Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence: A Theoretical-Methodological Review for Language Education and Teacher Training

Abstract

This article offers a theoretical-methodological review of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC), discussing its relevance for language education in societies shaped by diversity and the global circulation of languages and cultures. It begins by distinguishing bilingualism, multilingualism, and plurilingualism, highlighting the latter as an individual and social practice that mobilizes linguistic repertoires in an integrated and dynamic way, as proposed by the Council of Europe (2001) and further developed by authors such as Coste, Moore, and Zarate (2009). The text examines the challenges of teacher education in overcoming normative and monolingual models, and argues for strengthening pedagogical practices that value learners’ linguistic knowledge (Bagno, 2017; Gonçalves & Andrade, 2007). It then explores the four dimensions of PPC, socio-affective, communicative, learning-management, and interactional, as fundamental components for the development of a critical and inclusive language education. The discussion focuses on pluralistic approaches, interculturality, integrated didactics, intercomprehension, and language awareness, as methodological tools for building PPC, aligned with a didactics of plurilingualism (Candelier et al., 2012). Finally, the article presents the implications of PPC for school curricula and public policies, advocating the overcoming of the still dominant monolingual paradigm and the adoption of practices that recognize linguistic diversity as a right. The study contributes to consolidating a conceptual and methodological foundation aimed at teacher education and at building a more democratic, plural, and sociolinguistically responsive school.