Parents-Schools’ Communication and Albanian as a Heritage Language in Greece

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide, in the first part, an overview of research data concerning immigrant parents-school communication in the Greek context. The focus is on Albanians as they constitute the largest immigrant group in Greece. We present data from a study which included focus-groups and group interviews with parents in order to investigate the communicative and language needs of Albanian parents with regard to their communication with the schools attended by their children. The issue of parents-school communication was also approached through the teachers’ perspectives. In the second part, we present a review of Greek sociolinguistic studies relevant to the issue of Albanian as a heritage language. We draw on the issues that the field has been dealing with and on the recent research trends. Specifically, we discuss (a) Greek educational policies regarding heritage languages and (b) attitudes and practices of parents, students, and teachers concerning the use, teaching and learning of Albanian. We present data and findings of a set of qualitative and quantitative large or small-scale studies conducted in Greece during the last decade (2009–2016). The chapter will conclude with some suggestions for future directions in research and practice.