The centrality of multilingualism as a world-wide phenomenon is examined, and six issues needing attention are identified: the variable impact of official policies concerning language; contrasting views about multilingualism; scarcity of basic research; language spread and the hegemony of English; lack of attention to languages other than English;…

The last in a series of reports on nine prominent foreign languages in Australia reviews the status of Spanish, particularly as it concerns public policy and second language teaching. The first chapter describes the research and survey methodologies that are the basis for this report. Subsequent chapters summarize the results and draw conclusions.…