The issue of how migrants integrate into their host societies has become one of increasing importance as governments struggle to cope with the effects of an increasingly mobile workforce and the emergence of a global marketplace for work.

The forum at ALTE Cambridge 2008 served as an opportunity to discuss the key issues of this timely subject.

Held under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Terry Davis, the forum was moderated by Dr Lynda Taylor.

Head of the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe Joseph Sheils, gave the introductory presentation: a European Perspective, which outlined the guidelines and tools being developed by the Council of Europe to help member countries develop policies which will support the integration of migrants. Mr Sheils emphasized that rather than a single solution, the diversity of contexts throughout Europe required a differentiated approach.  

Other presentations included:

Piet van Avermaet, of the Centre for Diversity and Learning, University of Ghent, Belgium.
His paper compared the integration policies in European countries, reporting on shift towards stricter conditions on both new migrants and those who had been living in their host country for a number of years.  One of the most salient conditions was that of language proficiency, with language tests being increasingly used to prove proficiency in one of the hosts ‘official’ languages.

Claire Extramiana, of France’s Ministry for Culture, looked at migration as a political issue, examining the impact of this on both the migrant and the host society. 

Prof Stefania Giannini, of the University for Foreigners of Perugia, outlined the language certification system of Italy and discussed it as a potential pattern for use in other countries.

Charlotte Hamburger, of the Danish Ministry of Refugee Immigration and Integration Affairs, discussed the Danish approach to integration including the role of language proficiency in family reunification and obtaining permission for permanent residence and citizenship.

Henk Kuijper, of the testing and measurement agency Cito, gave a presentation throwing light on the issue of quality assurance for tests of citizenship and migration purposes.

David Little, of Trinity College, Dublin presented on the work of Integrate Ireland Language and Training, which features intensive language training courses for immigrants with refugee status as part of a programme underpinned by the European Languages Portfolio.

The informed debate which followed the presentations, included contributions from those involved in setting policies, advisors to ministries, and also voices critical of the use of language assessment for immigration purposes from within the academic community.
The widely differing experiences of the regions represented within the forum enabled a great deal of information to be disseminated.

While, as is often the case, the forum ran out of time before the topic had been exhausted, the debate gave strong indications that while there are concerns about language assessment as a tool for immigration, language testing should not be demonised as it has a proper role in improving social cohesion.