Dr Jonathan Morris

Biography

I completed a BA in French and German Studies, MA in Languages and Linguistics, and PhD in Linguistics from the University of Manchester. During my undergraduate degree, I spent time at the University of Bourgogne (Dijon, France) and Basel University (Switzerland). My early work focussed on the relationship between language and identity in the German-speaking countries.

I began work on Welsh sociolinguistics and phonetics (sociophonetics) during my Master’s degree and my PhD examines the influence of linguistic and social factors in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals.

I joined the School of Welsh as a research assistant in 2012. Before moving to Cardiff, I worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Manchester and as a lecturer in Welsh at Coleg Cambria, Wrexham. I have also worked as a research assistant on projects funded by the ESRC and British Academy.

Between September 2014 and August 2019, I was the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Lecturer in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the School of Welsh. Since then, I have been Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Welsh Language.

Honours and awards

• Shortlisted for the ‘Innovating Across Borders’ category, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Associate Lecturers Awards, 2019.
• Shortlisted for Most Innovative Member of Staff Award, Cardiff University, 2016.

Professional memberships

• British Association of Applied Linguists
• British Association of Academic Phoneticians
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Departmental & University Service

• Director of Research (School of Welsh)
• Co-Organiser of the Multilingualism Research Network
• Co-Organiser of the Sociolinguistics Reading Group

Publications

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Teaching

Teaching at Cardiff University

I teach (or have taught) modules on the Welsh language and linguistics. These include:

• Sgiliau Llafar yn y Gymraeg (Oral Skills in Welsh)
• Defnyddio'r Gymraeg (Using the Welsh Language)
• Cyflwyniad i'r Gymraeg (Introduction to the Welsh Language)
• Diwylliant y Gymraeg (Culture of the Welsh Language)
• Yr Ystafell Ddosbarth (The Classroom)

I have been module leader on the following modules:

• Y Gymraeg yn y Gymru Gyfoes (The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales)
• Cymraeg y Gweithle a'r Gymuned (Welsh in the Workplace and Community)
• Yr Iaith Ar Waith (The Language at Work)
• Sosioieithyddiaeth (Sociolinguistics)
• Caffael Iaith (Language Acquisition)
• Blas ar Ymchwil (BA Research Project)
• Ymchwilio Estynedig (BA Dissertation)

I also teach on the MA in Welsh and Celtic Studies and deliver training to PhD students on data analysis in linguistics.

Previous Teaching in English Language and Linguistics

I have taught on the following modules in English language and linguistics:

• Introduction to Phonology
• Discourse Analysis
• Societal Multilingualism
• English Dialects

Previous Teaching of Welsh for Adult Learners

I have taught on the following courses for adults who are learning Welsh:

• National Sabbatical Scheme for Welsh Language Training
• Welsh in the Workplace (Further Education)
• GCSE Welsh Second Language (Further Education)
• Welsh for Adults

Research Themes

Language Variation and Change in bilinguals' speech

My research focuses primarily on language variation and change in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals. A number of societal developments in the twentieth century have changed the demographics of Welsh speakers. Firstly, inward migration and language shift have resulted in a decline in the number of speakers who acquire Welsh in the home, particularly in traditionally Welsh-speaking areas. Secondly, the establishment of Welsh-medium education has meant an increase in ‘new speakers’ of Welsh across Wales. The aim of my research has been to examine the extent to which linguistic and extra-linguistic factors (such as sex, proportion of Welsh speakers in the community, and home language) influence phonetic and phonological variation in both English and Welsh. The work therefore takes a sociolinguistic approach to bilingualism and second language acquisition and compares how speakers produce their two languages. More recently, I have been looking at how speakers evaluate Welsh accents (with Robert Mayr and Ianto Gruffydd), the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence among young people in Welsh-medium education (with Mercedes Durham and Katharine Young), and stylistic variation in the bilingual repertoire.

The sociology of bilingualism

I am also interested in the sociology of language. I have published on attitudes towards Welsh and use of the language amongst young people in two towns in North Wales and I was part of a Welsh Government-funded research project on the transmission of Welsh. Another focus of this research strand is how identities intersect. For example, I have been working on a project which examines the experiences of LGBTQ+ speakers of Welsh and the way in which their identities influence each other (with Sam Parker).

The acquisition of Welsh as a second language

I published an article on Welsh for Adults tutors' attitudes towards learners' speech (with Iwan Wyn Rees) and have also examined speech production in adult learners. More broadly, I am interested in the influence of social and psychological factors on second language acquisition among children and adult learners of Welsh.

Resources and digital infrastructure

I have worked on a number of projects which have created Welsh-language resources and contribute towards digital infrastructure in the language. I have also led on projects to create Welsh reading and spelling tests as well as a digital thesaurus.

• National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh (led by Dawn Knight)
• ACC: Welsh Automatic Text Summarisation with Dawn Knight and Mo El-Haj  and Ignatius Ezeani.
• Central South Consortium Welsh Reading Test with Rosanna Stenner , Geraint Palmer, and Dylan Foster Evans.
• Watch Your Welsh website with Leandro Beltrachini, Mara Cercignani, Iwan Wyn Rees, Andreas Papageorgiou, and Ivor Simpson.

Current Projects

• The social evaluation of Welsh accents with Robert Mayr and Ianto Gruffydd.
• Social and psychological factors influencing Welsh learners' attitudes with Charlotte Brookfield.
• ThACC: Online Thesaurus of Contemporary Welsh with Dawn Knight, Mo El-Haj and Elin Arfon.
• Central South Consortium Welsh Spelling Test with Rosanna Stenner , Geraint Palmer, and Dylan Foster Evans.

Supervision

I am eager to hear from postgraduate research students who are interested in the following areas:

• Sociolinguistics
• Language Variation and Change
• Sociology of Language
• Bilingualism
• Second Language Acquisition
• Phonetics and phonology

Current supervision

Past projects

• Ianto Gruffydd (2022)
• Ben Screen (2018)