In an operating system, a resource handler accepts resource requests from application modules. A resource request identifies a module from which the requested resource is to be obtained. Rather than providing the resource from the identified module, however, the resource handler provides the requested resource from an associated resource module. An association between an executable module and resource modules of different languages is created by a defined file naming convention, optionally using different directories for resource modules of different languages. Some executable modules contain a shared resource reference which can be used to create an association between multiple executable modules and a single set of shared resource modules. A language fallback mechanism allows alternative languages to be used where resource modules of the appropriate language are not available.