Conclusion: Multilingualism, diversity and equitable learning: Towards crossing the ‘abyss’

Abstract

This volume is timely because what multilingualism means has become a pressing educational matter of concern in the first half of the twenty-first century. This concern is currently framed through several different understandings of multilingualism/s and vocabulary associated with the phenomena. While the understandings of multilingualism differ, there is a common purpose, which is how societal multilingualism/s might best be employed to benefit students in education systems of Europe, North America and indeed everywhere in the world. The editors of this volume, van Avermaet, Slembrouck, van Gorp, Sierens and Maryns, make it explicit that they bring together largely European perspectives of multilingualism and the passage of multilingual education because this is where the impact of current mobility of people is most obviously and visibly evident. Its visibility owes much to electronic, digital and printed media that are well-placed in Europe and other North Atlantic countries to reveal the challenges of diversity in administrative systems, including education. The editors expand European perspectives to include contributions of scholars with different experiences of multilingualism/s in education in Canada, the USA, Southern Africa and French Guyana.