What are "BICS" and "CALP"? BICS stands for "Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills" and CALP stands for "Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency." It is important for teachers to distinguish between the two, as they represent the differences between social and academic language. University of Toronto professor Jim Cummins coined the terms BICS and CALP to help teachers qualify a student's language ability. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) BICS are Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, which are the "surface level" skills of listening and speaking. BICS consists of the day to day language needed to interact socially, which includes conversations with friends and informal interactions. BICS are typically acquired quickly by many students, particularly those who come from language backgrounds that are similar to English who spend a lot of time interacting with native English speakers. According to Cummins, BICS typically take up to 3 years to develop after immersion in the target language. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) CALP is Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. CALP refers to formal academic language learning. It is the basis for a student's ability to cope with the academic demands placed upon him or her in the various subjects. It refers to the level of language essential for a student to succeed in school - the language necessary to understand and discuss content in the classroom. Students need time to become proficient in academic language. Academic language acquisition includes higher order thinking skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring. Academic language is more cognitively demanding than social language, as a student is not only acquiring language but also new ideas and concepts at the same time. According to Cummins, it takes a minimum of 5 years for a student to be working on a level with native speakers as far as academic language (CALP) is concerned. The Iceberg Model We can relate BICS and CALP to an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg (BICS) is what can be easily noticed. It is surface-level language that allows students to converse socially. Like the tip of an iceberg, BICS may represent only a small portion of the overall proficiency of an academically competent student. CALP goes beyond surface level of a language. Students who have developed CALP are able to discuss academic subjects in depth. From: http://morethanenglish.edublogs.org/files/2011/08/BICS-and-CALPS-sm-1d3cber.png |
AuthorThe Elementary ELL team! Archives
March 2019
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