To be or not to be … a plurilingual speaker

Abstract

The bi/plurilingual person is a unique speaker–hearer who should be studied as such and not always in comparison with the monolingual. As such, unilingual linguistic models and perspectives based on the idea that bilingualism is a duplication of competences in two languages (or more) are unsuitable to describe plural practices in multilingual societies. This is a criticism we formulated over the years (Lüdi & Py, 1986 Lüdi, G. and Py, B. 1986. Etre bilingue [Being bilingual], Berne, Frankfurt am Main, New York: Peter Lang. [Google Scholar] , 2003 Lüdi , G. , & Py , B. 2003 . Etre bilingue [Being bilingual] (3rd ed., reviewed) . Berne, Frankfurt am Main, New York : Peter Lang . [Google Scholar] ). The contribution discusses the relevance of alternative models, concepts and theoretical frameworks in the study of multi/plurilingualism and their potential in language studies and the understanding of second and third-language acquisition. We also discuss how these models and concepts find their way into classroom practice and language policies.