“Metalinguistics” isn’t exactly a word that most people know. As a parent, you may have never heard the word. It rarely comes up in conversations with other parents or even teachers.
Metalinguistics is the ability to look at language skills as a thing; to evaluate language as a process or even a system; and to maneuver around successfully in using language. Typically adults do not talk about the syllables in the words they are speaking or the actual meaning of a word in a sentence — which are metalinguistic skills. The term was coined in the 1970s when researchers used it to describe the process of learning multiple languages, however it applies to many facets of language.
Once you understand the intricacies of your native language, you can successfully begin to learn another, new language. You can start to compare and contrast the languages and remember that in one language you do a-b-c, whereas in another, the rule is d-e-f.