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 aligning curriculum, teaching/learning and assessment. Each of these activities requires research, so the realization of my vision entails that language centres should have the same obligation to engage in research as other academic departments. At present this is rarely the case, which suggests an important advocacy role for CercleS as it enters its fourth decade.