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Testing regimes: introducing cross-national perspectives on language, migration and citizenship

Testing regimes: introducing cross-national perspectives on language, migration and citizenship
Testing regimes: introducing cross-national perspectives on language, migration and citizenship
One of the most pressing issues in contemporary European societies is the need to promote integration and social inclusion in the context of rapidly increasing migration. A particular challenge confronting national governments is how to accommodate speakers of an ever-increasing number of languages within what in most cases are still perceived as monolingual indigenous populations. This has given rise to public debates in many countries on proposals to impose a requirement of competence in a ‘national’ language and culture as a condition for acquiring citizenship. These debates in turn have revealed an urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis than is currently available for the widespread public discussion of the linguistic and cultural requirements being proposed as elements in the gate-keeping process leading to the achievement of citizenship in many EU member states. The controversial nature of such policy proposals and their potentially far-reaching consequences are often highlighted in public debates on social inclusion and integration. This however is frequently conducted almost entirely at a national level within each state, with little if any attention paid either to the broader European context or to comparable experience in other parts of the world. At the same time, further EU enlargement and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that the salience of these issues is likely to continue to grow. This volume focuses on these debates and seeks to problematise many existing definitions regarding language and citizenship and to challenge some of the assumptions underlying the new ‘testing regimes’. The introductory chapter constructs a context and a framework for the discussion in the following chapters.
discourses of integration, language and migration, language and citizenship, language testing regimes
9789027206237
33
1-14
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle
f6e69f6e-3542-4b4e-a173-94ab3611ec41
Mar-Molinero, Clare
07b0f9ce-15ba-443a-896f-708327bb4e0c
Stevenson, Patrick
7b8878de-4a5b-4eaf-88d2-034d9041f41d
Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle
Mar-Molinero, Clare
Stevenson, Patrick
Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle
f6e69f6e-3542-4b4e-a173-94ab3611ec41
Mar-Molinero, Clare
07b0f9ce-15ba-443a-896f-708327bb4e0c
Stevenson, Patrick
7b8878de-4a5b-4eaf-88d2-034d9041f41d
Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle
Mar-Molinero, Clare
Stevenson, Patrick

Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle, Mar-Molinero, Clare and Stevenson, Patrick (2009) Testing regimes: introducing cross-national perspectives on language, migration and citizenship. In, Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle, Mar-Molinero, Clare and Stevenson, Patrick (eds.) Discourses on Language and Integration. (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 33) Amsterdam, USA. John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 1-14.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

One of the most pressing issues in contemporary European societies is the need to promote integration and social inclusion in the context of rapidly increasing migration. A particular challenge confronting national governments is how to accommodate speakers of an ever-increasing number of languages within what in most cases are still perceived as monolingual indigenous populations. This has given rise to public debates in many countries on proposals to impose a requirement of competence in a ‘national’ language and culture as a condition for acquiring citizenship. These debates in turn have revealed an urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis than is currently available for the widespread public discussion of the linguistic and cultural requirements being proposed as elements in the gate-keeping process leading to the achievement of citizenship in many EU member states. The controversial nature of such policy proposals and their potentially far-reaching consequences are often highlighted in public debates on social inclusion and integration. This however is frequently conducted almost entirely at a national level within each state, with little if any attention paid either to the broader European context or to comparable experience in other parts of the world. At the same time, further EU enlargement and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that the salience of these issues is likely to continue to grow. This volume focuses on these debates and seeks to problematise many existing definitions regarding language and citizenship and to challenge some of the assumptions underlying the new ‘testing regimes’. The introductory chapter constructs a context and a framework for the discussion in the following chapters.

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More information

Published date: 2009
Keywords: discourses of integration, language and migration, language and citizenship, language testing regimes

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 68766
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/68766
ISBN: 9789027206237
PURE UUID: 1ecc1b01-2515-442a-856e-8ab466e3048c

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Sep 2009
Last modified: 08 Mar 2024 17:40

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Contributors

Author: Gabrielle Hogan-Brun
Editor: Gabrielle Hogan-Brun
Editor: Clare Mar-Molinero
Editor: Patrick Stevenson

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