An analysis of the linguistic issues surrounding civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world. It addresses the need to develop a conceptual and theoretical basis for language testing to enable widespread discussion of this theme and the concomitant linguistic and cultural requirements.

Acknowledgement; 1. Testing regimes for newcomers, Guus Extra, Massimiliano Spotti and Piet Van Avermaet (Tilburg University, Netherlands and Centre for Equity in Education, Flanders, Belgium); PART I Case studies in Europe; 2. The politics of language and citizenship in the Baltic context, Gabrielle Hogan-Brun (University of Bristol, UK); 3. Language, migration and citizenship in Sweden, Lilian Nygren-Junkin (Goteborg University, Sweden); 4. Inventing English as convenient fiction: language testing regimes in the United Kingdom, Adrian Blackledge (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom); 5. Language, migration and citizenship in Germany: discourses on integration and belonging, Patrick Stevenson and Livia Schanze (University of Southampton, UK); 6. One nation, two policies: language requirements for citizenship and integration in Belgium, Piet Van Avermaet and Sara Gysen (Centre for Equity in Education, Flanders, Belgium); 7. Testing regimes for newcomers to the Netherlands, Guus Extra and Massimiliano Spotti (Tilburg University, Netherlands); 8. Regimenting language, mobility and citizenship in Luxembourg, Kristine Horner (University of Leeds, UK); 9. Spanish language ideologies in managing immigration and citizenship, Dick Vigers and Clare Mar-Molinero (Southampton University, UK); PART II Case studies abroad; 10. The language barrier between immigration and citizenship in the US, Tammy Gales (University of California Davis, USA); 11. Canada: a multicultural mosaic, Lilian Nygren-Junkin (Goteborg University, Sweden); 12. The spectre of the Dictation Test: language testing for immigration and citizenship in Australia, Tim McNamara (University of Melbourne, Australia); 13. Citizenship, language, and nationality in Israel, Elana Shohamy and Tzahi Kanza (Tel Aviv University, Israel).

Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship brings together some of the most current prominent thinkers in Applied Linguistics on language and citizenship... this collection is an excellent starting point for those with an interest in language testing, migration and citizenship. While there appears to be prevalent sentiment that language is essential for integration and citizenship, the multiple examples in this book demonstrate that each country has its own complexities.

Since the emergence of sociolinguistics as a new field of enquiry in the late 1960s, research into the relationship between language and society has advanced almost beyond recognition. In particular, the past decade has witnessed the considerable influence of theories drawn from outside of sociolinguistics itself. Thus rather than see language as a mere reflection of society, recent work has been increasingly inspired by ideas drawn from social, cultural, and political theory that have emphasised the constitutive role played by language/discourse in all areas of social life. The Advances in Sociolinguistics series seeks to provide a snapshot of the current diversity of the field of sociolinguistics and the blurring of the boundaries between sociolinguistics and other domains of study concerned with the role of language in society.