TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

PASSIVE BILINGUALISM [1 record]

Record 1 1994-04-15

English

Subject field(s)
  • Language Teaching
  • Psycho-, Socio- and Ethnolinguistics
DEF

A person's capacity to understand the second official language (reading and listening), without necessarily having the capacity to speak or to write it.

OBS

There appears to be no distinction in meaning made between "passive bilingualism" and "receptive bilingualism". There may be a distinction in emphasis, with one term stressing bilingual capability and the other stressing actual behaviour.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Enseignement des langues
  • Psycho-, socio- et ethnolinguistique
DEF

Capacité de comprendre la langue seconde officielle (compréhension écrite et orale) sans pour autant avoir la capacité de la parler ou de l'écrire.

CONT

bilinguisme récepteur ou bilinguisme passif : la langue la moins connue est comprise sans être parlée.

Spanish

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