Editorial

The value of multilingualism is increasingly recognised, not only in Europe but across the world. There has long been an awareness of the social and economic benefits that multilingualism brings; evidence is now mounting of the educational and cognitive benefits that accompany it. However, there are different understandings of its implications, from the prospect of a new paradigm of translanguage interactions, through the empowering of citizens in using several languages, to the opportunity to promote the status of particular languages or groups of languages. This issue of the journal does not review the full spectrum of possibilities, but the articles and interventions address different points on that spectrum.

Dina Mehmedbegovic and Thomas Bak take an interdisciplinary approach to multilingualism, challenging some of the traditional assumptions about language use and language learning over the course of an individual life. They suggest that potential health benefits open a new dimension in the discussions of multilingualism and language learning. They argue that the active use of several languages provides regular mental exercise, leading to a better brain health and an increase in "cognitive reserve". They suggest that a "Healthy Linguistic Diet" should become the concern of policy makers.

Jean Noriyuki Nishiyama examines the evolution of plurilingualism in language teaching in Japan since the end of the nineteenth century. He shows that policy makers have promoted the learning of English for the wider population, particularly since the Second World War. He questions the reasoning for this and argues that it has had the effect of restricting other European languages to a small elite. He also suggests that the use of the Common European Framework of Reference has been used primarily to promote the teaching of Japanese and English.

The advantages of the CLIL approach to language learning have been identified over the last twenty years in Europe. Concha Julián-de-Vega and Carmen Fonseca-Mora address the widespread introduction of CLIL approaches in Spain. In particular, they examine the ways in which content teachers and language teachers have been brought to work in teams and to collaborate. Drawing on a detailed study of Spanish/Andalusian secondary schools, they analyse the role of coordinator teachers supporting CLIL teachers to develop pedagogical practices. Their results indicate a number of training guidelines that should be more widely adopted to help CLIL teachers in their professional development.

Finally Ruilin Wu takes a case study of Uyghur minority trilingual education in China, comparing the issues and problems with successful minority trilingual education developed in Europe, using the CLIL approach. Drawing on case studies in Spain and Finland, she argues that successful CLIL implementation in Europe can provide possible solutions to address the issues faced by Chinese ethnic minority trilingual education.

The Interventions section is a platform for policy statements, reports and other published documents relating to language policy. The section begins with an extended essay of advocacy by Pierre Frath, addressing the increasing Anglicisation of Europe, particularly in the economy, education and science. He examines arguments in favour of the process, but argues that the consequences are largely negative. Focusing on France, he suggests that a preference for English is most often implemented in a "spontaneous" and unreflective way that can be understood in anthropological terms. He calls for a coherent linguistic policy in Europe and proposes steps that can be taken to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

The recent Eurydice Report provides detailed information about the learning and teaching of languages in schools across Europe, as part of the "Key Data" series. It gives an analysis of the provision of foreign languages in the curriculum, with a focus on the first and second foreign languages as compulsory subjects; the range of languages studied; Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL); the expected levels of attainment for the first and second foreign languages; foreign language teacher profiles and qualifications; transnational mobility of foreign language teachers; and language support for newly arrived migrant students.

The European Parliament issues a series of Fact Sheets on its activities, and in February 2017 published a Fact Sheet on Language Policy, which provides a useful summary of the Parliament's aims and achievements in this area.

And finally...