Even if someone is highly proficient in two or more languages, his or her so-called "communicative competence" or ability may not be as balanced. Linguists have distinguished various types of multilingual competence, which can roughly be put into two categories:



The distinction between compound and coordinate bilingualism has come under scrutiny. When studies are done of multilinguals, most are found to show behavior intermediate between compound and coordinate bilingualism. Some authors have suggested that the distinction should only be made at the level of grammar rather than vocabulary, others use "coordinate bilingual" as a synonym for one who has learned two languages from birth, and others have proposed dropping the distinction altogether (see Baetens-Beardsmore, 1974 for discussion).

Many theorists are now beginning to view bilingualism as a "spectrum or continuum of bilingualism" that runs from the relatively monolingual language learner to highly proficient bilingual speakers who function at high levels in both languages (Garland, 2007).

Definition of "language"
Comparing multilingual speakers
Receptive bilingualism
Outcomes