1718 Bilingualism in Higher
Education
W. Gwyn Lewis and Hunydd Andrews
This chapter discusses aspects of bilingual teaching and learning in higher
education, with a particular focus on higher education in Wales. Commencing
with a brief overview of the growth of Welsh-medium and bilingual educa-
tion in the primary and secondary schools of Wales during the last 60 years,
it goes on to focus on the continuity and progression to higher education. It
aims at defining different types of bilingual provision within Welsh higher
education, concentrating on the results of a research project into teaching
and learning in a bilingual setting at Bangor University’s School of Education.
The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications for implement-
ing successful strategies in bilingual settings that impact positively on the
learning experiences of students.
The chapter addresses the following issues:
- teaching and learning in bilingual settings in higher education
- lecturers’ approach to bilingual teaching
- language balance in lectures
- implications of classroom organization
- students’ language choice and lecturers’ response
- student presentations in bilingual settings
- simultaneous translation
- perceived strengths and weaknesses of bilingual lectures
- attitudes of lecturers and students to bilingual provision
- lecturers’ training
- impact of the research project.
Introduction
The growth of Welsh-medium and bilingual education in the primary
and secondary schools of Wales is one of the most remarkable develop-
ments in the country’s education system during the second half of the 20th