CALP

BICS/CALP questioned Oller’s notion on the basis that how various aspects of language performance or use could be accounted by one general factor.

Abstract Overview Further Insights Issues Terms & Concepts Bibliography Suggested Reading

Abstract BICS/CALP, acronyms of Basics Interpersonal Communication Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, occurs in the contrastive relationship between academic and social language skills. In 1979, Jim Cummins first drew this distinction to show instructors the challenges second-language learners faced during schooling when they tried to succeed in competing with their peers in academic language skills. BICS refers to learners’ oral fluency while CALP refers to understanding and expressing ideas and concepts in both written and oral modes. Broadly, the distinction between BICS and CALP is a difference between conversational fluency and language proficiency.

Overview Cummins’s BICS/CALP distinction marked the difference between academic language proficiency and conversational fluency as conceptually different parts of the field of language proficiency. One of the difficulties Cummins faced in proposing the theoretical intent of BICS/CALP was to present a critique for John Oller’s earlier (1979) synthesized global language proficiency. Oller conducted vocabulary tests, close reading tests, standardized tests for reading, and oral verbal ability on a larger number of learners and concluded that individual differences among language learners in proficiency could be viewed as one latent factor—global language proficiency. However, Cummins

Cummins illustrated the differences in proficiency after considering variables of age/level in children’s ability of reading, writing, and vocabulary skills and argued that phonological variations and basic fluency were found to be almost similar, with few differences. He argued that the unitary proficiency dimension proposed by Oller would not capture different aspects of proficiency and claimed that phonological aspects of a learner’s native language would reach a plateau at an early stage, whereas knowledge of lexicon and other aspects would develop throughout the person’s lifetime. Cummins’s BICS/CALP distinction was made following analysis of psychological assessments based on data from a Canadian school system. Around four hundred psychological assessments and instructor referral forms of English Language Learners (ELLs) were examined. This examination indicated that psychologists and school teachers were of the opinion that learners had no difficulty in comprehending and speaking English, whereas they were performing poorly on cognitive ability tests and academic assignments in English. In other words, the learners had conversational fluency but they were lacking academic language proficiency. The Canadian school teachers and psychologists failed to understand the real cause of the ELL problem. They assumed that the second-language learners had cognitive problems in understanding lessons, rather than attributing it to linguistic factors. Cummins pointed out this mistake. Further, he highlighted that learners’ academic language proficiency grew while interacting socially, yet it became distinguished from the basic interpersonal communication skills after initial early years of schooling. In other words, academic cognitive proficiency in a particular language is required to contribute and understand classroom interaction and to read and write texts for school. This difference between BICS and CALP reflects one thing: The language skills that learners acquire in school should be retained and gradually developed if students want to progress in their subsequent grades. The modifier “academic” before language proficiency in CALP can be understood as a learner’s command and access to written and oral academic registers of formal

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schooling, also known as the social context of schooling. Baker points out that when Cummins made this distinction between BICS and CALP, he was not maintaining a hierarchical order where cognitive/academic language would rest on a higher order than communication skills. Instead, he was representing that different sociocultural contexts would require different patterns and register expectations of appropriateness in language and thinking. During the 1980s and 1990s in the United States, psychologists and school teachers could not understand the real cause of under-performance of ESL learners. Bilingual students were mainstreamed into English-only classes as soon as they had acquired English but before they had reached an academic level of fluency. In 1998, California abandoned bilingual classrooms in favor of English-immersion programs, after which ESL learners faced increased academic difficulties in keeping up with peers, as special language assistance was largely unavailable to help them comprehend instruction and develop the English cognitive skills necessary for academic achievement. The argument put to voters, though not widely supported by educators, was that learning in two languages held ELLs back. Numerous studies have confirmed Cummins’s early findings that CALP requires a lengthy learning curve several times as long as the two to three years it takes for an ELL to attain conversational proficiency. Further, the ease with which a second language is acquired may depend on the degree of mastery the student already has in his or her native language. Cummins theorized that gains in proficiency in one language will also be reflected in a student’s other language, especially when the two languages are cognates —for example, Spanish and Italian. Other researchers have found the same to be true in dissimilar languages—for example, Mandarin and English—though the correlations are conceptual rather than linguistic. For example, “Tengo un gato” is similar in syntax and vocabulary to its Italian equivalent, “Ho un gatto,” so a Spanish speaking child who learns to say “I have a cat” in his native language will be able to transfer much of what he has learned to acquiring the Italian phrase and, at a more sophisticated level, vice versa; whereas, a Mandarin speaker can take advantage of very little in the way of linguistic transference from English acquisition, but will be able to translate much of what she learns in English into her first language.

