Language-awareness in education

Language-awareness refers to a teacher’s ability to observe language and its use in different situations, while supporting the simultaneous development of both linguistic and subject-specific skills. Teachers need to understand learners’ linguistic resources, the language practices of various subject areas and institutions, and the pedagogical approaches that best support learning. Language awareness in education benefits not only multilingual learners but also students whose first language is Finnish, as they, too, benefit from these perspectives and support methods (Aalto et al. 2019).