Author: Angela Gayton
Date of Publication: June 2017
Series Title: Scottish Languages Review Issue 32
Notes: DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.5100517
This paper provides an overview of the MEITS (Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies) project, led by the University of Cambridge and its partner institutions: University of Edinburgh, University of Nottingham, and Queen’s University Belfast. It is funded under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Open World Research Initiative (OWRI). The project commenced on July 1st, 2016, and is due to run until 30th June, 2020: at this early stage, the MEITS team is seeking to make relevant stakeholders aware of the rationale and need for the project, the varied array of methodological approaches, and the planned real-world impact. Of particular interest to this readership is that the project is a response to the decline of foreign language learning in the United Kingdom (and other Anglophone countries), attitudes towards and beliefs about multilingualism generally, and wider questions of language policy in the United Kingdom and beyond.