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BICS and CALP. ESLP 4100: ESL Pedagogy. BICS and CALP. Jim Cummins coined the terms The terms differentiate between social and academic language acquisition Social=BICS Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills Academic=CALP Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.
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BICS and CALP ESLP 4100: ESL Pedagogy
BICS and CALP • Jim Cummins coined the terms • The terms differentiate between social and academic language acquisition • Social=BICS • Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills • Academic=CALP • Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) • Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are language skills needed in social situations • It is the day-to-day language needed to interact socially with other people • English language learners (ELLs) employ BIC skills when they are on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone 3
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills • Social interactions are usuallycontext embedded & occur in a meaningful social context • Social interactions are not very demanding cognitively, i.e. requires no specialized language • Language skills usually develop within six months to two years after arrival in the U.S.A. 4
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency • CALP refers to formal academic learning • Includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material • Needed for success in school • Requires time and support to develop proficiency in academic areas, takes from five to seven years • Research (Thomas & Collier, 1995) shows that if a child has no prior schooling or has no support in native language development, it may take 7 to 10 years for ELLs to catch up to their peers 5
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency • Academic language acquisition isn't just the understanding of content area vocabulary • It includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring • Academic language tasks are context reduced. Information is read from a textbook or presented by the teacher • As a student gets older the context of academic tasks becomes more and more reduced 6
categorize each characteristic below as either BICS or CALP. • Social language • Academic language • Formal academic learning • Language skills needed in social situations • Used at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone • Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency • Essential for students to succeed in school • Developed within five to seven years • Tasks are context reduced
categorize each characteristic below as either BICS or CALP. • Day-to-day language • Used on the playground, in the lunch room, and on the school bus • Developed within 6 months to 3 years • Includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about content material • Usually context embedded • Not very demanding cognitively • Includes skills such as comparing, classifying, and synthesizing