equilingualism

plural equilingualisms

1. uncountableusuallyhuman sciencesThe state or property of being equilingual.

   All investigators agree that bilingualism is not equilingualism.

   1947, Gwan Leong Tan, Bilingual Education and Its Inherent Problems, With Special Reference to Burma, page 136

   4 more examples

   But considering the potential role of theory in informing and guiding practice, the real point of interest is whether equilingualism is desirable as a goal in second language learning and teaching.

   1975, University of Ifẹ Press (publisher), Odù, volumes 10-16, page 92

   It is shown that equilingualisms, native competence in each of a bilingual's languages, is common when the languages are acquired in childhood but cannot generally be obtained after puberty.

   1979, Jacob Ornstein-Galicia, Robert N. St. Clair (editors), Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, New Readings and Insights, page 282

   Equilingualism is fair because it tends to even out the advantages and disadvantages of being English- or French-speaking, with minorities of each language being in comparable positions.

   1981, Canada, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (contributor), Language and Society, volumes 1-6

   Between these minimalist and maximalist criteria for bilingualism lie a whole range of possible definitions, and various authors have situated their requirements at intervals along a proficiency continuum, from ambilingualism, equilingualism, and diglossia to semilingualism (see below).

   2004, Michel Paradis, A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism, page 2