Emergent multicompetence at the primary level: a dynamic conception of multicompetence

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at multicompetence aspects of multilingual learning and offers a new conceptual framework for the discussion of multicompetence. The paper takes Cook's multicompetence theory as the point of departure and proposes a reconceptualisation thereof which is broader in scope and keyed to a dynamic systems and complexity theory perspective. The new concept construes multicompetence as a dynamic and multicomponential phenomenon resulting from the interplay of complex, non-linear and emergent processes. The paper first delineates the theoretical foundations guiding the present discussion and outlines the main tenets of a dynamic systems and complexity theory approach. Next, it presents and analyses selective qualitative data from an empirical study carried out at the primary level in South Tyrol and it discusses young multilingual learners’ linguistic productions in relation to the notion of multicompetence as envisioned here. The paper closes with an outlook on future directions by pointing to potential advantages of multicompetence approaches to teaching and learning and by suggesting some modest alterations to current school policy provisions in South Tyrol.

KEYWORDS:

• Multicompetence
• multilingual learning
• multilingual awareness
• dynamic systems and complexity theory
• early multilingualism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Barbara Hofer

Barbara Hofer is a member of the DYME research team at the Department of English at the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and a lecturer at the Faculty of Education at the Free University of Bolzano (Italy). She has published on psycholinguistic issues in the field of multilingualism.