Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Virginia joined Roehampton in 2021. Her specialisms lie in social developmental psychology. Before joining Roehampton, she launched Growing up bilingual, an ESRC-funded research project (2018-22). The team collaborated with the Newham Partnership for Complementary Education/NPCE and the NRCSE, which oversaw heritage language school provisions. The project tracked social, cognitive and educational outcomes with language proficiency of bilingual children who had complementary language schooling and those who did not.
The Growing Up Bilingual research led to the 3-part GUB: Researcher-Practitioner Synergies series, which Virginia gained BPS funding to run (2021-22) after joining Roehampton. The series engaged academics and practitioners across sectors invested in supporting bilingual development and aided the next bid to Research England (Roehampton Seed Fund; Enhancing Research Culture path), which funded the project Becoming Bilingual: Funds of Knowledge from Learners, Educators and Providers across Sectors in 2023. BB involved learners, teachers and leaders in reciprocal peer observations and innovative networking for co-creation of funds of knowledge exchanged for enhancing language education.
The most recent offshoots from the GUB-BB projects are the 'Intergen' project 2023-4 (funded by Southlands Methodist Trust) and the Multilingual Emotional Support (MES) Programme (funder BIG South London). Intergen explores cross-generational changes in language use, identity and community needs in heritage language school communities, from the perspectives of students, alumni and long-serving teachers and leaders. MES is a collaborative intervention with the Family Emotional Wellbeing Project (FEWP) to investigate the language-related wellbeing needs, and growth through multilingual psychotherapy, of ESOL leaners (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for 2024-25.
Before the realms of bilingual development, Virginia's research focused on social identity (ethnic, gender, national and religious groups), intergroup processes, and their impact on psychological outcomes. She has expanded research in diversity issues, such as cross-cultural variations in social cognition, mixed/dual-heritage people's identity and adjustment (BPS-funded). Interdisciplinary collaboration includes with the Schools of Education (Wolfgang Mann; now U Cologne) and Arts (Eva Eppler) for the Climate Change Challenge project. With an external partner the 100-Word Challenge, they launched a 10-week 'challenge' for children to write 100-word narratives on a climate topic each week. The findings have been used to inform stakeholders on climate and sustainability education.
Virginia became the co-convenor for the BPS-accredited MSc Psychology in September 2021. She teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates (previously supervising the MA Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy for Children, Adolescents & Families) including the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology (PsychD). She is a co-author of the textbook Developmental Psychology (two editions and an Italian edition) with the third edition launching in January 2025 (Pearson).
Apart from external consultancy and examining, Virginia is an Associate Editor for the journal Social Development (Wiley).
To contact Virginia, please email: [email protected]
Education/Academic qualification
Psychology, BA (Hons), Cardiff University
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education PGCert, University of East London
Psychological Research Methods, MSc, University of Exeter
Developmental Psychology, PhD, Developing ethnic identities in middle childhood, University of London (Goldsmiths)
External positions
Consultancy/education materials, Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority
Masterclass contributor, REC Parenting Ltd
Associate Editor, Social Development
External Examiner, University of Greenwich
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 7 Finished
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BB: Becoming Bilingual: Funds of knowledge from providers, educators and learners across sectors (Research England)
Lam, V. (PI)
1/03/23 → 31/08/23
Project: Research
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Growing up bilingual: Researcher-practitioner synergies [BPS-funded]
Lam, V. (PI) & Husain, L. (CoI)
1/10/21 → 30/09/22
Project: Other
-
Crisis or chameleon: Identity formation and psychological adjustment of dual-heritage young people [funded by BPS]
Lam, V. (PI) & Catto, A. (CoPI)
1/09/20 → 1/09/21
Project: Research
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GUB: Growing up bilingual: Understanding specific benefits across mainstream and complementary education [ESRC-funded; grant ref: ES/P000592/1]
Lam, V. (PI), Husain, L. (CoPI) & Ravenscroft, A. (CoI)
1/10/18 → 31/05/23
Project: Research
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Depth of emotional experiencing and outcome in therapy with young people
Geyer, D., Lam, V., Gilbert, H. & Cooper, M., 12 Jun 2024, In: Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Editorial - Unheard voices: language education outside the mainstream
Lam, V., 23 Feb 2024, In: Research Intelligence.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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Growing up bilingual through a pandemic: Children’s language exposure, proficiency, social identities, and competences pre- and post-lockdowns
Husain, L., Lam, V. & Pinder, M., 6 Aug 2024, In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BILINGUALISM.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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More than Weekend Schools: The Complementary Education Sector: In special issue Unheard Voices: Language Education Outside the Mainstream
Lam, V., 23 Feb 2024, In: Research Intelligence. 158, p. 18-19 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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On return to school: disorder symptoms, stress at home and evaluations of school COVID-19 measures
Lam, V. & O'Driscoll, M., 18 Apr 2024, In: Journal of Child & Adolescent Mental Health.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Activities
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From Growing Up Bilingual to Becoming Bilingual: Research Practice Synergies
Lam, V. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
19 Jul 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an academic event › Participation in academic workshop, seminar, course
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University of Exeter
Lam, V. (Visiting researcher)
15 Nov 2023Activity: Visiting an external institution › Visiting an external academic institution
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Growing Up Bilingual, invited talk at NALDIC South London Regional Interest Group
Lam, V. (Contributor)
13 Oct 2022Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Contribution to the work of non-academic organisations
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The Language Show - Growing up bilingual: myths, facts and things in-between
Lam, V. (Chair)
12 Nov 2022Activity: Public engagement and outreach › Public speaking engagements
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Growing up bilingual: follow-on workshops
Lam, V. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
16 Sept 2022 → …Activity: Participating in or organising an academic event › Participation in academic workshop, seminar, course
Press/Media
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Panel chairing at the Cultural Education Association's UK Russian language pedagogical conference
15/11/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Growing Up Bilingual: REC Parenting Masterclass
30/09/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Panellist at the Welcoming Hong Kongers Annual Conference
26/06/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Multiple languages, multiple identities? Bilingualism and identity
15/05/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Roehampton academic sees bidding success in British Psychological Society Research Seminar Competition
20/10/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media