Language is of fundamental importance in human existence and plays an essential role in the socialisation process of the individual. In foreign language education today, the linguistic, communicative and intercultural goals of learning are closely interconnected. Working towards these goals, foreign language education has a central role in preparing people for the increasingly multicultural world.
Foreign language education has been further enriched by the insight that meaningful learning requires a holistic approach that integrates the cognitive, social and affective elements of learning. In view of the cross-disciplinary nature of foreign language education and the various research perspectives involved, it is necessary to take stock and to ask: Where are we going in foreign language education, and on what grounds?
In this volume, the contributors consider this important and timeless question from a variety of perspectives. The approaches discussed are both practical ant theoretical. The book is thus an invitation to practitioers in the field to consider ideas that may help them to enhance and develop their own work as language educators at different levels of schooling.
