Multilingualism is widespread in the world today and English is, in many cases, one of the languages in the multilingual speaker's repertoire. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is used by multilingual speakers who can also communicate in other languages and use their multilingual and multicultural resources in creative ways. This paper aims at exploring the relationship between recent trends in multilingualism, particularly the proposal ‘Focus on Multilingualism’ and ELF. After a brief presentation of multilingualism as related to globalization and super-diversity, there will be an examination of the new trends that bring together the study of multilingualism in education and ELF. Then, similarities and differences between the two are discussed as related to the emerging paradigm that takes into consideration a new vision of language, speakers and repertoires and has translanguaging as a key concept. Translanguaging pedagogies based on the multilingual learner's repertoire are also discussed. The last section looks at achievements and challenges presented by the synergies that have been created and reinforced.

This article looks at the definitions and scope of multilingualism and the different perspectives used in its study. Multilingualism is a very common phenomenon that has received much scholarly attention in recent years. Multilingualism is also an interdisciplinary phenomenon that can be studied from both an individual and a societal perspective. In this article, several dimensions of multilingualism are considered, and different types of multilingualism are discussed. The article summarizes the themes researched in various areas of the study of multilingualism such as neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistics, education, sociolinguistics, and language policy. These areas look at language acquisition and language processing as well as the use of different languages in social contexts and adopt a variety of research methodologies. The last section of the article compares monolingual and holistic perspectives in the study of multilingualism, paying special attention to new approaches developed in the past few years that argue for establishing more fluid boundaries between languages.

This paper focuses on the advantages that bilinguals have over monolinguals when acquiring an additional language. Bilinguals are more experienced language learners and have potentially developed learning strategies to a larger extent than monolinguals. They also have a larger linguistic and intercultural repertoire at their disposal. In this paper the methodology and results of studies on the influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition (TLA) will be reviewed and their contribution to the study of multilingualism discussed. A new perspective, focus on multilingualism, is presented as a more appropriate way to analyse the effect of bilingualism on TLA. This perspective is holistic and focuses on multilingual speakers and their linguistic repertoires, including the interaction between their languages.

Presented at the AAAL Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 6 March, 2010.

This colloquium discussed a multilingual approach to language learning, language teaching and language assessment in school settings. This approach implies looking at language acquisition and use from a holistic perspective, taking into account not only the target language but all the languages known by the learner; such a perspective brings together the traditions of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and bi/multilingualism because it looks at the whole linguistic repertoire of learners when acquiring and using languages. This perspective does not regard the boundaries between languages as clear-cut; nevertheless, those boundaries are themselves used as a resource in communication. In contrast to traditional teaching approaches, code-mixing, code-switching and translanguaging are considered common practices in the behavior of multilingual learners. The multilingual approach also represents a reaction against the ‘monolingual bias’, which leads to the judging of multilingual speakers' competencies by native speaker norms. It also goes beyond common practices not only in foreign language classrooms but also in bilingual and multilingual schools.

This research examines the influence of bilingualism on third language learning in a bilingual community, the Basque Country. The English-language achievement of students instructed through the majority (Spanish) and the minority (Basque) languages in the Basque Country was measured. In addition, other cognitive, sociostructural, social psychological, and educational variables were also included in the study. Several sets of regression analyses were carried out to analyze the role of bilingual education. The results indicated that bilingualism and several other variables (intelligence, motivation, age, and exposure) were good predictors of English-language achievement. This research suggests, then, that immersion in the minority language for Spanish-speaking students and school reinforcement of the native language for Basque-speaking students have positive linguistic outcomes.

TEACHER COLLABORATION AND TALK IN MULTILINGUAL CLASSROOMS.Angela Creese. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2006. Pp. ix + 217. $119.95 cloth, $49.95 paper.

The roles of teachers and their collaboration in multilingual classes in three secondary schools in the United Kingdom are explored in this volume. It is an ethnographic study conducted inside the schools, based on observation and interviews. Creese provides a critical analysis of the relationship between language teachers and subject teachers. The insights of this work can be useful for many other multilingual schools in other contexts in which teachers work together in the same classroom and for schools with native language assistants or teachers for students with special needs who work in collaboration with subject teachers.