Language tests. Migration and Integration. Public Policy
Migration, Integration and Language Assessment (MILA) is an ongoing 2025-2029 international research project exploring the role of language assessment in migration and integration policies. As governments increasingly use language requirements in decisions about residence and citizenship, this research tackles important questions about what these assessments measure, why they are used, and how they shape migrants' opportunities and experiences. MILA brings together international researchers to investigate these questions. Our end goal is to provide evidence to support fair, effective, and appropriote language assessment practices.
Regions In Focus
Austria
Austria has long combined German language learning and integration measures, making it a key case for examining the development and implementation of language requirements.
Flanders, Belgium
Flanders represents a distinctive regional approach to migrant integration, with the Dutch language closely linked to broader integration objectives.
Comparing Austria and Flanders at a Glance
| Austria | Flanders | |
| Population with migration background | 9.22m (27%) | 6.86m (27%) |
| Standardized language test | since 2006 | since 2023 |
| Language requirements | A1 pre-entry (for visa purposes), A2 residency, B1 (soon to be B2) citizenship | A2 writing and reading, B1 speaking and listening |
| Governance | National legislation | Regional autonomy |
Research Questions
Research Question 1
How have language requirments for migrants changed over time and how have policymakers understood the role of language in integration?
Research Question 2
How do policymakers and test developers think about and put into practice language tests for migration and integration?
Research Question 3
How do adult migrants experience integration process in Austria and Flanders when completing a language test for integration?
Research Question 4
To what extent do
existing argument-based validity theories, which are consequentialist in nature, uphold the assumption of beneficence in the face of empirical data?
Work Packages
This research project is organized into four work packages:
WP1
Policy shifts
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This WP will recruit knowlegable experts who played a key role in drafting migration language testing policy and will explore and compare shifts in language requirements and decision-makers conceptions of language and its role in integration.
WP2
Construct determination
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This comparative study will examine the stated values of policymakers with the stated test constructs. The WP will compare the levels and constructs of migration language tests with the operationalization of the test in both partner countries.
WP3
Impact on migrants' lives
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This longitudinal
ethnographic study will chart migrants’ lived experiences in the 4 months leading up to the migration language test and the two succeeding months to examine how the test impacts migrants’ lives and the L2 classroom.
WP4
Reconceptualizing validity theory
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This WP intends to validate validity theories in the context of migration and integration language testing.