Note FROM THE EDITOR
Issues in Multilingualism. Teaching – Learning – Assessment is a collection of articles reflecting Polish approaches to the promotion of high quality second and foreign language education. In the transformation period Poland undertook a great effort to promote language learning in schools of all levels as well as in lifelong education. The speed of implementing language teaching and teacher education reforms was not surprising – a country whose language is rarely spoken outside its borders has no difficulty understanding the role of languages in international communication. Today, more than twenty years after the fall of communism, quantitative problems have already been solved; a large number of qualified teachers have been trained, two foreign languages have been introduced in the school curriculum, the early start has been successfully promoted and language schools flourish. Language education, however, faces new challenges. New communicative needs spring from new contexts created by educational and professional mobility. In consequence more stress is put on face to face / oral and business communication, language for specific purposes, issues of language and culture as well as the development of intercultural competence. New teaching methods and techniques result from a growing knowledge of psychological and sociological processes. Innovative educational approaches aim at supporting language learning in a variety of ways, by means of promoting learner autonomy and self-reflection, focusing on transversal and transferable skills such as reading comprehension or critical reading skills and integrating language and content (CLIL). Quality language education calls for developing learning to learn skills through strategy training, for adjusting methodology to new learning environments as well as for introducing new forms of assessment and self-assessment. More and more attention is given to computer assisted language learning, multimedia, self-instruction and guided learning in a corporate environment.