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Due to globalisation and migration, multilingualism has become both a reality and an aim of education systems across Europe, affecting how language education is shaped. To improve the ways in which schools cater for language education in diverse settings, research is required on the potentials of multilingualism in order to design curricula that foster skills in different languages. This paper aims at identifying and explaining research priorities in the field of multilingualism and language education in a cross-national perspective. It draws on data from a survey with 298 expert participants in five European countries (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) who ranked pre-identified research topics in relation to their perceived urgency. Results show that experts identified ‘effectiveness of multilingual support in regular lessons’, ‘features of multilingual didactics’ and ‘effectiveness of literacy support in home languages on the development of academic language skills in the majority language’ as having the highest research priority overall. However, these results vary across national settings investigated. While the German, Dutch and Portuguese respondents attributed urgency to research on academic language skills, other issues were rated higher in the Spanish and Italian research contexts. The advantages and limitations of conducting cross-national research are also addressed.

This paper provides insights into online language practices among bilingual teenagers who speak and learn a lesser-used language. Regarding language diversity, the internet is seen to pose both cha...

Researchers of minority language media are increasingly interested in the role of internet-based communication in language usage, maintenance, and revitalisation. This study explores the use of hashtags signifying the Welsh/Cymraeg, Frisian/Frysk, and Irish/Gaeilge languages on Twitter. Acknowledging the challenges of interpreting social media data, we focus on the hashtag and what it can tell us about the social and digital lives of minority languages. Specifically, we examine the agents using those hashtags, the topics they discuss, the languages used and the extent to which ambient communities may be formed through their use. Our analysis reveals different types of agents who are active and who have a variety of purposes in applying the minority language hashtag - sometimes to promote content in the minority language, more often to draw attention to content about those languages. Comparative analysis between the three language hashtags reveals statistically significant differences along a number of different dimensions, indicating that each minority language hashtag community has its own unique character. Through this comparative, platform-specific contribution we reach some generalisations concerning minority languages in the digital age, while also paying attention to the particularities of each language context and the exploitable features of social media for those languages.

Pedagogy of multiliteracies: rewriting Goldilocks , by Heather Lotherington, New York/London, Routledge, 2011, xx + 213 pp., £85 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-415-88710-6 ‘Multiliteracies’ was coined in 1...

The Belfast Agreement (1998) contains a clause on respect and tolerance for linguistic diversity in Northern Ireland (NI). It is unsurprising that this clause was included given the role of Irish – and Ulster Scots – in identity politics in the region. The call for respect for NI's languages can therefore be seen as a type of conflict management. Renewed powersharing through consociational arrangements points to a relatively successful peace process, while inward migration has greatly increased in recent years. NI's sociocultural landscape has diversified to such a degree that respect for linguistic diversity should no longer be viewed solely as a means of reconciliation between just two communities; it can be treated as a move towards overall multiculturalism in the region. Yet language issues remain divisive, recently highlighted by the rejection of legislative protection for the Irish language. This article examines current attitudes towards linguistic diversity in NI, with reference to the co...

In recent decades, the interdisciplinary field of literacy research has made significant advances in uncovering and challenging the narrow conceptions of literacy propagated in educational institut...

Globalization and language in contact: scale, migration and communicative practices, edited by James Collins, Stef Slembrouck and Mike Baynham, London and New York, Continuum, 2009, xii +283 pp., £...