Research topics : Linguistic ethnography, especially of regions with a strong tradition in oral transmission (South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Latin America, Cape Verde), language ecology in formal and non-formal educational settings (family language policies, language teaching awareness in the linguistically and culturally diverse classroom), contact languages, language acquisition and learning in plurilingual environments, meso- and micro-scale sociolinguistics with a qualitative approach, innovative communication strategies for the multilingual workplace.
Sabine Ehrhart is Associate Professor for ethnolinguistics at the University of Luxembourg and is teaching in the teacher education programmes of the University of Luxembourg. Her main research interests are: migrational linguistics and social implications of educational policies and her research approach is focused on an ecological approach to plurilingualism.She is an expert in language contact and educational policy in plurilingual settings. She received her PhD for her thesis on Creole Languages in New Caledonia from Augsburg University. In 2006 she gained her Habilitation on Language Contact in Natural and Institutional Settings with Sorbonne University, Paris. In 2006 she created the LACETS group with the objective of creating a link between theory, research and school practices in the multicultural environment of Luxembourg and she continues to work on this research focus through other national and international projects, in Europe, Africa and Oceania.
She is also editor-in-chief in linguistics for the digital journal De Gruyter Open Linguistics and scientific advisor to different governments, European Institutions and international research institutes.
In 2017, she was selected as a Scientific Partner for Humanities in the MEP-Scientist Pairing Scheme “Science meets Parliament” launched by the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel.
During her 2018 research sabbatical she is preparing a research proposal on emergent languages in highly mobile settings with a special focus on language appropriation in non-institutional settings.
