between the first and second language. The division involves not speaking the first language while learning the second, as well as avoiding any reference to the elements of the first language. By not referencing the first language, instructors hope to develop in their students the same control of the language that native speakers have. This separation, referred to as a hard boundary, contrasts the soft boundary that comes with a plurilinguistic approach. An integrated curriculum, which utilizes the soft boundary, contrasts the different languages that are being taught and highlights the similarities and differences between the two. Plurilingual education Plurilingual education has been an increasing form of education in Europe. It was first introduced to the education system in 1996, along with the idea of pluriculturalism. According to the Council of Europe, it is imperative that students learn to be plurilinguists from a young age so that they can be not only be more competitive in an increasingly globalized world, but also be able to integrate within societies when necessary. The founding principles of plurilingual education are the acceptance of cultural diversity, the right to use one's mother tongue as a form of communication, the right to gain experience and knowledge of another language, the acceptance that language is the core of human dialogue. One of the few things plurilingual education promotes is "an awareness of why and how one learns the language one has chosen, a respect for the plurilingualism of others and the value of languages and varieties irrespective of their perceived status in society, and a global integrated approach to langue education in the curriculum." Plurilingual education developed in the European Union due to the multilingual and multicultural communities throughout the European Union. Other multilingual countries are beginning to use plurilingual education as well. Some communities in Canada are implementing plurilingual education due to the increasingly multilingual society. The Canadian education system is utilizing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as a basis for their plurilingual education. Asian countries that are highly multilingual are also considering plurilingual education. South Asian countries have many mother-tongues, however economies and societies may be based on another language. Plurilingual education benefits the individuals of such countries by gaining functional competency in multiple languages for specific social situations and pluricultural competence. Plurilingualism and pluricultural competence Pluricultural competence is a consequence of plurilingualism. Pluricultural competence, on a basic level, is the