In the editorial of "The Language Learning Journal" of July 2011, readers' attention is drawn to the decline in language teaching and learning in British schools and universities, and to the attempt of the British Academy to promote language teaching against this decline. The British Academy paper makes seven recommendations of which the second refers to a "broader understanding of internationalisation and language learning" saying that "language learning should be central to the missions and internationalisation agendas of universities". It may be a good strategy to link language teaching and learning with internationalisation agendas because these are in turn driven by government agendas, not only in Britain but across the Western European and North American world. The consequence could be more government support. There is however a need to examine carefully whether this link is sound, in case the strategy were to be challenged, and because of the potential impact on the teaching of languages "per se". This article discusses the role of language teaching in internationalisation and distinguishes "internationalisation" from "internationalism". Where the former is a matter of activities leading to outcomes, the latter is an ideology comparable to the idealism Stier and others would like to inject into internationalisation. (Contains 5 notes.)