Migration and linguistic diversity in higher education: Implications for language teaching practice and policy

An increase in migration has led in recent years to growing diversity in society, particularly linguistic diversity, which in turn is influencing higher education. A significant percentage of students now present with a mother tongue different to the medium of instruction. Many also possess additional competencies in a range of other languages.
This chapter considers the challenges and opportunities which this situation poses for language teaching practice and policy in a university context. It also discusses possible implications for the design and delivery of foreign language degree programmes, if they are to better reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity in an increasingly multilingual student body, and to enhance the experience of all students studying foreign languages at university.