To Be or Not to Be...A Plurilingual Speaker

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 (Ludi & Py, 1986, 2003). 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. (Contains 11 notes.)