At a time when DEI initiatives are being questioned or scaled back in some contexts, this book argues that language education has a vital role to play in fostering inclusion and mutual understanding across linguistic and cultural differences

Despite falling enrolments, the teaching of Languages other than English (LOTE) in higher education has huge potential value as an alternative way to promote diversity and inclusion, bypassing current culture wars.

This book offers new possibilities for LOTE education in the age of AI and global Englishes, revealing why its educational significance grows as its instrumental value declines. It synthesises diverse theoretical traditions into a coherent theory of hybridity, showing why hybridity is natural, inevitable and vital – and why embracing it in LOTE education can help overcome contemporary social divisiveness.

The author translates this theoretical discussion into practice through three interdependent learning goals: Discover, Translanguage and Collaborate & Reflect, supported by classroom activities, formative assessment, and the purposeful use of AI. The book offers an inspiring vision of the future of language education, and will be of interest to researchers, teacher educators and all those involved in university-level language education.