This article is my answer to the question: What is your vision of university language centres in the 21st century? I argue that language centres can best establish themselves as beacons of good practice by embracing, exploring and further developing the concept of plurilingualism, promoting the autonomy of their students, and constructively…

The Language Centre at the University of Padova provides language courses for students of all disciplines and with a wide range of needs. Over the years, the number of students having to deal with a language requirement has increased exponentially, while the teaching personnel and general resources have struggled to keep up. Catering to all of the…

One of the main problems relating to language courses offered at language centres is measuring the students' entry-level skills in a fast, efficient and reliable way. This problem is particularly acute in language centres with large numbers of students, especially at the beginning of the academic year, as a mechanism has to be implemented which…