BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    Why the dichotomy ‘L1 versus LX user’ is better than ‘native versus non-native speaker'

    Dewaele, Jean-Marc (2018) Why the dichotomy ‘L1 versus LX user’ is better than ‘native versus non-native speaker'. Applied Linguistics 39 (2), pp. 236-240. ISSN 0142-6001.

    [img]
    Preview
    Text
    18160.pdf - Author's Accepted Manuscript

    Download (430kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    The traditional dichotomy, ‘native’ versus ‘non-native speaker’ has to be rejected because of the inherent ideological assumptions about the superiority of the former and the inferiority of the latter. Cook's (2002) substitution of ‘non-native speaker’ by ‘L2 user’ represented a big step forward in creating a more balanced dichotomy but it kept the first part, namely the term ‘native speaker’. The present contribution argues that the final step should be the substitution of ‘native speaker’ by ‘L1 user’. The dichotomy ‘L1 user’ versus ‘LX user’ does not imply that one is superior to the other. They are equal and can be complementary. It also suggests that variation can exist within both L1(s) and LX(s) and that all individuals can be multicompetent users of multiple languages.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The version of record is available online at the link above.
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Jean-Marc Dewaele
    Date Deposited: 15 Feb 2017 15:46
    Last Modified: 09 Aug 2023 12:41
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/18160

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    1,146Downloads
    6 month trend
    411Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item