- Enhancing children’s early language and emergent literacy in a Greek pre-kindergarten heritage language classroom through a translingual and transcultural stance Lytra, Vally; Darzenta, Katerina; Atzemian, Myrto and Eleftheriou Kapartis, Maria. 2023. Enhancing children’s early language and emergent literacy in a Greek pre-kindergarten heritage language classroom through a translingual and transcultural stance. Babylonia, 1 2023, pp. 58-63. ISSN 1420-0007
- Developing an Evaluation Framework for Analysing Educational Simulation Games Slyman, Souad; Gillies, Marco and Lytra, Vally. 2022. Developing an Evaluation Framework for Analysing Educational Simulation Games. Proceedings of the 16th European Conference on Games Based Learning, 16(1), pp. 526-534. ISSN 2049-0992
- Use of technology in homes, schools, and communities in times of rapid change Lytra, Vally and Argyri, Efforsyni (Froso). 2022. Use of technology in homes, schools, and communities in times of rapid change. Languages Today, 38, pp. 25-26.
- The normalcy of linguistic and cultural diversity Lytra, Vally. 2021. The normalcy of linguistic and cultural diversity. Gradient(2), pp. 28-29.
- Honouring multilingual repertoires and identities: Our languages, our stories Lytra, Vally; Tharoo, Soukeina; Banfi, Emanuela; Chengyan, Zhan; Costa, Carla; Eleftheriou-Kaparti, Maria; Meyer, Zoe and Schmid-Ilina, Polina. 2020. Honouring multilingual repertoires and identities: Our languages, our stories. EAL Journal, Autumn, pp. 18-21.
- Why and how to integrate non-standard linguistic varieties into education: Greek Cypriot Greek in Cyprus and the UK Ioannidou, Elena; Karatsareas, Petros; Lytra, Vally and Tsiplakou, Stavroula. 2020. Why and how to integrate non-standard linguistic varieties into education: Greek Cypriot Greek in Cyprus and the UK. Languages, Society and Policy, pp. 1-9.
- Revisiting language and religion in a post-secular world Lytra, Vally. 2020. Revisiting language and religion in a post-secular world. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 24(1), pp. 126-138. ISSN 1360-6441
- Syncretising ways of doing, seeing and becoming in children's faith-inspired text-making and conversations around texts at home Lytra, Vally and Ilankuberan, Arani. 2020. Syncretising ways of doing, seeing and becoming in children's faith-inspired text-making and conversations around texts at home. Language and Intercultural Communication, 20(5), pp. 433-449. ISSN 1470-8477
- “Faith matters: Rethinking home learning of children from different faiths” Lytra, Vally; Gregory, Eve E. and Ilankuberan, Arani. 2017. “Faith matters: Rethinking home learning of children from different faiths”. EAL Journal, Summer, pp. 30-31. ISSN 2398-8533
- Bridging faith, languages and learning in London: A faith teacher reflects upon pedagogy in religious instruction classes Lytra, Vally; Gregory, Eve E. and Ilankuberan, Arani. 2016. Bridging faith, languages and learning in London: A faith teacher reflects upon pedagogy in religious instruction classes. Language and Education, 30(6), pp. 554-569. ISSN 0950-0782
- “Divine games and rituals: How Tamil Saiva/Hindu siblings learn faith practices through play” Gregory, Eve E.; Lytra, Vally and Ilankuberan, Arani. 2015. “Divine games and rituals: How Tamil Saiva/Hindu siblings learn faith practices through play”. International Journal of Play, 4(1), pp. 69-83. ISSN 2159-4937
- Revisiting discourses of language, identity and community in a transnational context through a commemorative book project Lytra, Vally. 2014. Revisiting discourses of language, identity and community in a transnational context through a commemorative book project. Multilingua, 33(5-6), pp. 551-574. ISSN 0167-8507
