University of Thessaloniki, Greece Marina Mattheoudakis Associate Professor School of English, AUTh

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1 University of Thessaloniki, Greece Marina Mattheoudakis Associate Professor School of English, AUTh

2 Language profile of Greece Greece is officially a monolingual country; It is becoming progressively plurilingual. The language profile of Greece s inhabitants has changed substantially the last 25 years and it is currently quite mixed.

3 Tracing the changes s 2010: Immigrants from the Balkans, countries of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa 2015 onwards: Greece is being the host of thousands of refugees and immigrants mainly from Arab-speaking countries. All those people have brought with them their home languages These are used as community languages, as the Greek state recognizes the right of anyone to use his/her mother tongue privately or in public.

4 Second and foreign languages in the Greek educational system Vast majority of Heritage Languages, i.e. Albanian, Russian, Roma, Turkish, are not systematically supported; However, the Law N.2413/1996 on Intercultural Language led to the creation of 26 cross-cultural schools in areas with high immigrant population.

5 Foreign language education in private schools Private schools promote systematic foreign language education in high status languages (English, German, French, Italian): bilingual education Other European languages are supported by NGOs (e.g. Polish, Czech, etc.)

6 Newly arrived immigrants and refugees Around 60,000 immigrants and refugees have been recorded (this is not the total number) Most of them are currently in Northern Greece, in Attica and in some Aegean islands 37% of all immigrant population is underage (0-18 years old)

7 Me2glosses: Our story in short Branch of Bilingualism Matters, University of Edinburgh (director: Prof. Antonella Sorace) Launched in June 2011 Founded & directed by Prof. Ianthi Tsimpli ( ) 2015: New director: Assoc. Prof. Marina Mattheoudakis

8 Our team

9 Our mission Bridging the gap between scientific research and the community (bilingual families, educators, schools, and policy makers) Promoting plurilingualism (raising awareness of the advantages of bilingualism) Contacting Policy makers contribute to the establishment of communication channels and resources for the encouragement of bilingualism in Greece Our tools The web site service Talks and presentations

10 Our web site

11 We were there More than 20 Public Talks in schools, nurseries, municipalities (Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina) Participation in Events related to bilingualism (University of Cologne, University of Groningen, radio interviews, Prof Tsimpli s visits to schools in India, etc.) Research Projects & Scientific Workshops

12 Research into bilingualism THALES Project: Bilingual Acquisition and Bilingual Education: The Development of Linguistic and Cognitive Abilities in Different Types of Bilingualism. National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) ( ). Schools in U.S.A., Albania, Germany, Greece ( yrs schoolchildren). Project coordinator: Ianthi Maria Tsimpli CLIL methodology: 3 rd Experimental Primary School of Evosmos. Coordinator: Marina Mattheoudakis

13 Current Synergies 3 rd Experimental Primary School of Evosmos; Thessaloniki School of Modern Greek; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Centre for the teaching of foreign languages; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Polydromo a group of academics and students promoting bilingualism and multicultural encounters

14 Future plans and objectives Participation in Erasmus+ projects aiming to raise awareness of families, educators, other stakeholders regarding the importance of supporting the bilingual education of recent immigrants and refugees in Greece Networking with NGOs which are actively involved in supporting newly arrived immigrants and refugees

15 Ευχαριστούμε! Danke Thank you хвала Merci grazie gracias ju faleminderit شكرا спасибо bedankt obrigado teşekkürler mulţumiri dzięki köszönöm Спасибі დიდი მადლობა благодаря