In minority language contexts, schools are constantly having to negotiate between the
competing demands of minority language maintenance on the one hand, and the all-encompassing privilege of English in certain subject areas on the other. This dilemma is
exacerbated in domains where English is seen to have a global tradition. Whilst the
prevalence of English in STEM-related fields is well established, less is understood about the
opportunities to study these subjects in languages other than English. Exploring the extent
to which an English bias may influence pupils’ conscious choices around the study of STEM-related subjects can help inform school language policies and practices. Likewise,
understanding how pupils negotiate the linguistic choice dilemma can help identify ways of
supporting pupils’ engagement with these subjects and help address some of the limitations
of a monolingual teaching approach for bilingual pupils. This study examined pupils’
likelihood of studying STEM-related subjects in Welsh-medium secondary schools in Wales,
their linguistic choices around these subjects and their attitudes towards learning such
subjects in English and/or in Welsh. The results revealed a general impression among pupils
of the importance of English for STEM, which, mediated by their own linguistic backgrounds,
abilities and experiences, influence pupils’ linguistic choices and desires to various extents,
particularly at the latter stages of education. Since the propensity towards monolingual
engagement with these subjects – in Welsh or in English – may limit the scope for
scaffolding their learning across languages and the benefits that incur, we propose
alternative bilingual approaches to STEM-related subject teaching