Metalanguage

Metalanguage is language used to talk about language. In ELT, it refers to the technical terminology and descriptive language that teachers and learners use to discuss how English works — terms like noun, past tense, conditional, passive voice, syllable stress, collocation. The British Council defines it simply: "the language teachers and learners use to talk about the English language, learning and teaching."

Berry (2005) distinguishes between metalanguage in the broad sense ("language about language" — any talk about how language works, including explanations and paraphrases) and the narrow sense (metalinguistic terminology — the labels themselves). This distinction matters because learners can develop metalinguistic awareness without necessarily knowing metalinguistic terms.

Types of Metalanguage in ELT

Type	Description	Example
Grammatical terminology	Labels for parts of speech, tense, aspect, clause types	noun, present perfect, subordinate clause
Phonological terminology	Labels for sounds, stress, intonation	phoneme, schwa, falling intonation
Discourse terminology	Labels for text organization and pragmatics	topic sentence, cohesion, register
Classroom metalanguage	Language for talking about tasks, skills, and learning	skim, scan, brainstorm, draft, peer feedback
Functional metalanguage	Language for describing communicative purposes	suggestion, request, opinion, concession

The Debate: How Much Metalanguage?

The question of how much grammatical terminology learners need is one of the oldest in ELT:

Position	Argument	Associated with
Pro-metalanguage	Shared terminology makes grammar discussion efficient; learners need labels as reference points for their coursebooks and other teachers	Deductive teaching, grammar-translation, teacher training (CELTA/Delta expect metalanguage)
Minimal metalanguage	Learners need to use grammar, not talk about it; too much terminology creates confusion and wastes class time	CLT, Guided Discovery, Thornbury's How to Teach Grammar
Strategic metalanguage	Introduce terms when learners need them as tools, not as content to be memorized	Berry (2005), most current coursebooks

Berry (2005) argues for the strategic position: metalanguage should be introduced "as late on as you can, when the students already have some idea of the concept and the form." The label should name something the learner already partly understands, not introduce a new abstraction.

Metalanguage and Teacher Knowledge

For teachers, metalanguage competence is non-negotiable. A teacher who cannot name present perfect continuous or distinguish transitive from intransitive cannot plan lessons effectively, use reference materials, or discuss language with colleagues. The CELTA and Delta both assess knowledge of metalanguage explicitly.

However, teacher metalanguage competence does not mean teacher metalanguage use in class. A teacher might know the term third conditional and use it in lesson planning but introduce the form to students as imaginary past situations with examples, only adding the label later — or not at all.

Andrews (2007) calls this distinction teacher language awareness (TLA) — the teacher's own understanding of how language works, which includes but extends far beyond metalinguistic terminology.

Metalanguage in Halliday's SFL

In functional linguistics (Functional Grammar), metalanguage plays a central role. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics (SFL) provides a metalanguage for describing language in terms of what it does (its metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal, textual) rather than just what it is (its formal categories). The Genre-Based Approach (Genre-Based Approach) uses SFL metalanguage to help learners understand how texts work:

• Theme/Rheme — how information is organized in clauses
• Participant/Process/Circumstance — who does what, where, when, how
• Modality — degrees of certainty, obligation, inclination

This functional metalanguage is particularly useful in academic writing instruction because it connects form to meaning and purpose.

Why It Matters for Teaching

• Use metalanguage as a tool, not a goal. The aim is for learners to understand and produce the target language, not to define it. Metalanguage should serve communication, not replace it.
• Calibrate to your learners. Younger learners and lower-level adults need less metalanguage; exam-preparation students and teachers-in-training need more. A Vietnamese university student preparing for IELTS may benefit from knowing passive voice and complex sentence; a young beginner does not.
• Establish shared vocabulary gradually. Over time, build up a common set of terms (noun, verb, adjective, past tense, pronunciation) that the class can use to discuss language efficiently. See Parts of Speech for the most essential category.
• Check understanding of terms, not just forms. If you use adverb in class, make sure learners know what you mean — not just as a label but as a concept they can apply. Concept Checking Questions work for metalanguage too.
• Connect to MFP. The MFP framework (Meaning, Form, Pronunciation) is itself metalanguage — a way of organizing how teachers analyze and present language. Teaching learners to think in MFP terms develops their metalinguistic awareness.

Key References

• Berry, R. (2005). Making the most of metalanguage. Language Awareness, 14(1), 3–20.
• Andrews, S. (2007). Teacher Language Awareness. Cambridge University Press.
• Thornbury, S. (1999). How to Teach Grammar. Pearson.
• Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd ed.). Arnold.
• Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in grammar teaching: A literature review. Language Awareness, 12(2), 96–108.
• Wright, T. & Bolitho, R. (1993). Language awareness: A missing link in language teacher education? ELT Journal, 47(4), 292–304.