I am a post doc assistant at the Department of Education, University of Vienna, Austria, and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Applied Linguistcs, EURAC Research, Bolzano|Bozen, Italy.
My research focuses on socio-political and institutional frameworks for language biographies in globalized societies. At the intersection of educational research and sociolinguistics, I have worked intensively on transnational and multilingual educational processes in the context of migration and social inequality. I am particularly interested in intersecions of language with gender, class, religion and race and their significance for inclusion and exclusion processes. My regional focus has been primarily on Austria and Italy. However, the transnational scope of my research has included educational pathways of individuals and families (mainly from Afghanistan, Greece, Syria, Turkey, and former Yugoslavia) and their family language policies, processes of translanguaging, and practices of language brokering.
Projects:
Currently, I am leading a project on multilingualism in early childhood education in South Tyrol which investigates the politicization of multilingualism, the commodification of language and the significance of language education for educational transitions in a linguistically heterogeneous society. Additionally, I am leading a project on multilingual educational biographies among Montenegrin students in cooperation with the University of Montenegro. Previously, I co-led a Sparkling Science project on the biographical experiences and competencies of refugee students in Vienna.
I am glad that my research project Researching and Transforming Multilingual Spaces. Multilingualism in the pedagogical professionalization for preschool (2023-2026) received funding from the Austrian ministry for Education, Science and Research within the funding scheme "Sparkling Science".
Contact:
Dr. Nadja Thoma
Department of Education
Sensengasse 3a
1090 Vienna, Austria