The special feature 2013/02 focuses on the language courses provided to and/or required of adult immigrants in the Member States of the EU.

What is a special feature?

Special features are designed to make the link between current news on integration and EWSI content. In doing so, they help to:

• Put what is heard in the news on integration into a wider and deeper perspective;
• Bring back balance to the often unbalanced portrayal of integration in the news;
• Guide users through the wealth of EWSI content by acting as a ‘content vade mecum’.

How was this topic chosen?

Knowledge of language is widely recognised to be integral to the successful social and economic integration of immigrants. This is evidenced by the growing trend among EU Member States to arrange language courses for newly arrived immigrants. In 2012 the OECD noted that language training is the single most important expenditure related to integration that is directly targeted at immigrants (Jobs for Immigrants, Volume 3, 2012). It is against this backdrop that the EWSI Editorial Committee has decided to take a closer look at language courses for adult immigrants in the EU.