Language as Problem vs. Language as Resource Orientations

Subject: Education
Pages: 2
Words: 313
Reading time:
< 1 min

Language is studied by some students as a subject that is useful in real-life job opportunities. On the other hand, some students use language as ladders to understand other subjects. In these two instances, language is taken as a problem within the teaching institutions allowing learners to understand and comprehend them. This aspect implies that language is used as a way to earn a living. Some use it as a problem to attain teaching professions whereas others learn it to facilitate the ability to understand other languages.

Most institutions that visualize language as a problem try to fix it through developing tactical strategies to teach it. In this way, bilingual students are able to internalize the language and use it elsewhere in life including studying. However, other people do not study some languages in class. Instead, they use the language integration within their brains and use it resourcefully to understand other subjects. Essentially, the ELLs students use language as a resource whereby they understand the explicit meanings of words. In this way, while applying English to learn the other subjects, it becomes easy since they do not use much time defining English terms before understanding the full meaning of sentences.

The learners are, therefore, armed with the English language as the best tool for understanding. Monolingual teachers do not have to speak the native languages in order to support the learners. Instead, they can use other techniques involving learning the culture of the native partially or fully in order to render some support in respect to it. These educators can allow students to participate often since they understand the native language and cultural aspects. In this way, the cultural aspects of the community are depicted from them when given as examples or practices requested by teachers.