Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship: Cross-National Perspectives on Integration Regimes

Description

What is required to achieve civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world? Should language testing be a part of it? This book addresses the urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis for language testing than is currently available, to enable widespread discussion of this theme and the concomitant linguistic and cultural requirements. The policy proposals for civic integration have so far been conducted almost entirely at a national level, and with little regard for the experiences of a countries with long traditions of migration, such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia. At the same time, EU enlargment and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that these issues will continue to grow in importance. This book raises the level of discussion to take account of international developments and to promote a more coherent and soundly based debate. It will appeal to researchers and academics working in sociolinguistics and language education, as well as those working on language policy.

Massimiliano Spotti is at Babylon, Centre for Studies of the Multicultural Society, Department of Language and Culture Studies, Tilburg University, Netherlands. Dr. Piet Van Avermaet is Director of the Centre for Diversity and Learning, Ghent University, Belgium.

Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship brings together some of the most current prominent thinkers in Applied Linguistics on language and citizenship... this collection is an excellent starting point for those with an interest in language testing, migration and citizenship. While there appears to be prevalent sentiment that language is essential for integration and citizenship, the multiple examples in this book demonstrate that each country has its own complexities. -- Kamran Khan, University of Birmingham (UK) and University of Melbourne (Australia) * Papers in Language Testing and Assessment (ALTAANZ) *