Etxepare Basque Institute and UWTSD welcome Dr Jaione Diaz Mazquiaran to the Alan R King Visiting Chair in Sociolinguistics
The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies is delighted to welcome Dr Jaione Diaz Mazquiaran to the Alan R King Chair in Sociolinguistics, in partnership with the Etxepare Basque Institute.
The Chair was founded in 2022, named after the eminent linguist, the late Dr Alan R. King, who contributed so much to the relationship between Wales and the Basque Country.
It offers a strategic opportunity for a scholar from the Basque Country to come to Wales to strengthen the exchange between the two countries and to share research and practice in the field of sociolinguistics and language planning, which is so important for both languages.
Dr Diaz Mazquiaran’s expertise is in Basque-medium education, focusing on policy and practice in schools in relation to pupils who come from immigrant families. As part of her residency, she delivered a lecture at the National Library entitled ‘Language, beliefs and belonging: pupils from migrant families in Basque-medium education’. The recording is available on the Celtic Centre’s YouTube website: Y Ganolfan Geltaidd / CAWCS - YouTube
In addition to the lecture, her work programme during her stay includes workshops, visits, presentations and seminars, including a session with the Postgraduate Certificate in Language Policy and Planning.
Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS said: “We’re delighted to welcome Dr Jaione Diaz Mazkiaran this year. She is a talented scholar who has studied in many universities across the world, and has recently completed a timely and significant piece of research. The Alan R King Chair is an opportunity for her to share these findings as well as to build collaborative opportunities for her future career.
The Alan R King Chair has proven to be pivotal in expanding and strengthening the contact between Welsh and Basque researchers in the field of sociolinguistics. The three previous Chairs, Dr Imanol Larrea (2022), Dr Harkaitz Zubiri (2023) and Dr Mike Gartziarena (2024) have continued to work closely with researchers across Wales as a result of their residency with us.”
Dr Monika Madinabeitia, Director for the Promotion of the Basque Language of Etxepare Basque Institute, said: “The Alan R. King Chair provides an outstanding platform for nurturing sustained academic exchange, collaborative research, and collective reflection on language policy and revitalisation strategies between the Welsh and Basque communities.”
Dr Jaione Diaz Mazkiaran, Alan R King Chair for 2025 said:
“Being awarded the Alan R. King Chair in Sociolinguistics 2025 has been an immensely rewarding experience for me as an early-career researcher and educator. It has provided a unique opportunity to share and discuss the findings of my PhD research in a multilingual context where Welsh, as a vibrant language, plays such a central role. Working within this environment has allowed me to engage with and learn from inspiring initiatives in language planning and revitalisation, to exchange ideas with colleagues, and to contribute to strengthening the links between the Basque Country and Wales.
Alongside my guest lecture and seminars, I am also learning Welsh, meeting stakeholders who promote and safeguard its use across different domains, and sharing perspectives and resources with local researchers. I am looking forward to visiting Canolfan Gwên, a language immersion centre in Carmarthenshire, to share the developments and challenges of language immersion in Wales and the Basque Country. I will also be observing Prosiect BRO fieldwork, in order to learn more about this comprehensive sociolinguistic survey of contemporary Welsh-speaking communities.
Visiting different parts of Wales and experiencing its rich cultural heritage has made this fellowship not only an academic milestone but also a profoundly personal and enriching journey.”
Notes for Editors
Contact: Prof Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS: elin.jones@uwtsd.ac.uk
1. The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) was established by the University of Wales in 1985 as a dedicated research centre conducting team-based projects on the languages, literatures, culture and history of Wales and the other Celtic countries. Its fields of research include Early Celtic Languages, Hagiography, Medieval Welsh Literature, Enlightenment and Romanticism in Wales and Europe, Welsh and British Name Studies, Welsh Lexicography, Literary Translation, Contemporary Sociolinguistics and Language Policy and Planning in Minoritized Languages. It is home the University of Wales Dictionary of the Welsh Language, which celebrated its centenary in 2021.
2. The Etxepare Basque Institute promotes collaboration in the areas of culture and academia with international partners (universities, cultural entities, festivals, art centres, etc.) to enhance the international presence and visibility of the Basque language and contemporary Basque creativity and to promote international cooperation and exchange.
3. The partnership between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the Etxepare Basque Institute was agreed in 2022 in order to establish the Alan R. King Chair in Sociolinguistics, named after the eminent linguist. It is an annual programme with the aim of setting a firm foundation for the relationship between Wales and the Basque Country in this priority field for both countries. The Alan R King Chair is one of ten themed Chairs supported by the Etxepare Basque Institute at universities across the world and the only one that focusses on language policy and planning.
4. The contribution of the late Dr. Alan R. King to the field spanned four decades, over several continents and he spoke over twenty languages including Nawatl, Hawai’ian, Hebrew, Basque and Welsh Throughout his life he used his extraordinary linguistic talent to make the learning of languages easier for others, by creating practical resources for minoritized and threatened languages. He was a member of Euskalzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language. Among his publications in English on Basque are ‘A Basque Course: A Complete Initiation to the Study of the Basque Language’ (1982), ‘The Basque Language: A practical Introduction’ (1994), ‘Colloquial Basque’ (1996), the latter with Begotxu Olaizola, with whom he taught Basque in Aberystwyth in the early 1990s. During this period he and Begotxu taught Basque to many Welsh people, holding Basque classes. They both learned Welsh fluently. He played a key part in facilitating the connections between Wales and the Basque Country, including working with Welsh delegations to the Basque Country, translating between the two languages and transferring ideas and best practice between the two communities.
5. The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies offers unique opportunities for postgraduate students to work alongside specialists in a dynamic and supportive environment. It is located in Aberystwyth, adjacent to the National Library of Wales, which is an internationally-renowned copyright library with excellent research facilities. We welcome enquiries about MPhil/PhD topics in any of our research areas. For more information about research opportunities, or for an informal chat about possible topics, contact our Head of Graduate Studies, Dr Elizabeth Edwards: e.edwards@wales.ac.uk
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