1-3: LANGUAGE determines METHODOLOGY
Within the ERL Framework, language holds a paradigmatic position that shapes the logic, structure, and outcomes of educational practice. Because it mediates all processes of teaching and learning, language necessarily conditions methodological choices. The ways in which learners conceptualize knowledge, negotiate meaning, and construct understanding are inseparable from the linguistic resources available to them.
Consequently, methodology cannot remain neutral or universally fixed; it must reflect the linguistic realities of specific communities, settings, and individuals. Pedagogical procedures—whether dialogic, task-based, translanguaging-oriented, or form-focused—emerge in response to particular configurations of linguistic repertoires, communicative goals, and cultural expectations. Language therefore does not merely facilitate the application of methodology; it actively determines its nature, scope, and effectiveness.
Recognizing this interdependence expands the ERL scope into multiple strands linking language to cognition, communication, identity, and social participation. Methodology gains coherence only when it is grounded in an understanding of language as both a cognitive instrument and a social practice. In this perspective, effective teaching is defined by the capacity to engage learners linguistically—honouring their voices, drawing on their resources, and enabling them to participate meaningfully in academic and professional worlds.