Discourses on Language and Integration: Critical Perspectives on Language Testing Regimes in Europe

One of the most pressing issues in contemporary European societies is the need to promote integration and social inclusion in the context of rapidly increasing migration. A particular challenge confronting national governments is how to accommodate speakers of an ever-increasing number of languages within what in most cases are still perceived as monolingual indigenous populations. This has given rise to public debates in many countries on controversial policies imposing a requirement of competence in a ‘national’ language and culture as a condition for acquiring citizenship. However, these debates are frequently conducted almost entirely at a national level within each state, with little if any attention paid to the broader European context. At the same time, further EU enlargement and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that the salience of these issues is likely to continue to grow. This volume offers a critical analysis of these debates and emerging discourses on integration and challenges the assumptions underlying the new ‘language testing regimes’.

Table of contents

 

List of appendices, tables and figures	vii–viii
Notes on contributors	ix–x
Acknowledgements	xiii–xiv
Testing regimes: Introducing cross-national perspectives on language, migration and citizenship Gabrielle Hogan-Brun, Clare Mar-Molinero and Patrick Stevenson	1–14
Fortress Europe? Language policy regimes for immigration and citizenship Piet Van Avermaet	15–44
Language tests for immigrants: Why language? Why tests? Why citizenship? Elana Shohamy	45–60
Language, migration and citizenship: A case study on testing regimes in the Netherlands Guus Extra and Massimiliano Spotti	61–82
Being English, speaking English: Extension to English language testing legislation and the future of multicultural Britain Adrian Blackledge	83–108
Language, citizenship and Europeanization: Unpacking the discourse of integration Kristine Horner	109–128
Local actors in promoting multilingualism Brigitta Busch	129–152
Language tests and social policy: A commentary Tim McNamara	153–164
Index	165–170