Under multi-competence, the second language speaker is seen as more than the sum of the languages he speaks.

Multi-competence has two major implications for language teaching.

Finally, all of the models function together to create the integration continuum, an illustration that shows the possible relationships in "multi-competence" (Cook 2003: 9).

Multi-competence is a concept in second language acquisition formulated by Vivian Cook that refers to the knowledge of more than one language in one person's mind.

At the time the term "multi-competence" was coined, SLA research often relied on comparing an L2 user to native speakers of the L2 using methods of error analysis.

Setting the native speaker as the golden standard implies that second language speakers are somehow deficient in each language that they speak, whereas multi-competence sees them as having gained from learning a second language.

These effects of the second language on the first led Vivian Cook to propose the idea of multi-competence, which sees the different languages a person speaks not as separate systems, but as related systems in their mind.

Multi-competence is 'the knowledge of two languages in one mind', and it holds that those who know more than one language have different minds from those with only one language, because knowing two languages changes the way people use their first language, and even the way they think.

From the multicompetence perspective, the different languages a person speaks are seen as one connected system, rather than each language being a separate system.

Eric Manley, who ceased to be my warden on 1 December, has left an indelible mark on Gateway All Saints' and we owe him an incalculable debt for placing his multicompetence at our disposal.

The operative factor for the degree of attrition, however, is probably the attitude towards both L1 and L2 at the beginning of this period, when massive and intensive L2 learning is taking place, affecting the overall system of multicompetence.