Neither "Mono" nor "Multi": Plurilingualism and Hybrid Competence

Piccardo (2013, this issue) highlights three points that we wwould like to address. One is the contrast of plurilingualism with an idealized monolingualism, and, as noted by Piccardo in her discussion of Pavlenko (2005), the dangers of referencing learning multiple language varieties to a monolingual model. The second is the emerging notion of plurilingualism, in contrast to multilingualism, as interactive, dynamic, and taking into account multiple varieties. The third is the teaching and learning issues involved if these contrasts are ignored, along with the promising potential for pedagogical innovation when plurilingualism is recognised as a norm and a desired outcome. Adapted from the source document