Further Insights Linguistics also provides further insights into the BICS and CALP distinction. Conversational English among ELLs tends to be dominated by words of Anglo-Saxon origin, whereas academic texts contain a large number of Latin or Greek origin words. This correlates with the lexicon of popular culture in English versus higher level reading materials, such as academic writings. Since ESL learners get more opportunity to use conversational language than the language used in academic texts, they acquire basic interpersonal communication skills first. The only time they engage in learning academic vocabulary is when they are either reading or writing.

Further, academic texts are generally more abstract, whereas spoken conversation is more concrete. College-level written texts employ certain linguistic techniques such as nominalizations and passives. So, a verb construct becomes a noun construction in nominalization, a very different pattern than is normally found in spoken English. Finally, in formal writing, a reported style is used —writers tell about things that happened in a different location in the past and use the past tense; whereas in conversation people generally use an immediate style dependent on the present tense. Speakers talk about local events that have recently happened. When instructors read texts to their learners in class and students respond verbally in the less formal style, the time they take to reply is relatively brief. On the other hand, when students are engaged in writing activities, they are expected to adopt a reported style, and their reply is more distant and formally structured. More time is required for discussing setting, plot, character, theme and points of view. Layton (2013) in a study of first-year bilingual South African college students, found that progress toward CALP was accelerated by group discussion following individual readings of academic texts. The students, in verbally exploring the concepts described in the written texts, adopted key aspects of academicspeak—that is, the linguistic patterns and rhetorical devices —used in their readings. Though they came from cultures with strong oral traditions and used conversational language (BISC) in their discussions, these students readily assimilated the more abstract, concept-laden language of academia as an appropriate aid to discourse and informed argument. This was strongly evidenced in their essays in which they formalized their arguments using such academic tools as background and contextualization to propose and defend their positions.

Issues In the BICS/CALP model, Cummins used quadrants constituted by two intersecting lines so that educators could conceptualize the difference between communication skills and academic proficiency. The horizontal line in Cummins’s quadrants shows a scale that ranges from “context-embedded” language to “contextreduced language.” At the right end of the scale, the language used is supported by reduced context; that is, though language used is contextualized yet the range of internal and external support is limited and students largely rely on the language itself. At the left end of the scale, the language used gets ample internal and external support, and learners are not solely dependent upon language, but they can also decode messages with the help of nonverbal cues. The two points of the horizontal scale are not in opposite relation, therefore Cummins does not employ the term “decontextualized” for the other end of the scale. External context provides cues as it can take different forms. The learners can get many clues from the environment to interpret the meaning of a message. For example, if four people are sitting in a cafeteria and drinking coffee, and their topic of discussion is coffee itself, the setting provides many nonlinguistic clues that may add to the meaning of their conversation. An ESL learner can say how many cups of coffee he or she drinks daily; another

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can tell about which type of coffee he or she prefers. In addition to this, they can also use their gestures, and other suprasegmental features during the conversation. They can use conversational expressions such as “You should drink cappuccino instead of espresso.” Previous experiences and background knowledge provide the internal context. To return to the coffee example, all ESL learners have had past experience of drinking coffee and sitting in a cafeteria. This background knowledge gives them confidence to initiate conversation on coffee. Gestures, visuals, and other media aids have been used by teachers to support second language acquisition. Some instructors prefer Total Physical Response (TPR) as their instructional method over other approaches for that very reason. In this method the instructor uses imperatives such as “Shut the door” or “Put your hands up,” and learners listen to the directions of the teacher and follow the command. Interestingly, the teacher does not teach the grammatical structures of the imperatives. If learners find it difficult to understand a command, they watch their peers or the instructor. Within a short time, they start understanding and following most simple commands, and they can learn some verbs, nouns, and common vocabulary to name objects in the classroom. Physical actions provide an external context to ESL learners and the TPR serves as a good activity for initial teaching. Another way to understand the distinction between contextreduced and context-embedded language is to consider the differences between a phone call and face-to-face conversation. Though contextual cues are present in both the conversations, yet there would be no gestures and nonlinguistic cues available to indicate meaning in a phone conversation. However, the phone call is not decontextualized, but rather has more limited contextembedded language than face-to-face conversation. In Cummins’s quadrants the vertical line on the scale extends from “cognitively undemanding” language to “cognitively demanding” language. Topics learners read, write, or discuss range from cognitively demanding to cognitively undemanding. The conversation about coffee would not be cognitively demanding, but instructions on how to prepare coffee might be cognitively demanding. The learners need to use imperatives when placing a coffee order and give instructions so that a trainee can understand the process of coffee preparation clearly. Often new instructors have difficulty making a task understandable to his or her students. Even though the instructions given by the teacher are clear and to the point, the learners may be confused. This happens chiefly for two reasons: The instructor assumes that the instructions provided to students are as easy for them to understand as they are for him or her; or he or she equates learners’ experience with their knowledge. Cummins put basic interpersonal communication skills in quadrant A where the language is cognitively undemanding and the context embedded, for example, talking about coffee and reading other people’s description about coffee. A conversation on a phone is an example of conversation that is contextreduced and cognitively undemanding. Cummins put this type

