Photo of Olga Anatoli Smith

Olga Anatoli Smith

Postdoc

I research on children and human sociality in multimodal multilingual interactions.

Multilingualism in early childhood

My research concerns young children's language use and embodied participation in institutional (e.g., preschool) and family practices. I study children's interactions with adults and peers using video-ethnographic data and methods of multimodal conversation analysis. Linguistic anthropology, language socialisation, and critical childhood studies form the interdisciplinary theoretical foundation of my work.

Multilingualism in early childhood is part of everyday life for the majority of children globally, but it remains a challenging issue in both research and practice. According to the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket), up to 25% of all children enrolled in preschools in Sweden have a foreign background and are therefore considered multilingual. Although it is often believed that children easily learn languages, it is not a given that they will succeed in learning multiple languages simultaneously. There is often a tension between parents' efforts to maintain the home language and children's language development. Moreover, multilingual children have been shown to be at higher risk of being diagnosed with language disorders and delayed school readiness. Children's multilingualism is often seen as a problem rather than the norm. Therefore, there is a need to broaden our understanding of how bilingual environments are organised in preschools and family life.

Instead of viewing children's multilingualism as a problem, my research builds on sociolinguistic studies that regard language as a communicative resource. I adopt the theoretical perspective of co-operative action, which means that language is a semiotic resource with a dialogic organization. This perspective allows us to examine participation and learning in bilingual environments by paying attention to the fundamental principles of human sociality.


Research

Publications

2025

Olga Anatoli Smith (2025) Multimodality, embodiment, and language learning in bilingual early childhood education: Enskilment practices in a Swedish-English preschool Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, Vol. 50, Article 100879 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Olga Anatoli (2025) Being and Becoming a Bilingual Preschooler: A Co-Operative Action Approach to Bilingual Early Childhood Education and Care

2024

Alex Orrmalm, Johanna Sjöberg, Anna Sparrman, Rebecka Tiefenbacher, Joel Löw, Johanna Annerbäck, Johanna Sköld, Emilia Strid, Sanna Hedrén, Lina Lago, Olga Anatoli Smith, Yelyzaveta Hrechaniuk, Alan Prout, Marek Tesar (2024) Centring children in research: A collaborative exploration into child-centredness as method and theory Child Studies, Vol. 6, p. 11-32 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Myung Hwa Baldini, Rebecka Tiefenbacher, Effrosyni Terzoglou, Joacim Strand, Veronica Hällqvist, Emilia Holmbom Strid, Olga Anatoli, Anna Sparrman, Marek Tesar (2024) Listening to children and young people in Sweden: Practices, possibilities, and tensions Global Studies of Childhood, Vol. 14, p. 214-226 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Olga Anatoli (2024) Swedish-English preschool as a site for the collaborative discovery of bilingual meanings Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, Vol. 13, p. 92-121 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

Teaching

CV

Education

2025 PhD, Linköping University

2015 PhD, UCLA

2009 M.A., Hamburg University

2006 B.A., St. Petersburg State University

Previous employment

2015—2018 Lecturer, Linguistics, UCLA

2010—2015 Swahili Instructor, UCLA


Personal page

www.olgaanatoli.com

Funding

  • 2025/03 Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien travel grant (20000SEK)
  • 2025/03 Erasmus+, Helsinki University, Finland (1389€)
  • 2023/08 Erasmus+ staff mobility, NTNU, Norway (1497€)
  • 2020/01 Erasmus + staff mobility, Freiburg University, Germany (CARM, E. Stokoe) (1029€)
  • 2012—2013 Harry and Yvonne Lenart Graduate Travel Fellowship (Tanzania) ($5000)

Awards

2018 Mellon Fellowship for Excellence in Pedagogy and Innovative Classrooms ($5000)

Conferences and invited talks

  • 2025 “Multimodality, embodiment, and language learning in transitional spaces: Enskilment practices in a Swedish–English preschool” / International Pragmatics Association (IPRA) / Brisbane, Australia
  • 2025 “Children’s belonging through participation in transitional spaces: A case of a bilingual preschool in Sweden” /Nordic Education Research Association (NERA) / Helsinki, Finland
  • 2023 “Teachers’ responses to child-initiated informings in a bilingual preschool” / International Pragmatics Association (IPRA) / Brussels, Belgium
  • 2023 “Social interactional affordances of walking outdoors in preschools in Sweden and Japan”, with Matthew Burdelski and Asta Cekaite / International Pragmatics Association (IPRA) / Brussels, Belgium
  • 2021 “Very young children’s information tellings as an inclusive practice” / International Pragmatics Association (IPRA) / Winterthur / Switzerland (virtual)

Network

In media

Interview in Skolporten, Språklig agens bland flerspråkiga förskolebarn, 2025 (in Swedish).

Organisation