Multilingualism
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
The ability to use three or more languages with varying degrees of proficiency for communicative purposes. Internationally mobile individuals and families are disproportionately multilingual, though the term encompasses a wide spectrum from passive familiarity to full native-equivalent proficiency across languages.
Comparable terms
Plurilingualism (Council of Europe — preferred in European policy contexts; emphasizes the integrated, dynamic nature of multiple language competencies) · Bilingualism (linguistics — specifically two languages; often used loosely to include multilingualism) · Multilinguality (linguistics — individual capacity dimension) · Translingualism (applied linguistics — emphasizes fluid movement across language boundaries rather than discrete language systems)
Why this matters
Multilingualism is the norm, not the exception, in many globally mobile families. It brings cognitive and social benefits but also practical and identity challenges. Recognizing it explicitly helps systems move beyond “one child, one language” assumptions.
Cross-references
Linguistic Repertoire (Language & Identity); Translanguaging (Language & Identity); Additive Bilingualism (Language & Identity); Language Identity (Language & Identity); ELF (Language & Identity). Linguistic repertoire is the individual-level concept that multilingualism describes at the population or descriptor level; translanguaging describes how multilingual individuals actually use their languages — fluidly and without strict code separation. Additive bilingualism describes the positive conditions under which multilingualism develops most healthily; language identity documents how the experience of being multilingual shapes the individual’s broader sense of self and cultural belonging. ELF is one of the most significant communicative contexts within which internationally mobile multilingual individuals exercise their multilingual repertoires.
Sources
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