How Language Works online

Develop an explicit understanding of how language works to support your students’ learning.

How Language Works (HLW) is an online, self-paced PD course for all teachers, primary through to senior secondary, seeking to extend their knowledge about language.

In this highly interactive 20-hour course, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the way in which language constructs and communicates knowledge. You will improve your own teaching and will be able to share these new understandings with your students, thereby equipping them with the linguistic tools they will need to succeed at school and beyond.

Along the way, you will have the opportunity to meet other educators, share your ideas and join in with active discussions as they arise.

Download brochure ENROL NOW

Why do the course?

✓ Comprehensive: The content of the 7 modules of the course covers understandings about language that we know have been extremely useful to teachers and students in the classroom. All modules should take 20h in total to complete.

✓ Impactful: Time and again, evidence has shown that students who are given the tools to be more effective users of language have better outcomes at school.

✓ Evidenced-based: The course is underpinned by Michael Halliday’s functional model of language, a theoretical model that has proven to be an extremely useful framework for teaching and learning.

✓ Practical: Each module has optional extension activities providing ideas for classroom implementation, classroom-based research, and reading of relevant articles.

✓ Flexible: You can work through the modules at your own pace and alter your focus based on your own interests and context. There are no scheduled sessions so you can study when it suits you, irrespective of your schedule or time zone.

✓ Collaborative: The course provides a collaborative and engaging adult-learning environment, where there are opportunities for online discussion and sharing of best practices.

✓ Certification: Upon completion of all modules, you will receive a certificate of completion to demonstrate your achievement. Full completion entails 20 hours of professional development.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • create a rich learning environment with an explicit focus on language
  • give your students the tools to be more accurate and effective users of language in a range of contexts
  • build your understanding about genres and develop explicitly students’ language resources to understand and produce those genres
  • understand and use the differences between spoken and written language, both as a teaching and a learning tool
  • understand and use a teaching and learning cycle that provides opportunities for effective scaffolding
  • develop the ability to assess language explicitly and efficiently to support the learning of all students.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for all teachers, primary through to senior secondary, who are seeking to extend their understandings about language and literacy in order to improve their students’ learning (incl. EAL students).

Prior learning: we recommend that, prior to starting this course, you have completed one of Lexis Education’s courses (3L, LfL, TEMC, TESMC or TYCEMC), either the Tutor Training or Teacher Course. If you would like to discuss your eligibility, please contact us directly: marie@lexised.com.

Course fee:

Full feeAU$950 + GST*
Tutor fee** (20% off)AU$750 + GST*
*GST is only payable if the billing address is within Australia.
**Contact us directly at marie@lexised.com to benefit from the 20% discount.

What will you learn?

Module 1: Genre, Register & Pedagogy

In the first module, you will focus on learning about genres, their structure and why they are important in the school context. You will be introduced to the functional model of language as well as the teaching and learning cycle.

Module 2: Transitivity

You will explore how language is arranged to achieve its meanings and use the functional model of language to identify processes, participants and circumstances in texts. You will also consider the function of active and passive voice and learn to use techniques for moving from active to passive.

Module 3: Connecting meanings

You will develop your understanding of how we connect up meanings in a way that makes a text cohesive so that it hangs together well and makes sense.

Module 4: The nominal group and nominalisation

You will develop a comprehensive understanding of nominal groups and nominalisation and the role they play in student work.

Module 5: Theme & Rheme

You will explore orientation in a text through theme and rheme, and the patterns of orientation in different genres.

Module 6: Tenor

You will develop your understanding of the impact of tenor, with a focus on Register, and consider the reasons for using particular grammatical resources. 

Module 7: Appraisal

In this final module, you will consider language for expressing feelings and judgments and how language is used in engaging with others. You will also consider the resources your students have for expressing their feelings and attitudes.
  • "Hugely enjoyed. I can see already that it will have a huge impact in my practice. Extremely valuable."
    Nick Bateman, Professional Learning Lead for English Language Learning, Dulwich College, Suzhou
  • "Best PD I have ever done. This will completely change the way I teach, how I teach, what I teach and in the sequence I teach."
    Heather Schulz, EAL Teacher, Horsham West Primary School
  • "Fantastic – exactly what our school was looking for. Full of practical strategies to effectively teach language."
    Thomas Hawkey, EAL/D Teacher, Mabel Park State High School
  • “Absolutely loved the (TESMC) course. It has had a major impact on me as an EAL teacher."
    Caroline Delhommeau – EAL Specialist, Bali Island School
  • "Impressed and thoroughly appreciative. I feel overwhelmed by how much development I’ve experienced in only a single week."
    Benjamin Greuter, IGCSE ESL Coordinator, Ningbo HD Bilingual School
  • “A very valuable course which has helped me a great deal and prepared me well to help others to help their students.”
    Jacob Huckle, English Teacher and Head of EAL, Dulwich College Suzhou
  • “The (TESMC) course has been valuable as I gained more understanding of how to scaffold students and why it is important.”
    Eva Tuecking-Matzner – Grade 5 Homeroom Teacher, YK Pao School
  • “I thoroughly enjoyed how intellectually stimulating the (HLW) course was, how it made me consider my teaching and how I can improve it.”
    Lynette Lingard – EAL/D Visiting Teacher, Dakabin State High School
  • “I truly enjoyed every single day of the (TYCEMC) training. I can’t wait to go back to school and start to apply all things covered.”
    Michelangel Galea – EAL Teacher and LS Assistant, British School of Geneva
  • “The (TESMC) course provided me with much food for thought about language development.”
    Natalie Croome – Teacher Trainer, Education Development Institute, Qatar

Upcoming Venues

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Location: Hangzhou, China
Date: 24/02/2025 - 28/02/2025

Teaching young children in English in multilingual contexts

Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Date: 03/03/2025 - 06/03/2025

Teaching young children in English in multilingual contexts

Location: Remote (SE Asia, Australia), via Zoom
Date: 05/03/2025 - 13/03/2025

3L: Language and literacy for learning

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Date: 17/03/2025 - 20/03/2025

3L: Language and literacy for learning

Location: Remote (Australia), via Zoom
Date: 20/03/2025 - 26/03/2025

Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms

Location: Remote (Europe), via Zoom
Date: 20/03/2025 - 31/03/2025
All Upcoming Venues