**2. Impact of multilingualism on foreign language learning**

By looking at various definitions of multilingualism, the aspect of being able to use certain languages for communication and to understand what is communicated in these languages stands out. We also notice that multilingualism can be regarded like a trend that is set at a political level, by the Council of Europe, by placing emphasis on diversity and understanding across languages and cultures, but also like a result of the situation in certain countries, where there are several official languages, not just one.

Multilingualism could be defined as "any degree of linguistic ability from an equally good command of two or more languages […] to lesser abilities, active or passive, in one of the languages" [8]. It is believed that a multilingual person is "anyone who can communicate in more than one language, be it active (through speaking and writing) or passive (through listening and reading)" [9]. The European Commission [10] defines multilingualism as "the ability of societies, institutions, groups and individuals to engage, on a regular basis, with more than on language in their day-to-day lives". Attention has been drawn to the individual multilingualism and the societal multilingualism distinction [11]. Plurilingualism, according to the Council of Europe, is the "repertoire of varieties of language which

#### *Multilingualism and Awareness of Cultural Differences in Communication DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99178*

many individuals use", while multilingualism is "the presence in a geographical area, large or small, of more than one 'variety of language'". In the foreign languages classroom, some students may be multilingual due to their individual preferences or contacts with other cultures, while some others can be multilingual due to the area where they live, if more languages are spoken. For instance, in Russia, twenty-four official languages are spoken, in India twenty-three, while in Switzerland there are four national languages.

Multilingualism can influence the way foreign language learning is going on in several aspects. First of all, if communicative language learning is practiced, the focus will be on the way conversations are understood, and notions of pragmatics will be given, sometimes theoretically, sometimes practically, sometimes by including both. Second, multilingualism is regarded as a means of helping students to adapt to the realities of the everyday world, a world which encourages both multiculturalism and multilingualism. What is more, learning a foreign language is always connected to beginning to understand the respective cultures, with its mindsets, values, as well as rituals and traditions. In this way, by knowing several languages, students can gain insight in the cultural differences and they can sympathize with other cultures. Third, if the class is made up of students belonging to other cultures and thus, having other native languages, or knowing other languages, then the teacher should take these students' background into account when planning the lessons and devising the activities. Fourth, if students and teachers know several languages, then they can use this background knowledge in order to make teaching and learning easier, and help students draw comparisons among the already known languages and the foreign language they are currently studying. Fifth, there could also be drawbacks in learning several languages, as previous knowledge could at times interfere with the currently studies language, which could lead to students producing incorrect answers.

## **2.1 Communicative approaches to foreign language learning and pragmatics**
