Multilingualism in European Language Education

This book explores how different European education systems manage multilingualism. Each chapter focuses on one of ten diverse settings (Andorra, Asturias, the Basque Country, Catalonia, England, Finland, France, Latvia, the Netherlands and Romania) and considers how its education system is influenced by historical, sociolinguistic and legislative and political processes and how languages are handled within the system, stressing the challenges and opportunities in each area of study. The chapters provide the reader with insights around three key aspects: the management of the guarantee of the rights of regional language minorities; the incorporation of the language background inherited by immigrants living in Europe (whether they are European citizens or not) and the need to promote the learning of international languages. Individually, the chapters offer deep insights into a specific education system and, together, the studies allow for a comparison and holistic understanding of multilingualism in European education.

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.