- Syncretism as a creative act of mind: The narratives of children from four faith communities in London Gregory, Eve E.; Lytra, Vally; Choudhury, Halimun; Ilankuberan, Arani; Kwapong, Amoafi and Woodham, Malgozarta. 2013. Syncretism as a creative act of mind: The narratives of children from four faith communities in London. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(3), pp. 322-347. ISSN 1468-7984
- Translating Faith: Field Narratives as a Means of Dialogue in Collaborative Ethnographic Research Gregory, Eve E.; Lytra, Vally; Ilankuberan, Arani; Choudhury, Halimun; Kwapong, Amoafi and Woodham, Malgozarta. 2012. Translating Faith: Field Narratives as a Means of Dialogue in Collaborative Ethnographic Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(3), pp. 195-213. ISSN 1609-4069
- Discursive constructions of language and identity: parents' competing perspectives in London Turkish complementary schools Lytra, Vally. 2012. Discursive constructions of language and identity: parents' competing perspectives in London Turkish complementary schools. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(1), pp. 85-100. ISSN 0143-4632
- Negotiating Language, Culture and Pupil Agency in Complementary School Classrooms Lytra, Vally. 2011. Negotiating Language, Culture and Pupil Agency in Complementary School Classrooms. Linguistics and Education, 22(1), pp. 23-36. ISSN 0898-5898
- Multicultural awareness through English: A potential contribution of TESOL to Greek schools Fay, R; Lytra, Vally and Ntavaliagkou, M. 2010. Multicultural awareness through English: A potential contribution of TESOL to Greek schools. Intercultural Education, 21(5), pp. 581-595. ISSN 1467-5986
- Constructing academic hierarchies: Teasing and identity work among peers at school Lytra, Vally. 2009. Constructing academic hierarchies: Teasing and identity work among peers at school. Pragmatics, 19(3), pp. 449-466. ISSN 1018-2101
- Teasing in contact encounters: Frames, participant positions and responses Lytra, Vally. 2007. Teasing in contact encounters: Frames, participant positions and responses. Multilingua, 26(4), pp. 381-408. ISSN 0167-8507
Dr Vally Lytra
Vally investigates multilingualism in society and language education in migration and minority contexts
Staff details
Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups
I’m passionate about multilingualism in society and language education in migration and minority contexts. My research, practice and community engagement focuses on recognising and leveraging the entire language and cultural repertoires of multilingual users as resources for learning, teaching and the negotiation of identities. I work across sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and language education. I’m Director of Postgraduate Research and lead the MPhil/PhD in Education.
I completed my BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Athens, Greece. I continued with my graduate studies first at Georgetown University, Washington DC (MSc Applied Linguistics, 1996) with a Fulbright award and then at King's College London (PhD Sociolinguistics, 2003) funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board and the Saripolos Bequest, University of Athens. I have lectured at London Universities and at the English Department, University of Bern, in Switzerland.
Teaching and supervision
I'm currently supervising the following doctoral students:
• Büşra Akgün Ezin
• Steve Dixon-Smith, SeNSS studentship
• Lydiya Petrova
• Sasha McKoy
• Sara Shahwan
• Joachim Oppenheim
• Cristina Sara Zaror
• Shahina Sultana
• Becky Winstanley, CHASE Collaborative Doctoral Award (second supervisor)
• Mohammad Nooruddine Syed, University of Mauritius (associate supervisor)
Research interests
I’m a member of the Centre for Language, Culture and Learning. I have conducted fieldwork in Greece, the UK, and Switzerland in homes, schools, and communities that have experienced increased diversities and inequalities.
