Language

As human beings, we have a need to make meaning of our surroundings. Anyone, when placed in a new situation, immediately tries to sort it out, tying the unknown with the known. This is true for English Language Learners placed in an all-English classroom. They immediately seek out clues to "crack the code" of the classroom. Visuals, gestures, a friendly face, all help students create meaning of the new environment.

It is this need to make meaning that is the heart of language acquisition. As students continue to make and negotiate meaning through relevant interactions and activities, language is acquired at increasingly higher levels. The goal, then, of programs for English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) is to use language to communicate effectively and appropriately.

The Principles of Language

From the abundance of current research in the field of language and language acquisition, some basic principles have emerged:

Language is functional.

Language has use and function in real world interactions. Language has purpose and function, and is acquired through meaningful use and interaction.

Language and culture are interrelated.

Language patterns and use are different in different cultures. These variations reflect cultural norms, values and beliefs of a culture. To learn language is to learn culture.

Language varies and changes.

Language use varies according to person, situation and purpose. Language also varies by region, social class and ethnic group, and changes over time to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the language users.

Language skills develop interdependently.

Authentic language use often requires the simultaneous use of several language domains.

Naive language proficiency contributes to Second Language Acquisition (SLA).

Proficiency in the native language directly affects one's ability to efficiently acquire both social and academic aspects of a second language.

 

Communicative Competence

It is not enough to be able to read, write and understand basic language. One must be able to use language to get things done. Communicative competence, a term developed by Del Hymes, is defined as the ability to use language appropriately in a variety of contexts. This involves not only employing accurate forms of language, but also knowing the social rules situations. Canale (1983) identifies four elements of communicative competence.

Grammatical Competence

This, more than the other competencies, focuses on "correctness" and accuracy. Grammatical competence focuses on the skills necessary to speak and write accurately, or knowing the language "code' (e.g., vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, etc.).

Sociolinguistic Competence

This involves the appropriate use of language in varied social settings. It takes into account factors such as social norms, status of the participants (register), and other rules or social conventions influencing both meaning and form, such as knowing how to request information, accept or refuse assistance, and other "social graces" expected of competent users of the language (e.g., "Excuse me, may I borrow your scissors?")

Discourse Competence

Discourse competence is the ability to appropriately engage in conversations requiring the combining and connecting of phrases and sentences. This competence requires the participant to be both a sender and receiver of language, alternating the roles appropriately in conversations or written discourse.

Strategic Competence

This involves the manipulation of language, both verbal and nonverbal, to achieve the communication goals. This competence is utilized for two major reasons:

1. To clarify meaning (e.g., paraphrasing an idea, searching for a word, gesturing to convey meaning).

2. To enhance communication (e.g., emphasizing a specific word, using body language, or changing voice tone or volume for effect).

Competent users of language must be proficient in appropriately using all aspects of communicative competence. All foreign language programs should focus on developing all aspects of communicative competence.

Academic Requirements of Language

You may have heard teachers say, "Why does he still need ESL? He speaks English very well. Listen to him on the playground. He talks all the time." When asked how the student is functioning academically, the response is, "He's below grade-level, and not doing well, but the problem must be something other than language." This child has acquired Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS), but not yet achieved Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), or full-proficiency in English. He needs more time for focused academic language development.

Related to the idea of communicative competence is Cummins' (1984) definition of two levels of language proficiency: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language proficiency (CALP). Cummins notes that many misconceptions about student abilities, capabilities, and even basic intelligence are defined to the way in which "language proficiency" has been defined. Specifically, students' conversational fluency in English is often (mistakenly) taken as a reflection of their overall proficiency in the language. To address these misconceptions, Cummins clarifies "the fundamental distinction between conversational and academic aspects of language proficiency" (Cummins, 1984).

BICS -- This involves using language for social, face-to-face, everyday situations. it tends to be very contextualized, providing abundant clues to comprehension. It refers to basic fluency in the language and is acquired relatively quickly, usually within two years.

CALP -- This involves language skills and functions of an academic or cognitive nature. this is the language needed to accomplish academic tasks. There are fewer contextual clues and students must draw meaning from language itself. CALP takes much longer to acquire, about five to seven years.

In school contexts, students must utilize CALP as well as BICS to succeed academically. Students who appear to have achieved native-like conversational skills in English may take several years before they match their native-English speaking peers in academic English. This is largely due to the fact that English speakers are also developing their language proficiency during the same time period. In essence, we're aiming at a moving target and must provide accelerated instruction for students to close the gap.

CALP, however, is highly transferable from one language to another. If you have cognitive proficiency in one language, you simply need to acquire the matching language labels for these ideas in a second language for transfer to occur. This "Common Underlying Proficiency" (Cummins, 1981) explains why we don't need to re-learn cognitive or academic tasks such as math and science in a new language.

Cummins, J. (1984) Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy. San Diego: College Hill.

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Last modified: June 16, 1999

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