Independent multilingualism normative assessments, where art thou?

Rothman, Jason and Iverson, Michael (2023) Independent multilingualism normative assessments, where art thou? In: Multilingual Norms :. Verlag Peter Lang AG, Berlin, pp. 33-51. ISBN 9783631902790

Abstract

Recent work within multilingualism has highlighted the inaccuracy of comparing multilingual knowledge against a monolingual standard. This comparison greatly oversimplifies the reality of multilingual acquisition and competence, implicitly assuming that this process is no more than the product of cumulative monolingual acquisitions. However, in the absence of independent normative assessment measures for multilingualism, the monolingual model provides a point of reference for developmental and ultimate attainment comparison that is relatively well documented. With the aforementioned in mind, there is an immediate need for a more precise and accurate measure of multilingual competence (linguistic and sociolinguistic). Nevertheless, given the inherent variation of crucial linguistic and sociolinguistic variables across multilingual communities and individuals, arriving at such normative measures for multilingualism is no small task. Herein, we detail the context in which the need for multilingual normative measures has arisen, and provide the first steps of framing a research endeavour whose primary goal is the creation of such measures.