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In what follows this paper will discuss how second language BICS

contextualized or conversational language fluency (Basic Interpersonal


Communicative Skills) and CALPlanguage in decontextualized academic
situations (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) are processes of
thought and language that are interconnected yet develop along separate
paths. Accordingly, Jim Cummins body of work establishes that when
students cultivate a second language, there are two principal continua of
second language (L2) development, viz. BICS and CALP. In conceptualizing
student bilingual competence from this perspective, Cummins and other
scholars observe that, most leaners take about two years to attain proficiency
in BICS whereas it may take five to seven years, for learners to attain a level
of CALP comparable to native English speakers. (Schon, Shaftel, & Markham,
2008) Correspondingly, a wealth of research about how learners develop
BICS and CALP suggests that these two types of language are acquired along
divergent paths. In this way, BICS is comprised of context-rich communication
and the everyday communicative skills that are imperative for successful
social interaction. Put another way, BICS allows learners to use social cues,
body language, facial expressions, and physical objects to help to bring
context to the words being spoken.
According to Cummins (2000, p. 67) CALP develops through social
interaction from birth but later is differentiated from BICS when a learner
goes to school. Thus, CALP primarily reflects the language needed to
successfully progress in academic settings. The specificity of CALP thus lies in
the social context of schooling. For Cummins, CALP is observed in a learner

when that individual has access to and command of the oral and written
academic registers of schooling (Cummins, 2000, p. 67).
The significance of the BICS/CALP continua for bilingual students
academic development was strengthened vis--vis two additional studies
(Cummins, 1980, 1981b) that exposed the tendency for teachers and
administrators to conflate everyday, conversational communication with
academic language proficiency. In consequence, this conflation underwrote
the cultivation of myriad academic difficulties for ELL students.

BICS CALP: A developmental continuum organized


around 4 quadrants
Cummins framework (1982) elucidates the integral importance of
contextual language acquisition in supporting a learners literacy
development. The horizontal axis of the framework involves context and the
vertical axis represents the cognitive demands of language.
BICS to CALP: Cummins (1982) Framework for the development of language
proficiency

Additionally, Cummins argues that there is a common underlying proficiency


(CUP) between two languages. In this way, learners glean conceptual
learning, background knowledge and other linguistic skills from their first
language that will be transferred to the second language.

Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency, Linguistic


Interdependence, the Optimum Age Question and Some Other Matters.
Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 19, 121-129.
Cummins, J. (1980). Psychological assessment of immigrant children: Logic or
intuition? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,1, 97-lll.

Cummins, J. (1981a). The role of primary language development in promoting


educational success for language minority students. In California State
Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and Language Minority Students: A
Theoretical Framework . Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination and
Assessment Center California State University.

Cummins, J. (1981b). Age on arrival and immigrant second language learning


in Canada: A reassessment. Applied Linguistics, 1, 132-149.

Cummins, J. (1984). Bilingualism and special education: Issues in assessment


and pedagogy. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Schon, J., Shaftel, J., & Markham, P. (2008). Contemporary Issues in the
Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners. Journal Of
Applied School Psychology, 24(2), 163-189.
doi:10.1080/15377900802089395.

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