By Marco Tamburelli. It is now well known that growing up with two or more languages brings a wealth of cognitive advantages. Multilingualism is not only a laudable achievement in a tolerant society, it is also of great social benefit to individuals. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that bilinguals are better at focusing their attention, they are less easily distracted, they have increased mental flexibility, and show slower rates of mental decline in old age.
It is therefore surprising to see that some European governments and their mainstream media – for example in France and Italy – are hostile to the idea of encouraging multilingualism, and sometimes even to the idea that Europeans should be allowed to be publicly bilingual. More...

By Frank Monaghan. In a recent speech outlining Britain’s anti-extremism strategy entitled A Stronger Britain, Built On Our Values, the home secretary, Theresa May, identified five “British values” that “are the means by which we have made our multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society succeed”. More...

By Simon Harrison and Ellen Hurst. Every year hundreds of thousands of applicants from China, Brazil, Angola, Iran and other non-English speaking countries vie fiercely for places on universities’ English for Academic Purposes courses. They know that successfully completing these programmes will help them get into universities around the world that use English as their medium of instruction. More...

By Kobus Maree. The world of work is changing all the time – and fast. Jobs have emerged that didn’t exist five or ten years ago. And the idea that you’d stick with one career for your entire working life has been left in the dust. More...

By Benta A. Abuya. Research has established that school-going children with a positive attitude are more likely to achieve better results in school and in life. They’re also more likely to be goal-oriented and committed to their favourite activities than those peers who have negative attitudes. More...

By Penelope Andrews. Dear university students,
It seems like the world is in a frenzy of voting right now, from the recent vote in Britain to exit the European Union to the US choosing its next president – who may be a former reality TV star. More...

By Ahmed Essop. South Africa’s university campuses are quiet – for now. There’s been sporadic unrest, but nothing like the protests that brought institutions to a standstill in late 2015 and early 2016. More...

By Mignon van Vreden. The vignette describes learning from music – with the accent on from. It narrates an event that occurred early one morning during data collection for a multiple case study in a preschool classroom in Potchefstroom, in South Africa’s North West Province. More...

By Suellen Shay. Higher education in South Africa is at another crossroads. Students have put pressure on the state to offer “fee-free” education to all following their success last year in securing a zero increase in fees for 2015. But the battle over what fee structure is appropriate for the country is far from over. More...