The Bangor International Conference on Bilingualism in Education takes place in Neuadd Reichel, Bangor University, Ffriddoedd Road, Bangor. The School of Education at Bangor University, North Wales, in conjunction with the Centre for Research in Bilingualism, is hosting its first International Conference on Bilingualism in Education 10–12 June, 2016, including a prestigious evening lecture to cele
brate the work of Professor Colin Baker. The conference is an opportunity for researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of disciplines to come together to discuss current issues relating to bilingualism within the education sector. The conference is sponsored by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. Located in the well-established bilingual community in the Welsh-English speaking area of North Wales, the new research centre will have an advantage in providing easy access to bilingual people and will allow an unprecedented concentration of effort on Welsh-English bilinguals as well as offering a springboard into other bilingual communities. The main objectives of the Centre are:
• to increase the understanding of bilingualism world-wide, as regards both the individual and the community;
• to build research capacity on bilingualism in the UK by developing a vibrant ‘laboratory’ for the study of bilingualism in action which aims to serve as a platform for interactions between bilingualism experts and junior researchers;
• to develop strong bidirectional links with practitioners and policy makers concerned with bilingualism in the UK, so as to ground research and theory in the needs of those users and ensure dissemination of research findings;
• To develop new collaborations between researchers on bilingualism at the University of Wales Bangor and bilingualism experts worldwide.