of language use in quadrant C. In quadrant D, the language is cognitive-demanding but context-reduced. for example, reading about different types of coffee and their preparation in a textbook. Learners heavily rely on the language of the book, and for solving the language activities they require academic language proficiency. The quadrant B includes both cognitive demanding and context-embedded language. For example, the instructor reads a chapter from a novel, and then he selects students from the class and asks them to act on the theme they have just read. Cummins argues that the two dimensions that constitute the quadrants are not absolute as to what is cognitive-demanding and context-embedded.

Terms & Concepts BICS: A term used in BICS/CALP theory; acronym for Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills. BICS/CALP theory: A theory, first proposed by Jim Cummins, differentiates between academic language proficiency and social language acquisition. CALP: A term used in BICS/CALP theory; acronym for Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. External context: refers to clues learners get from the environment. Global Language Proficiency: A term given by Oller; suggests that language proficiency could be conceptualized as a unitary global dimension. Internal context: refers to clues learners get from the language itself. Total Physical Response (TPR): A language teaching method described by James Asher. TPR suggests making coordination between physical movement and language.

Bibliography Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism, 4th Ed. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Cummins, J. (2016). Reflections on Cummins (1980), “The cross-lingual dimensions of language proficiency: implications for bilingual education and the optimal age issue.” TESOL Quarterly, 50(4), 940–944. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=120127013&site=ehost-live Fang, Z. (2008). “Going beyond the fab five: Helping students cope with the unique linguistic challenges of expository reading in the middle grades.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(6): 476–87.

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Go#pferich, S., & Neumann, I. (2016). Developing and assessing academic and professional writing skills. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. Homel, P., Palij, M., & Aaronson, D. (2014). Childhood bilingualism: Aspects of linguistic, cognitive, and social development. Hoboken: Psychology Press/ Taylor and Francis Group. Khatib, M., & Taie, M. (2016). BICS and CALP: Implications for SLA. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 7(2), 382–388. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=114155541&site=ehost-live Layton, D. D. (2013). “Talk deep to write deeper”: An exploration of the value of “deep talk” in developing CALP. South African Journal of Higher Education, 27(1), 111–125. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=109449612&site=ehost-live

Glazer, K. M. (2016). Creating a better classroom. Literacy Today, 33(4), 12–13. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=112081831&site=ehost-live Lorenzo, F. F., & Rodríguez, L. (2014). Onset and expansion of L2 cognitive academic language proficiency in bilingual settings: CALP in CLIL. System, 47, 64–72. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=99612520&site=ehost-live Stewart, M. A. (2010). Walking in my students’ shoes: An ESL teacher brings theory to life in order to transform her classroom. Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research, 12(1), 1–6. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=64362431&site=ehost-live

Essay by Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, PhD

Midwinter, R., & Dickson, J. (2015). Embedding counselling and communication skills: A relational skills model. New York, NY: Routledge. Zemach, D. (2016). Building academic reading skills. n.p: University of Michigan Press.

Suggested Reading Bonenfant, J. L. (2012). Misusage and misinterpretation of basic interpersonal communication skills (bics) and cognitive academic language proficiency (calp) in teaching english language learners (ells) in first and second grades. Review of Higher Education & Self-Learning, 5(15), 100–107. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=94247793&site=ehost-live Figueiredo, S. A., Martins, M. A., da Silva, C. F., & Simões, C. (2015). A comprehensive assessment of immigrant students: Low-income families’ effects and school outcomes in second language development. International Journal of Assessment & Evaluation, 22(2), 1–11. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=108544758&site=ehost-live

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