During the third week we learned the importance of language in teaching and learning. Language is not only a communication tool but also a very important factor in the development of an individual's thinking, identity and personal growth. Children acquire language skills mainly from the social and cultural contexts around them, such as home, school and community. It is often the discrepancies in the language used in these contexts that cause difficulties for students in navigating a different context such as that of the classroom. Language, since I was very young, has always been an extremely important issue in my personal development. I am originally from Greece and received all of my primary and secondary education in my native language, Greek. However, I left Greece to move to the UK where I completed all my university studies in a totally different and foreign language, English. I therefore found myself faced with a double challenge. Not only that of the language in different contexts but also the use of a foreign language in different contexts. When I was at university in the early 1990s, the presence of non-English speaking foreign students in the UK was steadily increasing. However, most teachers used a narrow language code, assuming that all students were aware of the terminology and abbreviations used in our field of study. On the other hand, students who had not previously been exposed to many foreigners also used a narrow code to communicate with their peers, unaware most of the time that foreigners like me lacked the ability to understand and follow their conversations. . It's clear that it doesn't take long for people like me to step out of… middle of paper… language codes and help our students enrich their knowledge, vocabulary, and skills in the field. use of language. In my role as an educator and thanks to my past experiences I am constantly aware of the language and context in which certain words are used and I always try to make my students aware by using mostly elaborate linguistic codes that seem much more inclusive and understandable.Works cite1. Week 3 Lesson 1, The Nature and Importance of Language, Commonwealth Education Trust, Course 2: Being a Teacher by Dr D. Francis2. Patricia M. Rowell, BES Project (1998) Language for classroom teaching and learning, some observations. Reform Forum: Journal for Educational Reform in Namibia, 8:1-8 (http://www.nied.edu.na/publications/journals/journal8/Journal%208%20Article%203.pdf)3. Basil Bernstein's narrow and elaborate codes