Multilingualism in European Language Education

Explores how different European education systems manage multilingualism

This book explores how different European education systems manage multilingualism. Each chapter focuses on one of ten diverse settings and considers how its education system is influenced by historical, sociolinguistic and political processes and how it handles languages, stressing the challenges and opportunities.

Cecilio Lapresta-Rey is Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Sociology at the University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. His areas of research are the construction of identity in multicultural and multilingual contexts and the linguistic attitudes of schoolchildren, especially the descendants of migrants, and their sociolinguistic and socioeducational integration.

Ángel Huguet is Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. His research interests include bilingual and multilingual education, second language acquisition, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics.

Cecilio Lapresta-Rey is Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Sociology at the University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. His areas of research are the construction of identity in multicultural and multilingual contexts and the linguistic attitudes of schoolchildren, especially the descendants of migrants, and their sociolinguistic and socioeducational integration.

Ángel Huguet is Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. His research interests include bilingual and multilingual education, second language acquisition, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics.

An enlightening, enthralling and methodologically rigorous book that copes with an extremely challenging topic in today’s increasingly multicultural and multilingual European society. A team of highly-qualified experts cast an instructive light on the nooks and crannies of a subject matter that will have an impact on generations to come in countries with different sociolinguistic and educational backgrounds.

This book is essential reading for educators, researchers, and policymakers concerned with language education policies and instructional practices across Europe. At a time of unprecedented population mobility, political instability, and national debates about identity and belonging, this snapshot of current educational realities is of immense value.

Combining carefully conducted case studies in various European settings about the social, legal and linguistic complexities of establishing fair and efficient language regimes, this book offers a wealth of insights that will be valuable not just as reference points for future research, but also for policymakers and educationalists entrusted with the implementation of the European commitment to multilingualism.