Omidire, Margaret Funke2019-09-132020Margaret Funke Omidire (2020) Experiencing language challenges in a ruralschool: implications for learners’ life aspirations, Early Child Development and Care, 190:10,1619-1637, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2019.1660963.0300-4430 (print)1476-8275 (online)10.1080/03004430.2019.1660963http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71348This article reports on the influence of communication skills on rural students’ resilience and well-being. Purposive sampling was used to retrospectively select 40 (f: n = 20; m: n = 20) Grade 9 students in a rural school that were involved in a larger youth project that aimed to deliver pathways towards resilience in rural schools through cross-cultural measures for assessments, career guidance andtherapeutic interventions. The project aimed to provide academic service learning opportunities for the second-year Master’s in Educational Psychology students. Secondary data analysis was employed to explore and analyse the data. From the findings, the most frequently indicated challenges the students faced included limited expressive and receptive skills in English. Although they have dreams and hopes for the future, the students’ lack of language proficiency hinders their career aspirations and life beyond school. Future research should focus on ways to enhance their communicative competences.en© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an electronic version of an article published in Early Child Development and Care, vol. 190, no. 10, pp. 1619-1637, 2020. doi : 10.1080/03004430.2019.1660963. Early Child Development and Care is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/gecd20.Second language learningCommunication skillsRural schoolsLanguage challengesTeachingLearningPostprint Article