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.