Georgiou, A. and Karatsareas, P. 2026. Cypriot Greek in UK Greek complementary schools: curriculum policies, classroom practices, and language ideologies . Linguistics and Education. 94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2026.101557
| Title | Cypriot Greek in UK Greek complementary schools: curriculum policies, classroom practices, and language ideologies |
|---|---|
| Type | Journal article |
| Authors | Georgiou, A. and Karatsareas, P. |
| Abstract | This article examines how Cypriot Greek is positioned at the interface of curriculum policy, classroom practice, and language ideologies in UK Greek complementary schools (GCSs). Drawing on ethnographic data collected over six months in 2018 in two North London GCSs, we analyse (a) curriculum documents produced by the Cyprus Educational Mission (KEA), (b) classroom interactions, and (c) pupil perspectives from one case-study school. The KEA curriculum formally acknowledges Cypriot Greek but frames it in limited and bounded ways. Standard Greek is constructed as the legitimate target for literacy, while Cypriot Greek is treated as permissible mainly in oral communication and often linked to cultural tradition. Classroom data show how these policy framings are recontextualised in teaching and learning, particularly in moments where exam-related expectations are made salient. The teacher’s practices reproduce a literacy–oracy binary and discourage the use of Cypriot Greek in writing, while pupils display uncertainty about what is allowed and orient to assessment as a key rationale for avoiding Cypriot forms. We argue that, although flexible multilingual practices also occur in everyday interaction, exam-thematised episodes make visible how assessment regimes can intensify standardising pressures that are rooted in broader hellenocentric hierarchies and in limited institutional support for repertoire-based pedagogies. We conclude by calling for more systematic curricular guidance, materials, and teacher education that legitimise pupils’ full repertoires and support metalinguistic work across varieties in home, heritage and community language education. |
| Keywords | home, heritage, and community languages |
| complementary schools | |
| language policy | |
| language ideologies | |
| assessment | |
| linguistic repertoires | |
| sociolinguistic variation | |
| Cypriot Greek | |
| Standard Greek | |
| UK | |
| Journal | Linguistics and Education |
| Journal citation | 94 |
| ISSN | 1873-1864 |
| 0898-5898 | |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Publisher's version | License CC BY 4.0 File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2026.101557 |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0898589826000665 |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 23 Jun 2026 |
| Project | Attitudes towards Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek among London's Greek Cypriot community: the role of Greek supplementary schools |
| Funder | British Academy |