As part of my PhD project, I will be evaluating the effectiveness of the Routes into Languages Cymru project, an extra-curricular modern languages intervention that has been running in Wales since 2008.

The research is set within a context of a ‘language learning crisis’ in the UK, with a decline in the number of students choosing to study languages beyond the age of 14. This is despite policies such as the Welsh Government’s ‘Global Futures Strategy’, which aims to build a bilingual plus one nation.

Through my research I aim to investigate the current situation of language learning in Wales, compare Routes Cymru with initiatives elsewhere in the UK and abroad, and recommend ways to improve policy and practice in the future.