Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition and Development: Theory and Practice

As previously discussed, there is a distinction between language used for basic social interaction, and language used for academic purposes. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are language skills needed for social conversation purposes, that is they can speak English well enough to interact with their peers, talk on the telephone, and negotiate meanings with adults. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) refers to formal language skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing, used for academic learning. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency refers to the ability to demonstrate academic competence in the new language orally and in writing at a level commensurate with that of their native-speaking peers. For students with no prior schooling and no primary language support (i.e. neither the student nor members of their family have attended school in their native language) may take as much as seven to ten years to acquire academic skills in their new language. (Thomas & Collier, 2002). In other words, newcomers may need substantial time and educational support to develop English skills necessary for success in school.

In addition to mastery of academic English language terms and sentence constructs, academic language use, whether oral or written, requires a growing reservoir of background knowledge pertinent to any given discipline, along with knowledge of the conventions and structures of oral and written English.

Equally important for students new to English is explicit instruction in socially and culturally appropriate ways of using English, oral and written. At the primary levels, socialization of children into the conventions of sharing, saying “please” and “thank you” is a normal part of the curriculum.  At the upper grade levels, teachers assume that these culturally appropriate speech patterns and behaviors have already been learned. It is frequently assumed that the rules of classroom behavior such as taking turns, talking, listening, and responding to other students and the teacher in appropriate ways have also been learned in the earlier grades.  None of these social/cultural conventions can be taken for granted with respect to the English Language learner.