This special issue on foreign language (FL) learning in multilingual contexts
provides insights into cross- and inter-linguistic phenomena comparing
monolingual and multilingual students who learn FLs in linguistically het-
erogeneous classrooms. All contributions are based on data gathered in pro-
jects carried out within the research cluster “Language education and
multilingualism”/“Sprachliche Bildung und Mehrsprachigkeit”, which has
been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research
(Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) from 2013 to 2020. By
bringing together linguistic and educational perspectives on FL learning and
teaching as well as different methodological aspects of FL testing, this special
issue sheds light on various questions related to FL learning in multilingual
contexts: How are FL competencies interrelated at both receptive and pro-
ductive levels of proficiency and how do these develop over time? Which lin-
guistic and extra-linguistic factors influence FL learning in multilinguals? Are
there differences in FL learning between monolingual and multilingual FL
learners and in how far could multilinguals benefit from positive transfer from
their heritage languages?