The theme of Language World 2022 was

“Language learning for Social Justice ”

For many children and young people, socioeconomic inequity and its impact on remote learning during the Covid-related school closures will have exacerbated the poverty related attainment gap. Even prior to the pandemic, we know from Language Trends and British Council reports (Collen, 2020; Mills & Tinsley, 2020) that boys and disadvantaged learners are least likely to study a language at GCSE.

In addition, Global migration has increased the number of EAL learners in our schools who need to overcome disadvantage through language education. Social justice is not something that can be brought about by an individual, it needs a community and gatherings such as our conference to make a difference. We invite teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to join us in sharing ideas and best practice on how to encourage uptake at GCSE and beyond through a rich and engaging language curriculum which will improve language education for all and level up opportunities and outcomes for our learners.