it provides anyone with an interest in the maturing of Welsh democracy with a valuable but cautionary tale."

Professor R. Gwynedd Parry, Swansea University.

"In this extremely timely volume Diarmait Mac Giolla Chriost provides a detailed and systematic analysis of the Office of the Welsh Language Commissioner, as well other key aspects of the 2011 Welsh Language Measure. It includes numerous insights that should be of interest to academic researchers working in the fields of language planning and language law, as well as broader as fields such as public administration and public policy analysis. Moreover, it highlights a series of important recommendations that demand careful consideration by those responsible for policy and legislation relating to the Welsh language."

Dr Huw Lewis, Aberystwyth University

Postgraduate research

Current PhD students supervised by staff of the Unit:

Selection of recently awarded PhD degrees

Current research projects

Current and recent research projects undertaken by the LPPRU include a major ESRC sponsored project on the Office of Language Commissioner in Wales, Ireland and Canada (2012-15).

Further information on this project can also be found via the ESRC research catalogue and the Research Councils UK Gateway to Research.

LPPRU also completed a Welsh Government sponsored review of micro-level language planning activities and policy in Wales (2013-14). A copy of the final report is available to read as part of the University’s commitment to open access.

Further information can be be found via the Welsh Government website while the Welsh Government response can be viewed via BBC Cymru Fyw (Welsh language only).

Impact

The research of the LPPRU has had considerable imapct on public life, most notably in the field of language law. You can read about our impact in this field through the Reframing Language Law in Wales impact case study. This case study can also be found via the Research Excellence Framework 2014 website.

Co-Director

Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

Director of Postgraduate Research Studies

Welsh speaking
Email
macgiollachriostd@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 9180

Academic staff

Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

Director of Postgraduate Research Studies

Welsh speaking
Email
macgiollachriostd@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 9180
Professor Colin H Williams

Professor Colin H Williams

Honorary Professor

Welsh speaking
Email
williamsch@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 0413
Dr Iwan Wyn Rees

Dr Iwan Wyn Rees

Senior Lecturer and Director of the Cardiff Centre for Welsh American Studies

Welsh speaking
Email
reesiw2@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)29 2087 4843
Dr Jonathan Morris

Dr Jonathan Morris

Director of Research

Welsh speaking
Email
morrisj17@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone
+44(0) 29 2087 7266

Postgraduate students

These are a selection of recent events in which Unit researchers have participated.

2016

2015

2014