The Ulpan in Wales: A study in motivation

• Autores: Christine M. Jones
• Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 12, Nº. 3, 1991, págs. 183-193
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The Ulpan method of learning, devised originally to teach Hebrew to immigrants to the State of Israel, is used extensively in Wales in the teaching of Welsh to adults. An eight week four hundred hour intensive Welsh language course based on this method is held annually at St David's University College, Lampeter. During the summer of 1989 a questionnaire was distributed to all participants of the course to try and discover their motivation for learning Welsh and their reasons for choosing such an intensive course. In this paper the results of the questionnaire are discussed in detail and participants’ comments quoted at length. The motives associated with integration are shown to be of prime importance. Intensive instruction in an immersion setting was felt by the course participants to result in superior language proficiency, thus easing integration into the Welsh community. The author concludes that one cannot learn Welsh without entering in a significant way into the culture of Welsh‐Wales.