Language barrier occurs when we struggle to understand other people, or be understood by other people.

William Labov, who founded the study of linguistic variation, argues language is not fit to serve communication well. The coexistence of different languages, dialects and jargons means that language also highlights boundaries between people.

 When two people do not share a common language, this creates room for misunderstanding and stress. Sometimes, communication is tricky even when people share a common language. You do not always understand the intention of the speaker the way they want you to. Hence, language barrier can interrupt the flow of ideas, and prevent communication.

Communication is an act of sharing. But education institutions have strict rules concerning the language of instruction. What is more, academic language differs significantly from how we talk in everyday life situations. How does it impact the classroom? First, students may not be able to share complex insights. Second, the teacher may also have a hard time delivering a class.

In a Problem-Based Learning environment, the PBL group can refuse to work together if they have trouble understanding each other. Justified hard feelings may occur because someone’s input may be ignored, or even ridiculed. Therefore, the teacher or group supervisors should be prepared to foster effective communication. 

We usually think of language barrier when we use a foreign language to communicate. But the same challenges are presents between people who speak regional dialects or grew up in different communities.