Focus on Multilingualism: A Study of Trilingual Writing

TLDR

The article examines how second‑language acquisition and bilingualism studies, often overlooked, share common perspectives. The study aims to identify new holistic trends in multilingualism and proposes the “Focus on Multilingualism” approach that examines the entire linguistic repertoire and interlanguage relationships in research, teaching, and assessment. The authors conducted an exploratory study of writing skill development in Basque, Spanish, and English, analyzing interlanguage interactions by focusing on the multilingual speaker rather than isolated languages. The study finds that languages interrelate in diverse ways, fostering creativity among multilingual speakers, and suggests that a multilingual focus yields new insights into language learning and use.

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the relationship between studies in second language acquisition and studies in bilingualism as areas that have been traditionally ignored but which share some common perspectives. Then we look at new trends in both areas that are compatible with a holistic perspective in the study of multilingualism. Based on these trends, we propose “Focus on Multilingualism,” an approach that looks at the whole linguistic repertoire of multilingual speakers and language learners and at the relationships between the languages when conducting research, teaching, or assessing different languages. In the second part of the article, we report on the results of an exploratory study on the development of writing skills in three languages: Basque, Spanish, and English. We explore different ways to look at the three languages and their interaction by focusing on the multilingual speaker and his or her languages rather than each of the specific languages in isolation. The results indicate that the languages are related to each other in different ways and that multilingual speakers develop their creativity in these language practices. We argue that by focusing on the different languages, we can gain new insights about the way languages are learned and used.