Siân Wynn Lloyd-Williams

Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Lecturer in Education and Childhood Studies
BA, Communication (University of Wales, Bangor);
BSc, Psychology with Child and Language Development (Bangor University);
MA, Linguistics (Bangor University); currently completing a PhD in Education (Bangor University) Photograph of Siân Wynn Lloyd-Williams.

Contact

Email: sil22@aber.ac.uk
Office: Ysgol Addysg a Dysgu Gydol Oes/ School of Education and Lifelong Learning Room 1.32 P5,Penglais Campus Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth SY23 3UZ
Phone: 8527

Responsibilities

Welsh Medium Provision, tutoring a supervision of final year dissertations

Teaching Areas

Study Skills

Psychology of Learning and Thinking

Young Children Learning

Child Development

Early Years Provision

Research

Siân’s personal research includes aspects relating to language acquisition, dyslexia, assessment, code-switching and language maintenance. The work she completed with children with language disorders attempted to address the need to provide assessments for children in their first language when diagnosing specific disorders such as dyslexia. Unfortunately there continues to be a significant lack of resources in this area especially within the context of minority languages ​​such as Welsh. The purpose of this research was to identify those qualities of language can cause particular problems for children with language disorders, such as dyslexia, that would enable teachers/practitioners to identify any potential disorder earlier (Thomas, EM & Lloyd, SW, 2008 ). This is crucial in the context of the Welsh language where children (who are educated in Welsh) are not introduced to the English language until year 3. She hopes to address some of the results of this research in the future.

While working at the Bilingualism Centre with the corpus based research group at the center of Bilingualism she looked specifically at how individuals switched between languages, these languages included code switching in English / Welsh (Wales), Spanish / English (Miami) and Spanish / Welsh (Patagonia). She also conducted a study on the use of code-switching amongst bilingual English / Welsh speakers. This research focused on comparing the percentage of English used by different individuals in Welsh conversations and the short and long-term implications this may have for language maintenance (Lloyd-Williams, SW & Deuchar, M., in preparation).

Her present research looks at how bilingual English / Welsh children acquire complex structures in a minority language such as Welsh. In particular she’s looking at the Welsh answering system, a complex system where children are required to learn and use system that includes echo and non-echo forms. This research includes data from approximately 150 bilingual English / Welsh children and adds and expands on previous research on complex structures in the Welsh language. This research considers in more detail the different theories relating to language acquisition in a bilingual context and second language learners. In addition, the research highlights the need for structured assessments / test intervention / support resources to promote  Welsh / English children’s use of complex systems accurately and effectively.

Biography

Siân completed her first degree In Communication at Bangor University in 2001 and spent the next few years working in the media industry. She returned to Bangor University in 2004 and graduated in 2007 in Psychology with Child and Language Development. She completed an MA in Linguistics at Bangor University in 2008 whilst working as an assistant researcher at the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice with the Corpus-based research group where she’s also a research fellow. She went on to undertake (and is in the process of completing) a PhD at the department of education and Lifelong Learning at Bangor University, where she also undertook various lecturing responsibilities. Her doctoral research looks at ‘The effect of language input on Welsh/English bilingual children’s use of the Welsh Answering System’. Siân started her current lecturing position in the department of Education and Lifelong Learning at Aberystwyth University in September 2012.

Staff Links

Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol is a national institution for planning, supporting and developing Welsh medium education within the HE sector.

Bilingualism Centre

Additional Interests

Presentations at Conferences/Seminars

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Thomas, E.M. (2012). Bilingual acquisition of opaque structures in Welsh: the case of the Welsh answering system. Presented at the British Association of Applied Linguistics international conference, Southampton University, Southampton, UK, 6-8 of September.

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Thomas, E.M. (2012). “Do, oes, gwnaf, ia, wyt...? Adnabod yr angen i addysgu’r ffurfiau niferus o ‘ie’ a ‘na’ yn Gymraeg yn yr ysgol gynradd.” Presented at ‘A Child’s World’ International Conference. Aberystwyth University, 27-29 June.

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Thomas, E.M. (2012). ‘"How do I answer thee? Let me count the ways!": bilingual acquisition of the multiple forms of the yes / no answering system in Welsh'. Presented at a seminar for the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice, Bangor University, 25 of June.

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Thomas, E.M. (2012). ‘"How do I answer thee? Let me count the ways!": bilingual acquisition of the multiple forms of the yes / no answering system in Welsh'. Presented at the ‘Celtic Linguistics Conference'’ Rennes University,  Rennes, Brittany, France 22-23 of June.