My research interests include:
• community and minority languages education
• inclusive language pedagogies
• faith literacies
• language, ethnicity, and diaspora
• language ideologies
• family language policy
• international education
• (auto)ethnographic, biographical, and collaborative research methodologies
Recent and ongoing research projects and collaborations are:
•2017-present: ‘Reconfiguring Greek language education abroad for a global age’. Principal Investigator
•2020-2021: Virtual events series ‘Re-imagining language education during and after Covid-19: opportunities, challenges and possible futures’ with Froso Argyri (UCL), Jim Andrerson (Goldsmiths), Merle Mahon (UCL), Vicky Macleroy (Goldsmiths), Dina Mehmedbegovic-Smith (UCL) and Cristina Ros i Solé (Goldsmiths)
•July 2020-September 2020: ‘Making sense of teachers’ and parents’ experiences with online teaching and learning in the Covid-19 pandemic’. Principal Investigator
•2020-2023: ‘Investigation of adolescent digital literacy practices for the design of Modern Greek Language teaching to youth of new migration background’ (PI: Dimitris Koutsogiannis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). Project advisor
•March-July 2022: ‘Makers, advocates, and users of language policy as co-creators of sociolinguistic research: onward migrants in London’, Co-I with Petros Karatsareas, PI (Westminster), Adriana Patino-Santos, Co-I (Southampton), Manolis Pratsinakis, Co-I (Oxford). Funder: Research England
•March-July 2022: ‘Migrant food, languages, and identities in the dawn of the post-Brexit and COVID-19 era’, Co-I with Petros Karatsareas PI (Westminster), Anna Charalambidou (CI- Middlesex University), Siria Guzzo (University of Salerno). Funder: Research England
Featured publications
Publications and research outputs
Book
- Play Frames and Social Identities. Contact Encounters in a Greek Primary School Lytra, Vally. 2007. Play Frames and Social Identities. Contact Encounters in a Greek Primary School. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-9027254078
Edited Book
- Liberating Language Education Lytra, Vally; Ros i Sole, Cristina; Anderson, Jim and Macleroy, Vicky, eds. 2022. Liberating Language Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. ISBN 9781788927932
- Religion in Young Lives: Navigating Language, Literacies and Identities Lytra, Vally; Volk, Dinah and Gregory, Eve E., eds. 2016. Religion in Young Lives: Navigating Language, Literacies and Identities. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1138824249
- When Greeks and Turks Meet: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Relationship Since 1923 Lytra, Vally, ed. 2014. When Greeks and Turks Meet: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Relationship Since 1923. Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, VT: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-4602-6
Book Section
- Community language education in Greece and Cyprus: An afterword Lytra, Vally and Karatsareas, Petros. 2023. Community language education in Greece and Cyprus: An afterword. In: Nikos Gogonas, ed. Heritage Language Education in Greece and Cyprus. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 190-214. ISBN 9781527535756
- Introduction to Part 1: Appraising the ‘multilingual turn’ in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics Lytra, Vally. 2023. Introduction to Part 1: Appraising the ‘multilingual turn’ in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. In: Steph Ainsworth; Dominic Griffiths; Gee Macrory and Kate Pahl, eds. Multimodality and Multilingualism: Towards an Integrative Approach. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 3-14. ISBN 9781800413375
- 'Conclusion: Language Education Collages' Lytra, Vally; Ros i Sole, Cristina; Anderson, Jim and Macleroy, Vicky. 2022. 'Conclusion: Language Education Collages'. In: Vally Lytra; Cristina Ros i Sole; Jim Anderson and Vicky Macleroy, eds. Liberating Language Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 321-330. ISBN 9781788927932
Article
- Learning and performing Sanskrit as a sacred language: children’s religious repertoires and syncretic practice in London Souza, Ana and Lytra, Vally. 2024. Learning and performing Sanskrit as a sacred language: children’s religious repertoires and syncretic practice in London. International Journal of Bilingualism, ISSN 1367-0069
- Greek heritage language teachers as emergency grassroots policy makers: reconciling learner centred responses with textbook heavy pedagogies during COVID-19 lockdown Lytra, Vally. 2024. Greek heritage language teachers as emergency grassroots policy makers: reconciling learner centred responses with textbook heavy pedagogies during COVID-19 lockdown. Current Issues in Language Planning, 25(5), pp. 571-589. ISSN 1466-4208
- Negotiating Monolingual Official Language Policy at the Nexus of Locally Situated Language Practices and Dominant Language Ideologies in a Language Minority Context Lytra, Vally and Gelir, Iskender. 2023. Negotiating Monolingual Official Language Policy at the Nexus of Locally Situated Language Practices and Dominant Language Ideologies in a Language Minority Context. International Journal of Early Childhood, 55(3), pp. 313-329. ISSN 0020-7187
Other
- 40+ Years Greek School of Lausanne Lytra, Vally. 2011. 40+ Years Greek School of Lausanne. Parents’ Association Greek School of Lausanne, Lausanne.
Professional projects
I have a long-standing commitment to supporting community languages and bilingual education. I co-founded and I’m president of the managing committee of a school for children and adult learners of Greek in Lausanne. I’m school governor of Azbuka, a Russian-English bilingual school in London and invited expert at the Bilingual Education Alliance, a professional network of bilingual schools in England.