Metalengua, metalenguaje, metadiscurso, algunos valores y usos aplicados a la enseñanza-aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras

Abstract

The use of metalinguistic functions in the teaching of foreign languages is not restricted to employing traditional or decidedly explicit methods, as can be demonstrated through a series of empirical exercises as well as through a more exacting analysis of the matter. Nor is their use exclusive to the teacher. Language's potential for becoming its own object is a reality intrinsic not only to everyday communication but also to the communicative exchange proper to the learning/teaching of foreign languages. In this article three key notions are presented:'metalangue', metalanguage and metadiscourse. These notions are born of the exercise of metalinguistic function and the differentiation between language as a descriptive instrument and language as an object, the aim being to examine their applications to the field of learning/teaching foreign languages.