The Council of Europe has recently released a report on “The linguistic integration of adult migrants: lessons from research”, which examines how scientific evidence can inform the development and implementation of policy and practice designed to support the linguistic integration of adult migrants. The report draws on the results of a symposium held earlier this year in Strasbourg, which brought together researchers from various disciplines, including education, didactics, psychology, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. The contributions to the symposium reflect the wide range of issues that need to be addressed in this context.

The Council of Europe has been a pioneer in the field of language teaching and learning for the past five decades, and the project on the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM) is part of its continuing work in this domain. The project’s purpose is to support some of its member states in the development of coherent and effective policies; also to encourage others to review existing policies in the light of shared Council of Europe values and principles. Moreover, it seeks to identify and share good practices; where language tests are obligatory, to promote transparency and equity, according to internationally accepted codes of practice.