This is an in depth analysis of the linguistic issues surrounding civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world. What is required to achieve civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world? Should language testing be a part of it? This book addresses the urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis for language testing than is currently available, to enable widespread discussion of this theme and the concomitant linguistic and cultural requirements. The policy proposals for civic integration have so far been conducted almost entirely at a national level, and with little regard for the experiences of countries with long traditions of migration, such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia. At the same time, EU enlargement and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that these issues will continue to grow in importance. This book raises the level of discussion to take account of international developments and to promote a more coherent and soundly based debate. It will appeal to researchers and academics working in sociolinguistics and language education, as well as those working on language policy. "The Advances in Sociolinguistics" series seeks to provide a snapshot of the current diversity of the field of sociolinguistics and the blurring of the boundaries between sociolinguistics and other domains of study concerned with the role of language in society.

Author Biography

Guus Extra is at Babylon, Centre for Studies of the Multicultural Society, Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Tilburg University, Netherlands Massimiliano Spotti is at Babylon, Centre for Studies of the Multicultural Society, Department of Language and Culture Studies, Tilburg University, Netherlands. Piet Van Avermaet is Director of the Centre for Equity in Education, Flanders, Belgium.