Dr Petros Karatsareas

I am a Reader in Multilingualism and Language Contact, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and the Course Leader for the English Language and Linguistics MA and the English Language and Literature MA. I hold a Ptychion (equivalent to a BA Hons) in Greek Philology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2006), an M.Phil. in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge (2007), and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge (2011).

Currently, I serve as Co-Director of the London branch of the Bilingualism Matters network. Previously, I was Co-Convenor of the Special Interest Group on Multilingualism within the British Association for Applied Linguistics, Co-Director of the Cyprus Centre at Westminster, and a Trustee of the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education.

I specialise in the sociolinguistics of multilingualism, focusing on language practices and ideologies within contexts of migration and transnational mobility, particularly in the UK and primarily in London. My research explores ideologies, attitudes, and practices surrounding non-standardised, minoritised, and hierarchised linguistic resources and repertoires. Working on·with·for with minoritised groups of migrant origin, I investigate the role of language in experiences of discrimination and creating difference. I am also interested in community language education in diasporic contexts and how various educational initiatives shape language practices and ideologies. My research to date has been ethnographically oriented, examining diverse Greek-speaking communities in London, including people from Albania, Cyprus, and Greece, who have migrated to the UK under varying social and historical conditions.

I recently completed three externally-funded research projects:

“Makers, advocates, and users of language policy as co-creators of sociolinguistic research: onward migrants in London”. This project explored the linguistic challenges encountered by three groups of onward migrants to the UK: individuals who previously migrated from Albania to Greece, Brazil to Italy, and Colombia to Greece. It investigated their linguistic needs and examined how effectively these needs are addressed by policymakers and advocates.

“Migrant food, languages, and identities in the dawn of the post-Brexit and COVID-19 era”. This study investigated how Greek and Italian migrant hospitality workers in London utilise their linguistic knowledge, food expertise, and social networks to navigate the unique challenges posed by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Trajectories of Albanian migration: social and linguistic dynamics in Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Italy, and the UK”. This project aims to build an international network for studying Albanian migration, focusing on both the sociohistorical and economic dynamics of migration and the lived experiences of migrants in Europe. It involves collaboration with academic specialists and non-academic stakeholders and includes ethnographic fieldwork in key migratory contexts.

In the past, I specialised in the study of contact-induced language change. In my Ph.D. dissertation, I examined diachronic change in the morphosyntax of inner Asia Minor Greek Greek (Cappadocian, Pontic, Pharasiot, Silliot). I carried out research on the diachronic development of gender agreement; the restructuring and simplification of noun inflection; the morphological realisation of direct objects; the cyclical development of the adpositional system; and, the synchronic status of determiner spreading in the language. 

My research has been supported by the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust, including through through a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013), a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award (2017), and a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant (2017). I have also received flexible funding from the ‘Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community’ AHRC-funded OWRI programme, the Policy Support Fund and the Participatory Research Fund of Research England, and the Additional QR and Additional RCIF Grant Allocations of UKRI.

In 2008, I was awarded the R. H. Robins Prize of the Philological Society for the best submission to the Transactions of the Philological Society by a UK graduate student.

I have published findings of my research in leading journals including the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, the International Journal of Bilingualism, the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Languages, Society & Policy, Diachronica, Language Sciences, the Journal of Greek Linguistics, Cahiers du Centre d’ Études Chypriotes; the Journal of Historical Linguistics and STUF – Language Typology and Universals as well as in edited volumes published by Cambridge University Press, including in the third edition of “Language in Britain and Ireland”, John Benjamins, Brill and Multilingual Matters, and entries in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, the Encyclopedia of Greek Language and Linguistics Online, and the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes.

My co-edited volume “Greek in Minoritized Contexts: Identities, Authenticities, and Institutions” (with Matthew John Hadodo and Elena Ioannidou) was published in Routledge’s Critical Studies of Multilingualism series in 2024.

I have forthcoming journal articles in Language, Culture and Society and Language Sciences, a chapter in a UCL Press volume, and a monograph on Greek complementary schools in the UK co-authored with Alexandra Georgiou, which will be published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Public and Community Engagement

I am actively engaged in initiatives that promote the value of multilingualism for multilingual individuals, diasporic communities, and society at large.

In 2024, Rexhina Ndoci and I collaborated with the Hellenic Centre to host “Albanians in Greece: Migration, Memory and Art”, a multimodal event that provided a platform for Albanian voices to reflect on their lived experiences, share personal narratives, and challenge prevailing stereotypes. The event combined artistic expression with academic insights, fostering a deeper understanding of the Albanian migrant experience in Greece and highlighting the role of cultural memory in shaping identities.

In 2023, in collaboration with Rexhina Ndoci, I hosted Speak Alb! as part of the University of Westminster’s Difference Festival. This panel brought together Albanian voices to dismantle xenophobic narratives that demonise, homogenise, and dehumanise Albanian-speaking migrants in the UK. These narratives, often perpetuated by the media and even government sources, were challenged through research findings, evidence-based arguments, civil society engagement, cultural contributions, and personal accounts from migrants themselves.

Also in 2023, together with the project team of the “Migrant food, languages, and identities in the dawn of the post-Brexit and COVID-19 era” project, I co-organised the interactive event Greek and Italian Migrant Foodways in London: A Sensory Experience as part of the Labour Migration Research Group showcase at Regent Cinema. We transformed the cinema bar into a Greek taverna and an Italian trattoria, offering attendees a sensory dining experience. Guests sampled both traditional and innovative Greek and Italian dishes, while team members led discussions on authenticity and food entrepreneurship in the context of migrant communities.

In 2019, Dr Anna Charalambidou (Middlesex University) and I launched the Grenglish Project, a public engagement initiative that brought together members of the UK’s Greek Cypriot diaspora in a crowdsourcing effort to collect linguistic material that reflects the community’s linguistic history. 

In 2018, I was awarded a small grant with Athena Mandis (QMUL) to organise a tour of Greek Cypriot London as part of the AHRC/British Academy-funded Being Human festival. The tour traced the contribution of the Greek Cypriot diaspora to London’s multiculturalism following the route of the 29 bus, a path that is emblematic of the diaspora’s historic northward expansion. 

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.