Sometimes the tools that make life easier also make us think less. Google Maps has smoothed navigation to the point where many of us no longer know where we are without it. Our phones store every number we need, so our memory no longer has to remember them. When friction disappears, so does the cognitive work that builds orientation, recall & independence.
Learning a language works the same way. A little friction isn’t a problem to eliminate; it’s a not a bug, it’s a feature. In language learning, friction shows up when several linguistic options compete at once- a momentary slowdown that reveals a multilingual brain in motion. That’s exactly what Nashruddin, Setiawan & Suhartono (2024) explore in their study of multilingual EFL learners in South Sulawesi, where English, Indonesian & local languages constantly overlap.
Their research reframes those “stuck” moments not as failure, but as evidence of active linguistic negotiation.
The study
The researchers worked with four multilingual university students & two lecturers [I know, a painfully small sample size], collecting naturalistic classroom recordings, observations & follow-up interviews. Using Creswell’s qualitative analysis procedures, they examined what they call “language friction”: the moment when multiple linguistic alternatives surface simultaneously, slowing or disrupting speech.
They analysed hours of spoken data to identify the linguistic markers of friction & explored the teaching methods lecturers use to help learners navigate these moments.
The findings
Learners relied on a wide repertoire of strategies to keep communication flowing when friction hit. These included:
- Unlexicalised fillers (uh, umm)
- Lexicalised fillers (you know, what is it)
- Repetition (I think… I think…)
- Lengthening (soooo difficult)
- Pauses
- Code-switching & code-mixing across English, Indonesian & local languages
Interviews revealed why: when trying to produce a word like “activity”, several alternatives from different languages surfaced at once. The hesitation wasn’t a gap in knowledge; it was a multilingual traffic jam.
The study also identified two friction-triggered code choices:
- Code-alternation (switching languages between sentences)
- Code-mixing (mixing languages within a single sentence)
Lecturers described using holistic skills integration, real-life communicative tasks, multilingual approaches, digital tools & social/cultural support to help learners manage these moments.
This aligns with research on bilingual lexical access, translanguaging & hesitation phenomena, all of which show that multilingual speakers activate multiple languages in parallel even when using just one.
It’s worth pointing out that friction isn’t exclusive to multilingual speakers. Even monolingual learners experience it when competing meanings, forms or structures activate at the same time. Think of a learner hesitating between do & did, or pausing because two possible sentence frames are vying for attention. Friction is simply the mind signalling that several linguistic pathways are active- a normal part of building fluency, not a sign of deficiency.
Teacher takeaways?
- Treat hesitation as evidence of processing, not a lack of ability.
- Allow learners to draw on all their languages during early task stages to reduce cognitive load.
- Normalise fillers, pauses & code-switching as part of authentic multilingual communication.
Where do you see productive friction emerging in your classroom interactions?
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