ES repertorio lingüístico / CAT repertori lingüístic / FR répertoire linguistique / DE Sprachrepertoire

The linguistic repertoire is the set of skills and knowledge a person has of one or more languages, as well as their different varieties (be they diatopic, diaphasic, diastratic or diachronic). This repertoire comprises elements of the different levels of description of language and its use (phonetic-graphical, lexical-grammatical, discursive-textual or pragmatic). Concerning the use of languages, this repertoire forms the basis of every language learner’s plurilingual competence (either current or possible). If the learner's education system includes the study of non-living languages, like Latin, this linguistic knowledge also forms part of that person’s linguistic repertoire, even though their command is usually restricted to the receptive use of written texts.

The term was coined in the context of language sociology, for the set of language varieties—including registers and dialects—“exhibited in the speaking and writing patterns of a speech community” (Fishman 1972: 48). Lingusitic repertoire has also been called the verbal repertoire (Finegan 2004: 540). The concept is applied both to multilingual and monolingual repertoires: “Just as a multilingual linguistic repertoire allocates different language varieties to different speech situations, so does a monolingual repertoire. For all speakers —monolingual and multilingual— there is marked variation in the forms of language used for different activities, addressees, topics, and settings” (Finegan 2004: 319).

Later, the term became widely used in publications on language teaching and learning, in allusion both to the repertoire of resources and skills developed in an additional language being learned, and to the other diverse languages in which one is able to communicate to some degree. Therefore, the learner’s linguistic repertoire is the base upon which their learning can progress. Regarding this, the CEFR states that “the aim [of education in a language] is to develop a linguistic repertory, in which all linguistic abilities have a place” (Council of Europe 2001: 3). Later, it notes that “a single, richer repertoire of this kind thus allows choice concerning strategies for task accomplishment, drawing where appropriate on an interlinguistic variation and language switching” (Council of Europe 2001: 132).

References

• Consejo de Europa (2001). Marco común europeo de referencia para el aprendizaje, la enseñanza y la evaluación de lenguas. Madrid: Instituto Cervantes-Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte- Editorial/Anaya. Disponible en http://cvc.cervantes.es/obref/marco/
• Finegan, Edward (2004). Language: its structure and use. Boston, Thomson Wadsworth.
• Fishman, Joshua (1972). The sociology of language. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.