This article examines the social implications of language teacher education in light of the current emphasis on diversity and multiculturalism in education, with special reference to Australian society. It explains and discusses the ramifications of policies promoting: (1) assimilation, which advocates monolingualism and the eradication of dialects; (2) multiculturalism, which advocates community language maintenance and the appreciation of dialect differences; (3) nationalism, which advocates subtractive bilingualism and monodialectalism; and (4) instrumentalism, which advocates additive bilingualism and bidialectism. It argues that language teacher education needs to be aware of the sociopolitical environment in which it operates and make language education socially relevant. (MDM)