Inclusive Multilingualism: Concept, Modes and Implications

Departing from a critical discussion of the mothertongue plus two language
policy of the EU, which because of its focus on learning standard languages
is shown to fail the intended goals, this paper rejects an “English only” approach
as a possible solution for the problems of European multilingualism and develops
the concept of “Inclusive Multilingualism” as a more viable and realistic policy
alternative. Therefore, firstly, this concept is defined as including interactive
strategies or communicative modes to overcome the limitations of foreign language
competence, justified theoretically and related to similar concepts like
plurilingualism. Five modes (the use of English as a lingua franca, regional linguae
francae, lingua receptiva, codeswitching and translation and interpretation) are
then described as well-researched constituents of Inclusive Multilingualism. Finally,
implications for a wider concept of communicative competence and language
teaching are outlined as well as perspectives for future research.