Language of Instruction
entry by Julie M. Marx, Global Family Expert at Expat Valley
The primary language used to deliver academic content in a school or educational program. For internationally mobile children, the language of instruction is frequently neither their dominant language nor their heritage language, creating simultaneous demands of language acquisition and academic progression that can significantly affect educational achievement and social integration.
Comparable terms
Medium of instruction (education — equivalent; more common in British English and Commonwealth usage) · Teaching language (education — informal equivalent) · Academic language (linguistics — refers to the register of language used in educational settings; related but distinct) · Language of schooling (applied linguistics — preferred in multilingual education research)
Why this matters
Language of instruction decisions shape both academic progress and identity. A new school language means children are learning language and content simultaneously, which carries risk. Families must balance host‑language immersion with protection of heritage language and wellbeing.
Cross-references
EAL (Education); ESL (Education); Dominant Language Shift (Language & Identity); Heritage Language (Language & Identity); Multilingual Education (Education). EAL and ESL describe the support designations for children whose home language differs from the language of instruction; dominant language shift documents the risk that immersion in a new language of instruction poses to first-language maintenance. Heritage language describes what is at stake when the language of instruction diverges from the family’s home language; multilingual education describes the pedagogical approaches most effectively designed to support children navigating that divergence.
Sources
Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 197–205. The foundational paper establishing the distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) — essential for understanding how language of instruction affects mobile children differently from academic language proficiency.
The impact of language of instruction transitions on internationally mobile children is documented in: McLachlan, D.A. (2007). Global nomads in an international school: Families in transition. Journal of Research in International Education, 6(2), 233–249.
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