The Center for Multiple Languages and Literacies (CMLL) at Teachers College, Columbia University, focuses on the challenges occasioned by the multiplicity of languages and literacies in the 21st century. CMLL conducts and disseminates research on how different languages and literacies can be used as resources to advance human development, education, and intercultural understanding. CMLL also promotes dialogue across societies and groups through lectures, conferences, and the Internet. In addition, it supports educators in using research to inform practice.

CMLL’s work is elaborated in the context of a world characterized by greater flows of people, information, goods and services within and across national boundaries. CMLL is distinctive because of its emphasis on international and transcultural societies, with New York City as an expression of such a society, and its attention to educational systems, including schools, families, religious institutions, community centers, the workplace, and the media.