Metalinguistics

Metalinguistics or metalinguistic awareness involves attention, awareness, reflection, and, sometimes, manipulation of aspects of language form. This can be contrasted with everyday language use, where the content or meaning of a message typically is in focus. Metalinguistic awareness is an important feature of later language development, including literacy (reading and writing) development. Furthermore, metalinguistic awareness is a central concept in instructed second-language acquisition research, one reason being that most curricula involve metalinguistic strategies for teaching and learning, such as drawing explicit attention to linguistic rules. This entry provides an overview of metalinguistics, including its subtypes, the analysis and control model, the typical development of metalinguistic awareness in children, and its relationship to literacy and standardized testing.