Navigating multilingual futures: rethinking the role of languages in higher education
(2025) Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development — p. 1-5 (2025)
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- This commentary responds to Jo Angouri and Melina Delmas’s (Citation2025) article Multilingualism in higher education: (What) do European University Alliances deliver? It offers a concrete example of how alliances can move beyond the belief that more multilingualism simply means more language learning. As Angouri and Delmas rightly observe, this narrow understanding still characterises many European University Alliances, which limits engagement with the broader sociolinguistic, political, and epistemic dimensions of multilingual higher education. The recently released Language Compass (CU.mil Citation2025) exemplifies a more systemic and integrated approach. Developed within the Multilingualism, Interculturality and Language Lab of the Circle U. European University Alliance, it redefines what language policy can mean in higher education by shifting attention from language acquisition to the systemic, ethical, and epistemic dimensions of linguistic and cultural diversity. It frames language policy as orientation rather than regulation and highlights linguistic diversity as a collective responsibility shared across the academic community. Grounded in research and aligned with European and international frameworks on languages, inclusion, and technology-enhanced education, the Compass promotes iterative cycles of awareness, reflection, adaptation, and action; it also offers very concrete suggestions to help universities translate recognition of multilingualism and interculturality into practice.
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Meunier, F. (2025). Navigating multilingual futures: rethinking the role of languages in higher education. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2025.2600518 (Original work published 2025)