Ethnolinguistic Vitality Perceptions among Migrant and Indigenous Pupils in Greece

This paper presents the findings of research investigating language attitudes among indigenous and immigrant groups living in Athens using as informants adolescents of Greek, Albanian and Egyptian origin and utilising quantitative and qualitative methods. The examination of pupils’ linguistic perceptions utilising an adaptation of the SEV questionnaire, reveals a hierarchy of languages whereby Greek and English emerge as the most ‘legitimate’ languages while migrant languages such as Arabic and Albanian are perceived as ‘illegitimate’. Interestingly, Albanian, which emerges as a stigmatised language reflecting the social status of its speakers, seems to enjoy ‘covert prestige’ as a code of communication among adolescents regardless of ethnic origin.