Sari Pöyhönen


General description

language education policy, migration policy, integration policy, language and identity, linguistic ethnography, creative inquiry in applied linguistics


Active JYU affiliations


Research interests

My research expertise is in the fields of language education policies and language policy, migration policy; language, identity & belonging, refugee & asylum seeker narratives, minorities and language rights, and adult migrant language education.

Research in applied language studies in general has an impact on people’s lives. Research themes arise from the society and research results are applied, confirmed and contested by various stakeholders and audiences. My research is not an exception: the interplay between development and practice as well as an orientation towards multidisciplinary research allows a multilayered approach to studying and discussing real-life phenomena involving language. I'm interested in individuals behind statistics; their stories of being a person seeking asylum or a migrant professional trying to find a place in the labour market. Through linguistic ethnography, creative inquiry and narrative approaches I focus on individuals in interaction, telling their stories that are embedded within wider cultural and political contexts and social structures.

I'm currently PI of three research projects: Jag bor i Oravais (everyday life of persons seeking asylum in Swedish Ostrobothnia), Toinen koti - Other home (Documentary theatre project based in the Finnish National Theatre), and Rajojen yli - Crossing Borders (Artistic practices in performing and narrating belonging).


Fields of science


Follow-up groups


Personal keywords

language education policy, applied language studies, adult migrant language education, belonging, arts-based research, ethnography


Keywords (YSO)


Projects as Principal investigator


Publications and other outputs

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Last updated on 2023-29-05 at 15:52