Page 100 - 《客語及少數族群語言政策》附錄_少數語言法律
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1. Language transmission in the family
In transmitting Welsh to their children in the home, parents/carers can provide a beneficial
basis for their children’s linguistic development.
Research into the factors influencing Welsh language transmission and use in the home has
explored aspects such as the Welsh language ability of the parents, the role of attitudes towards
Welsh and English, and the pragmatic elements of managing one or more languages in the
household. Research undertaken by Gathercole et al. (2007) found that the factors appearing to be
the most significant in influencing the language spoken by the child and spoken by parents to
the child included parents’ linguistic background and the parents’ ability in Welsh (which was
highly correlated with a number of factors including use of Welsh with friends and close social
networks). In this respect, there is a clear link with the second theme of this strategy, which
discusses the development of social opportunities for adults and families to use Welsh. Recently
published research (Welsh Government 2017b) shows that language use and transmission are
personal and complex issues, and suggests how Welsh speakers’ orientation towards the use of the
language can change over time.
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