Language teaching

Abstract

The acceptance and encouragement of plurilingualism and multilingualism are now central to the official language policies of the European Union and Council of Europe, and – as James Coleman points out in this issue's state-of-the-art article on English-medium teaching in European higher education – the process which began in Bologna to provide for more convergence across higher education promises ‘proper provision for linguistic diversity’. In his survey, Coleman first describes the global context in terms of the spread of English as a lingua franca and of the way higher education is now being marketed. He then explores the reasons for English-medium teaching in higher education institutions across Europe and considers the extent of the phenomenon, its impact and some of the problems such policies might bring.Recent advances in brain-imaging techniques such as PET (positron emission topography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), and the detailed detection of electrical activity (electroencephalography and event-related potentials), particularly within the brain of the bilingual, are providing exciting new insights into the neurobiological factors that explain and influence L2 development. This issue sees the inclusion of a new section of abstracts, identifying research under the broad category of NEUROLINGUISTICS, where readers can follow theoretical, methodological and experimental work on the relationship between neurolinguistics, psychology and second language acquisition which usefully complements traditional sources of knowledge such as classroom experiences and classroom-based research.