Aberystwyth shares research and experiences with Hakka speaking community

Members of the Hakka community from Taiwan during their visit to Aberystwyth University to learn about the work being done to promote the Welsh language.

Members of the Hakka speaking community in Taiwan visited Aberystwyth University on Thursday 19 October to learn about research and practical experiences of promoting the use of Welsh.

The University's leading academics gave presentations on the areas of statutory and vocational education and the Welsh language along with the latest research into language revival. Also featured was the work of Mudiad Meithrin in the early years sector.

The visit was led by members of the Hakka Affairs Council whose mission is to revitalise the Hakka language and culture, and become a global centre for Hakka cultural research and exchange.

Centred mainly in the north-west of Taiwan, there are around 4.5 million Hakka people living in the country, accounting for around 20% of the population of 23 million.

One in two of the Hakka population speak the Hakka language, but amongst children the percentage is as low as 13%, mostly learning the language in schools.

Whilst there are Hakka speakers also in China, Malaysia and Indonesia, the language is categorised as endangered.

The Hakka Affairs Council's Department of Language Development is tasked with building Hakka language infrastructure and strengthening minority ethnic language promotion.

The delegation to Aberystwyth included leading educators and decision-makers in Taiwan who are interested in mother-tongue and bilingual education at all levels.

The 49 strong delegation included Mr Kuo-Sung Sun, the Deputy Director of the Department of Language Development and Mr Kuan-Ting Liu, the Executive of the Department of Language, of the Hakka Affairs Council along with professors, headteachers and teachers from nursery to university levels.

Dr Rhodri Llwyd Morgan, Director of Welsh Language, Culture and External Engagement hosted the visit. Dr Morgan said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the delegation from Taiwan and to have the opportunity to learn about the Hakka language and people, and to share the work that is being done at Aberystwyth and more widely in Wales to promote the use of Welsh. I very much hope that the visit will offer supporters of Hakka ideas for promoting the language, particularly amongst young people. The challenges faced by the Welsh language are reflected by other languages across the world and learning about the experiences of others is important as we develop our work here to broaden the appeal and use of Welsh.”

During their two-day visit to Aberystwyth, the delegation also went to Penweddig and Plascrug schools which provided an insight into bilingual education at both primary and secondary levels.

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