Christina Balaska
Family Language Policy in Arabic-speaking Immigrant and Refugee Families in Greece: An Exploration of Parental Ideologies and Identity Formation.
Biography
Christina completed a BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Athens and a Master’s degree in Education Management and Leadership at the University of Roehampton. More recently, Christina has completed an MRes in Italian Studies at the University of Liverpool, conducting a sociolinguistics project entitled: Family Language Policy in Italian Transnational Families in the UK: Parental Ideologies and Language Management Challenges.
Outside academia, Christina has taught English for Academic Purposes in UK universities including UCL Institute of Education, Coventry University London and Liverpool John Moores University.
Research Interests
In her research, Christina investigates Family Language Policy (FLP) in Arabic-speaking immigrant and refugee families that have arrived in Greece post-2015 as a result of the political unrest in the Middle East. The investigation focuses on how the migratory experiences of the parents have influenced their linguistic practices and the ethnolinguistic identity of their children highlighting the complexities that parents and their children face in transnational spaces. Qualitative research methods will be employed to study the linguistic practices and language ideologies of the participants including sociolinguistic questionnaires, observations, and interviews. This sociolinguistic study aims at expanding the theoretical development of the sociolinguistics of globalisation and transnational approaches to the study of FLP among immigrant families. Christina’s objective is to influence current discourses on migration in Greece and inform policy making.
Christina’s wider research interests include language attitudes and ideologies, language politics, transnationalism, and immigration.