Maria Vasilaki

Dr. Maria Vasilaki is a Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at King's College London's Centre for Language, Discourse & Communication (LDC), based in the School of Education, Communication & Society. Her research focuses on (political) im/politeness, critical discourse analysis of sociopolitical and gendered discourses, and digital pragmatics. She holds a PhD from King’s College London (2020), funded by 5 British and Greek institutions, examining online political impoliteness during Greece's 2015 socioeconomic crisis. Prior roles include Visiting/Adjunct Lectureships at the University of Cyprus and University of Nicosia, and contributions to KCL's BA English Language & Linguistics and MA Education programs.

Education:

• PhD in Sociolinguistics, King’s College London (2020)
• MA Discourse Studies (Distinction), Lancaster University
• MA Contemporary Media (Distinction), University of Wolverhampton
• BA Greek & Latin Language and Literature (Major in Linguistics, Honours), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Research Interests: Maria explores im/politeness strategies in online/offline contexts, linguistic sexism in media, argumentation patterns of extreme-right parties, and sociolinguistic attitudes in crises. Her work bridges critical discourse studies with educational contexts, including language use in teacher training and classroom dynamics.

Teaching & Supervision:

• Responsible for modules: 'Linguistic Politeness', 'Language and Power'
• Contributes to: 'Researching Linguistic Diversity', 'English Grammar', 'Describing English Language'
• Supervises PhD topics in im/politeness in political communication and critical discourse analysis

Professional Experience: Formerly trained primary school teachers in language education and taught Modern Greek as a second/foreign language in the UK. Active in international conferences and publications on internet linguistics and sociopolitical discourse.