Abstract

This article addresses the increasingly multivariate needs brought about by the changing world and its multicultural and multilingual learners, and the impact these multi-faceted needs have on the university program design, including the challenges they pose on the post-modern role of educational leadership. The discussion starts from the current practices in the universities around language program design and delivery, weaving the learning experiences of multicultural/multilingual learners and teaching experiences of university knowledge workers, together with the traditional role of educational leadership in relation to the standards/benchmarks and university governance. University enrolment data are cited in order to delve into the cohort of multicultural and multilingual learners in university language programs, and into the multivariate nature of these learners’ needs, such as in learning capabilities and career pathways. Finally the context for multi-disciplinary and multi-mode offerings in university language programs is drawn in conjunction with the implications upon the changing qualities of effective educational leadership.