by Dr Xiaoxiao Kong
Australia’s teacher workforce is linguistically diverse. In 2024, 15% of teachers reported speaking a language other than English at home, rising to 35% among teachers working in early childhood settings (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2026).
English proficiency is essential, but effective teaching requires much more than accurate grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Every day, teachers explain ideas, respond to students, communicate with families, and collaborate with colleagues, often adapting their language, tone, and other communicative resources to different people and situations.
In my doctoral research, I investigated what effective communication looks like in practice. More than 160 teachers from early childhood, primary, and secondary settings across Australia contributed to the study through focus groups, a survey, and interviews. They identified the communication tasks they performed, rated how frequently these occurred and how important they were, and described the skills needed in highly valued communicative situations. I also compared the communication challenges reported by teachers who spoke English as a first language and those from non-English-speaking backgrounds (Kong, 2026).
What teachers valued most
Across all three education levels, small-group and individual interactions with children or students were among the most highly valued communication tasks. Behaviour management and conflict resolution were also consistently important. In early childhood settings, informal conversations with families were particularly prominent; in schools, whole-class teaching and assessing students’ spoken or written work were also valued.
The skills teachers described went well beyond traditional ideas of ‘good English’.
Teachers frequently discussed nonverbal and paralinguistic communication: facial expressions, gestures, physical proximity, body language, pacing, and tone of voice. A firm tone might be needed during behaviour management, a calm tone when a child is distressed, and a warm, welcoming tone when speaking with families.
Teachers also needed to recognise other people’s cues. A student’s pause, facial expression or movement could signal confusion, disengagement or distress. Responding effectively meant noticing these signals and adjusting communication in real time.
Another key demand was making language accessible. Teachers described slowing down, choosing simple vocabulary and rewording the same idea in several ways. This is not simply ‘using easier English’. It requires teachers to monitor understanding, draw on their knowledge of learners and adapt their explanations while an interaction is unfolding (Kong, 2026).
Challenges shared across language backgrounds
The findings also complicate the assumption that professional communication challenges mainly affect teachers from non-English-speaking backgrounds.
In my survey of 123 teachers, the two most commonly reported challenges were behaviour management and conflict resolution, and communicating concerns with families. Around half of the teachers reported each challenge. Teachers who spoke English as a first language and those from non-English-speaking backgrounds reported most challenges at similar rates (Kong, 2026).
This is important because both situations depend heavily on professional judgement and relationship management. In behaviour management, teachers need to know not only what words to use, but how direct to be, when to de-escalate and how to maintain a respectful relationship. When raising concerns with families, they need to communicate clearly without sounding accusatory or causing unnecessary distress.
Previous research has also found that beginning teachers can feel underprepared for classroom behaviour management, and that preservice teachers need more opportunities to develop communication strategies for responding to challenging behaviour (Karasova & Kleckova, 2023; O’Neill & Stephenson, 2013).
What could teacher education do?
Professional communication should not be treated only as remedial support for teachers who speak English as a second or additional language. It is a core part of learning to teach for pre-service teachers, regardless of their linguistic background.
Initial teacher education and professional learning could provide structured opportunities to:
- analyse the language, tone and nonverbal resources used in behaviour management scenarios;
- practise difficult conversations with families through role-play and feedback;
- reword complex ideas for learners of different ages and levels of understanding;
- interpret nonverbal cues and adjust communication in real time; and
- reflect on how communication expectations vary across early childhood, primary and secondary settings.
These activities would make professional communication visible and practicable. They could also help move the discussion away from deficit assumptions about particular groups of teachers.
Teaching requires ‘good English’, but it also requires much more: strategic, sociocultural, relational and multimodal communication. These skills are developed through experience, reflection and explicit preparation – and they matter for every teacher.
References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2026). National trends: Teacher workforce.
Karasova, J., & Kleckova, G. (2023). Supporting learners through effective communication: Student teachers’ communication strategies to address learner behaviour. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 48(3), 19–36.
Kong, X. (2026). Exploring the language and communication demands of early childhood and school teachers in Australia: Implications for language assessment for teacher registration [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Melbourne]. Minerva Access.
O’Neill, S., & Stephenson, J. (2013). One year on: First-year primary teachers’ perceptions of preparedness to manage misbehaviour and their confidence in the strategies they use. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 37(2), 125–146.
Author biography
Dr Xiaoxiao Kong is an applied linguist, early childhood teacher and teacher educator. Her doctoral research at the University of Melbourne examined the language and communication demands of early childhood, primary, and secondary school teachers across Australia, with implications for teacher education, professional practice, and teacher registration. She is currently a Research Assistant at the University of Melbourne, a Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at CIHE Australia, and an Associate Editor of TESOL in Context.