Colloquium
Education and Minority Language Loss: An Examination of Welsh and the 1870 Education Act
Dr. Ben Milner, Economics, University of Alberta
Date: Friday, February 25, 2025
Time: 3:00-4:15pm, MST
Place: SAB 3-36
Zoom link: https://ualberta-ca. zoom.us/j/95653733165?pwd= bPK1PYWesinDTmuMZIIa9t3Ful4ESd .1
Meeting ID: 956 5373 3165
Passcode: 643183
Empirical work using the causal tools of econometrics to examine the effects of language policy is rare. The present paper steps into this gap by studying how the 1870 introduction of compulsory English education in Wales affected the propensity to speak Welsh. Using individual-level census data and a difference-in-differences design, I find that those treated were less likely to become monoglot Welsh speakers in adulthood. Surprisingly, treatment initially increased the total number of Welsh speakers, likely due to increased socialization between Welsh- and English-speaking children in schools, making cross-cultural marriage more likely. This effect reversed within a generation, however, with the children of the treated less likely to speak Welsh.