Today, classrooms are increasingly diverse under the effects of globalisation and events that lead to greater movements of people (e.g. the most recent refugee movements). Linguistic diversity is therefore a key concern for European education systems. On the one hand, multilingual skills are required in globally connected societies, as espoused by the EU’s ‘Mother Tongue +2’ policy. On the other hand, large-scale research results reveal considerable differences in educational achievement between migrant and non-migrant students. These results confirm to many that heritage/migrant languages are risk factors for many learners.  The influence of these supranational studies thus ensures that education systems retain traditional approaches to language whereby certain languages (standard, western varieties) are valued over others (migrant, regional, peripheral varieties). Yet, while such large-scale surveys must be lauded for highlighting educational disparities, many researchers have been dissatisfied with the methods deployed by them and the partial results that they tend to produce (Duarte & Gogolin 2013). 

The research community shares fundamental understanding that language – however it may be approached – is indeed a critical factor for educational achievement. We therefore argue that educational research has a critical (and less ambivalent) role to play in assessing the influence of supranational agents and in exposing multilingual realities for educational reform that responds to twenty-first century demands.  Indeed, research on language in education continues to expand to include the characteristics of groups of learners (e.g. Nauck & Schnoor 2015), interventionist research design to explore structural discrimination (e.g. Fürstenau 2016), and outcomes deriving from subject-specific language support(s) (e.g. Prediger & Wessel 2013).

In this paper we acknowledge that educational research faces significant challenges, however, as it must be able to assess, investigate and inform in ways that are relevant. The imperative of constant change comes not only from reforming bodies but also from rapidly diversifying social conditions. Research proliferates while certain questions continue to remain open. Pathways to educational reform in multilingual settings are therefore still unclear. More specifically, the ways in which educational research can support reform need to be clarified and prioritised. The present study was conceived to gauge the research priorities among a panel of expert scholars. We asked them: What are the most pressing and urgent research needs in the field of language education and multilingualism?

We recognise that reforming language education concerns a broader range of stakeholders from both private and public spheres (e.g. parents and employers) than just expert scholars. In keeping with the ECER Call for Papers, we present a study that concerns the role of educational research for which we consulted a panel of experts who are active in and familiar with the state-of-the-art scholarship. We ask from a relativist perspective how educational researchers reflect on the relevance of their work for multilingualism and how they re-frame research priorities in light of constant change and critical reflection.

This study was conducted in Germany, an especially interesting context considering the issues outlined. Firstly, Germany is the second largest country of immigration after the USA (United Nations 2016). Secondly, the “PISA Shock” of 2000 had particular resonance in policy and educational research there. Thirdly, the German government has since proclaimed the development of multilingual skills to be an educational priority (BMBF 2013). Finally, as this study was developed, Germany received record numbers of refugees, necessitating renewed reflection on the relative underachievement of migrant children in the mainly monolingual school system. Yet Germany is by no means unique in the issues it faces regarding linguistic diversification in classrooms and the need for timely research. This study is therefore relevant to other European contexts, and the methods are readily transferable.

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