Linguistic Repertoire
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
The full range of linguistic resources available to an individual (across languages, dialects, registers, and communicative styles) that they deploy fluidly and selectively in different social contexts. The concept positions multilingual individuals as possessing an integrated, dynamic linguistic system rather than multiple separate, potentially competing languages, reframing the multilingual experience as a strength rather than a complication.
Comparable terms
Language repertoire (applied linguistics — equivalent) · Multilingual competence (education — functional equivalent; emphasizes the competence dimension) · Verbal repertoire (sociolinguistics — Gumperz; the original formulation of the concept) · Communicative repertoire (applied linguistics — broader; includes non-verbal resources)
Why this matters
Seeing multilinguals through their repertoire highlights richness instead of “half‑languages.” It supports approaches like translanguaging that mirror real life more than strict separation. This view also better matches how TCKs and expats actually communicate day to day.
Cross-references
Translanguaging (Language & Identity); Multilingualism (Language & Identity); Code-Switching (Language & Identity); Language Identity (Language & Identity); ELF (Language & Identity); L1/L2 (Language & Identity); BICS/CALP (Language & Identity). Language identity is enacted through and shaped by the linguistic repertoire — which languages an individual draws on, in which contexts, and with what social meanings. ELF is frequently a significant component of internationally mobile individuals’ repertoires; L1/L2 describes the developmental sequence through which the repertoire is built. BICS/CALP is relevant because repertoire depth varies across its components — an individual may have BICS-level proficiency in several languages within their repertoire but CALP-level proficiency in fewer.
Sources
Gumperz, J.J. (1964). Linguistic and social interaction in two communities. American Anthropologist, 66(6), 137–153. The original paper introducing the concept of verbal repertoire as the full set of linguistic varieties available to a speaker in their community.
García and Wei’s translanguaging framework positions the multilingual individual’s full linguistic repertoire — rather than discrete named languages — as the unit of analysis, arguing that bilinguals’ practices naturally transcend conventional linguistic boundaries and should be recognized and leveraged in educational contexts rather than suppressed. García, O. & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
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