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Thomas, E.M. (2012). “Do, oes, gwnaf, ia, wyt...? Bilingual acquisition of the multiple forms of the ‘yes’/ ‘no’ answering system in Welsh”. Presented at Bilingual & Multilingual Interaction Conference in Bangor, North Wales 31March–1 April.

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. (2012). “Ceisio hyrwyddo agwedd ddofn tuag at ddysgu ymysg myfyrwyr drwy hybu sgiliau ymchwilio” Presented at a PGcertTHE one day conference at Bangor University, 28 of March.McAlister, K. T. & Lloyd, S. W. (2010) “Acquisition and education factors in the use of English in Welsh-English speech” Presented at ‘Multilingual Individuals and Multilingual Societies’ conference, Hamburg, Germany, 6 – 8 of October.

McAllister, K.  &  Lloyd-Williams, S.W. (2009). Age-related factors affecting the use of English in Welsh-English speech. Presented at the ‘7th International Symposium on Bilingualism’ in Utrecht 8-11 of July.

Lloyd, S. W. & Deuchar, M. (2009). The effect of input and medium of education on code-switching by Welsh-English bilinguals. Poster presented at the ‘7th International Symposium on Bilingualism’ in Utrecht 8-11 of July.

Lloyd, S. W  & Thomas, E. M. (2009). ‘Developing Language-appropriate task items’. Presented at  ‘Assessment, Management and Intervention for EAL Children with Speech, Language and Communication Disorders’ one day conference. Newcastle University, England, 25of June.

Lloyd, S.W. & Deuchar, M. (2009). Effaith mewnbwn ieithyddol a chyfrwng addysg ar gyfnewid cod ymysg siaradwyr dwyieithog Cymraeg/Saesneg (The effect of language input and medium of education on code-switching by Welsh-English bilinguals). Presented at ‘Beyond Boundaries/Tu Hwnt i Ffiniau’ postgraduate conference. Bangor University, 22-23 of January.

Lloyd, S.W. & Deuchar, M. (2009). The effect of language input and medium of education on code-switching by Welsh-English bilinguals. Presented at a seminar for the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice, Bangor University, 19TH of January.

Thomas, E. M. & Lloyd, S. W. (2008). ‘Dyslexia and the Welsh Language’. Presented at the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) International, 'Dyslexia: Making Links'. Harrogate, UK, 27-29 of March..

Lloyd, S. W. & Thomas, E. M. (2007). Datblygu Prawf Rhagarweiniol ar gyfer plant dyslecsig sy’n siarad Cymraeg (Developing a Screening tool for Dyslexic children who speak Welsh). Presented at a seminar for the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice, Bangor University, 8 October.

Lloyd, S. W. & Thomas, E. M. (2007). Datblygu Prawf Rhagarweiniol ar gyfer plant dyslecsig sy’n siarad Cymraeg (Developing a Screening tool for Dyslexic children who speak Welsh). Presented at The Bangor Dyslexia Unit one day conference, ‘Dyslexia - A Matter of Words’. Bangor University, 9June.

Additional activities

  • Research fellow for the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice.
  • Consultant for ‘Gwasg Gomer’(Gomer press), for a dictionary of Welsh terms currently being reviewed. Assessing and offering feedback on the correct/incorrect use of terms in the field of Psychology.
  • GL Assessment Project – assessing the effectiveness of using a translated version of the ‘Cognitive Abilities Test 4’ in Welsh.

Staff Publications

Lloyd-Williams, S.W., Thomas, E.M. & Young, N. (in preparation). Adnabod camgymeriadau llythrennedd cyffredinol ymysg plant dwyieithog Cymraeg/Saesneg : Yr angen i gefnogi plant o gartrefi di-gymraeg. (To be published in Gwerddon).

Lloyd-Williams, S.W. & Deuchar, M. (in preparation). Age-related factors affecting the use of English in Welsh-English speech.

Deuchar, M., Lloyd, S. W. & Parafita, M. C. (2008). Bilingualism in Wales: Bangor Centre for Research on Bilingualism. Interpret Wales, 9, p.14-15.

Deuchar, M., Lloyd, S. W. & Parafita, M. C. (2008). Dwyieithrwydd yng Nghymru: Canolfan dros Ymchwil i Ddwyieithrwydd Bangor. Dehongli Cymru, 9, t.14-15.

Thomas, E. M. & Lloyd, S. W. (2008). Developing Language-appropriate task items for identifying literacy difficulties in Welsh-speaking children. Dyslexia Review, 20(1), pp 4-9.