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Dear Families,
Your children are excited and ready to share their learning and growth. Remember also to visit their Specialist teachers, browse the fabulous Art Exhibition, and see the Book Fair in the US library.
A few people have asked me questions recently following my talk at the language afternoon, so I have included information about the differences in social and academic language and the time each takes to develop.
Second language proficiency develops incrementally and varies from learner to learner. However, most learners go through these stages.
Stage 1 - Silent/Receptive or Preproduction
Stage 2 - Early Production
Stage 3 - Speech Emergence
Stage 4 - Intermediate Language Proficiency
Stage 5 - Advanced Language Proficiency
Regardless of the stage of second language acquisition, a student's oral language skills continue to develop. Oral language proficiency refers to knowledge of or use of vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and strong comprehension skills.
In each of the stages of language acquisition, the Student's receptive language (i.e., understanding) is generally better than their expressive language (i.e., speaking)
As students progress through the stages, they develop two types of language proficiency: social and academic, often referred to as BICS and CALP.
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) refers to a student's ability to understand basic conversational English, sometimes called social language. At this proficiency level, students can understand face-to-face social interactions and converse in everyday social contexts. These social language skills—generally acquired in approximately two years—are sufficient for early educational experiences but inadequate for upper elementary school's linguistic demands and beyond.
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) refers to a student's ability to effectively understand and use the more advanced and complex language necessary for success in academic endeavors, sometimes referred to as academic language. Students typically acquire CALP in five to seven years, during which they spend significant time struggling with academic concepts in the classroom.
It is essential to understand that BICS and CALP develop simultaneously, but the acquisition of academic language takes longer.
If you want to learn more, please look at the following article and website, which will provide further information. I'm always ready to talk to parents further about their child's language development.
https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/cresource/q1/p02/
See you all tomorrow.
Have a great week.
Kind regards,
Lynn
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