Let's get meta about language

One of the most interesting aspects of learning different languages is the opportunity to step back and analyse them at a meta level. Every language has its unique complexities, and what is easy in one language might be difficult in another.

During my nearly 20 years as a full-time TESOL teacher at NSW TAFE, I saw firsthand how challenging prepositions were for English language learners. These small but powerful words—like in, on, at, by—often don’t translate neatly between languages, making them a persistent hurdle for many students.

On the other hand, as a university student of Japanese, I found verb forms—particularly transitive and intransitive pairs—especially tricky.

These challenges highlight an important point: learning a second (or third!) language enhances our ability to think about language itself. Research suggests that bilingual Australian students often achieve higher results in NAPLAN exams in primary school, and one hypothesis is that their stronger meta-linguistic awareness gives them an advantage. It makes sense—when you’ve learned to compare and switch between languages, you develop a deeper understanding of how language works.

This is one reason why the role of community language schools in NSW is so valuable. By supporting young learners in becoming bilingual or multilingual, these schools are not just preserving heritage languages, they are giving students cognitive tools that can benefit them across all areas of learning.

Language learning involves thinking, problem-solving, discernment, and engaging with language and the ways in which is can express novel cultural ideas in a very meta way. This can feel like very hard work!

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Chart published here: https://www.scribbr.com/category/parts-of-speech/

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