language distance n
the relative degree of similarity between two languages. Some languages
have similar linguistic features and are said to be “close”. Others have very
different linguistic features and are said to be “distant”. For example, two
languages may have similar word order rules and similar rules for certain
syntactic or phonological structures. There is said to be a greater degree of
linguistic distance between English and French, for example, than between
French and Spanish. Language distance is thought to be one factor which
influences the ease or difficulty with which learners acquire new languages.
language dominance n
greater ability in, or greater importance of, one language than another.
1 For an individual, this means that a person who speaks more than one
language or dialect considers that he or she knows one of the languages
better than the other(s) and/or uses it more frequently and with greater
ease. The dominant languagemay be his or her native languageor
may have been acquired later in life at school or a place of employment.
2 For a country or region where more than one language or dialect is used,
this means that one of them is more important than the other(s). A language
may become the dominant language because it has more prestige (higher
status) in the country, is favoured by the government, and/or has the
largest number of speakers.
language education policy n
decisions about the teaching and use of languages in educational settings.
For example, some languages may be authorized for use as medium of
instruction (e.g. learning math in Mandarin Chinese in a Chinese immersion
school in California), while other languages may be taught as subjects (e.g.
taking an introductory Chinese course in an English-medium university).
language ego n
(in second languageor foreign languagelearning) the relation
between people’s feelings of personal identity, individual uniqueness, and
value (i.e. their ego) and aspects of their first language.
language enrichment n
a term sometimes used to describe language teaching as part of a pro-
gramme of compensatory instruction.
language experience approach n
an approach used in the teaching of reading to young children which draws
on the experiences children have in their personal lives as well as on the
language experience approach