‘If we don’t study the language, the history will be lost’: motivation to learn Welsh in Argentine Patagonia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the motivations of learners studying Welsh in the city of Esquel, Argentine Patagonia. Welsh is considered a heritage immigrant language in this region, given the fact that a group of Welsh settlers arrived in 1865 and established successful settlements. After a flourishing period, the process of acculturation reduced the number of Welsh speakers. However, through different projects, Welsh has started to grow in the community by attracting Argentines with and without Welsh roots to learn the language. Framed as a qualitative study, this article presents the findings that emerged from in-depth interviews with ten adult and young learners at a local Welsh learning centre in Esquel. Based on the qualitative data collected and on complementary theories of language learning motivation, it may be concluded that for the participants motivation is driven by family and community-driven interests in language maintenance and revitalisation. Also, integrative orientation, influenced by the official narrative of overrepresenting the Welsh in Patagonia (Berg, K. 2018. “Chubut, Argentina: A Contested Welsh ‘First-Place’.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 24: 154–166. doi:10.1080/13527258.2016.1274667), was identified as influential.

KEYWORD:

• Heritage language
• motivation
• Welsh
• Patagonia
• rooted L2 self

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the journal editor and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and feedback. Special thanks go to Llewelyn Hopwood and Sophie Breen for their comments on previous versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Darío Luis Banegas

Darío Luis Banegas is a lecturer in TESOL at the University of Strathclyde (UK) and an associate fellow with the University of Warwick (UK). In Argentina, he leads online courses on English language teacher education. His main interests are CLIL, action research, and language teacher education.

Grisel Roberts

Grisel Roberts is an English language teacher educator at ISFD N° 809, and teacher of Welsh in Esquel (Argentina). Her main interests are supporting student-teachers English language proficiency and the promotion of Welsh language learning in Patagonia.