Objectives

The general goal of the course series is to cover the indigenous minority languages of the British Isles, their main characteristics, their history, and their relation to the dominant majority language, English.

The central objectives of the course on Welsh are

• to familiarise participants with the Welsh language, and
• to enable participants to design a language documentation, description and learning project
• using the method of "Workable Efficient Language Documentation" (WELD).

The teaching methodology underlying the course is based on the following concepts:

• integration of elements of cultural studies and linguistics,
• project-based, constructivist approach to language learning,
• adult-education and life-long-learning oriented strategy.

The methods used in the course will be project-oriented, including

• web and library research into available resources on Welsh,
• analysis of digital recordings of Welsh,
• creation of a small multimedia Welsh dictionary,
• creation of an outline introduction to Welsh.

At the end of the course, participants will

• have a working knowledge of basic Welsh,
• be able to characterise Welsh grammar (including phonology, morphology and grammar) in linguistic terms,
• be able to describe the internal and external history of the Welsh language, including its interaction with English,
• have produced a multi-media document with the above information, the dictionary and the outline introduction.

No knowledge of Welsh or Wales is presupposed.

Basic background reading:

Gibbon, Dafydd & Stephan Gramley (2003). Sprachen der britischen Inseln. In: Dieter Metzing, ed., Sprachen in Europa: Sprachpolitik, Sprachkontakt, Sprachkultur, Sprachentwicklung, Sprachtypologie.. Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, pp. 75-80.