summarized the content of each presentation at the end. However, it became
apparent during the discussion that followed that this arrangement had not
been sufficient to enable one of the English-medium students to understand
the Welsh presentations.
During interviews, eight Welsh-medium students expressed the opinion
that presenting in Welsh was futile if some of the listeners did not under-
stand them, although six others were willing to present in Welsh. A lecturer
asked one group of students to give a bilingual presentation before a mixed
audience. However, the students were unsure of how to proceed and even-
tually presented in English, using bilingual PowerPoint slides. Six of the
English-medium students found listening to Welsh presentations difficult.
Two other sessions of student presentations were observed, during which
an official simultaneous translation service was provided by the University.
These are considered below.
Simultaneous translation
This was an experiment introduced by Bangor University’s Translation
Unit in 2008 to facilitate the expansion of Welsh-medium provision.
Following a discussion between the University’s Welsh Development Officer,
staff from the Translation Unit and staff from the research project, it was
decided to provide simultaneous translation during student presentations. It
had become apparent that this was an aspect of bilingual classes that could
pose a problem.
Two lecturers were keen to take advantage of the new provision. During
2008/9, two sessions were observed where some students presented through
the medium of Welsh, while a simultaneous translation service was provided
for the English-medium students.
The interpreter was present for an hour in the first session, and the lec-
turer was able to speak Welsh throughout this period, as his comments as
well as the students’ presentations were translated. Following the presenta-
tions, the lecturer gave the students feedback in Welsh. Welsh was the pre-
ferred language of all the Welsh-medium students while the interpreter was
present. When the interpreter left, presentations by the English-medium
students followed. After each presentation, the lecturer provided feedback in
English and then questioned the group bilingually. The Welsh-medium stu-
dents contributed to the class discussion in English.
There was an obvious change in the language spoken by the lecturer and
the Welsh-medium students following the interpreter ’s departure. The lec-
turer ’s strategy after that was to speak Welsh from time to time and ask
questions in Welsh in order to include the Welsh-medium students in that
part of the session. The simultaneous translation certainly facilitated the
flow of presentations and discussion in the first part of the lecture.
In the second session in which the simultaneous translation service was
used, the interpreter was present for ten minutes as only one student wished
Bilingualism in Higher Education 189