Language awareness: more than just better language learning

In Applied Linguistics research, language awareness (LA) has been found to have positive effects on second language (L2) learning. However, scant attention has been given on how LA can facilitate the development of collective human realms. Among the various philosophical and social theories, Hegelian philosophy is an excellent candidate for extending extant research on LA. It is because the socio-anthropological nature of Hegelian philosophy is able to link individuals to the larger community, societal and collective levels, especially in terms of language. From a Hegelian philosophical perspective, LA exerts influences beyond the L2 learning performance of learners, given its intimate relationship with the collective human consciousness (Hegel inOutlines of the philosophy of right, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008). This paper aims to explore the effects of LA other than L2 learning enhancement, and it suggests that LA exerts positive influences on an individual’s self-consciousness, intimate and family relations, community life, society, and culture. Hegelian philosophy also proposes that LA can be achieved not only by the means as advocated by scholars in the Applied Linguistics field, but also by intersubjectivity, mutual recognition and externalisation of learner subjectivities, which are some of the core notions in the Hegelian philosophy. Based on Hegelian philosophy, concrete recommendations on how LA can be devised for the betterment of human individuals on a collective level are introduced. Future research should aim at gathering empirical data to validate the social significance of LA on its capacity for social advancements, and theories on LA should be extended to cover and emphasise more on the collective realms.