This book explores cross-international experiences in the field of adult English language teaching and learning, using cross-cultural dialogues to hear voices from different countries and different settings – formal, informal and non-formal – discussing how their lifelong learning has or is still in the process of helping them to change their lives. The book addresses two major questions: (1) How do adults learn languages and transform themselves through learning? (2) How do authorities and societies build capacity for sustainable language development? It will be of interest to researchers, policymakers and adult language teachers, concerned with diverse aspects of teaching and learning English as lingua franca for enhancing the public good internationally.

The book draws on the way in which the Western paradigm of lifelong learning was applied by an international team of inspired professionals to English language education in the Tempus project “Lifelong Language Learning University Centre Network for New Career Opportunities and Personal Development (UNICO)”. This project was  undertaken by eleven universities in three countries: the Siberian Federal District of the Russian Federation, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Republic of Tajikistan, in partnership with the Charles University in Prague, the Institute of  Education from the University College London, and the University of Córdoba in Spain.