STAGES OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

The most widely accepted second language acquisition theory is based on a distinction between social language and academic language (Cummins, 1988). Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are acquired, on the average, within the first two years after exposure to English. At this level, the student socializes with peers, follows basic directions, and participates in routines within the classroom setting. In contrast, Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) is a much more challenging process that may take up to ten years, averaging 5 to 7 years after initial exposure to English. CALP skills are much less contextually based, abstract, and reflect specific concept vocabularies.

To expand the distinction between BICS and CALP, if you can recall a time when you were learning a foreign language, there was probably a time when you had an opportunity to use it in an authentic way. Did you find yourself saying ‘hello” or ‘nice to meet you’ or ‘how are you’ in that language, then quickly apologize for not being able to sustain the conversation beyond your limited skills? You might have had this experience while traveling. You quickly learned that taking a couple years of a high school foreign language does not mean that you could keep up with a political discussion, explain your career goals or prove that you’re smarter than a 5th grader.. in that foreign language.

What these situations describe is the difference between proficiency in basic social language, tangible nouns and verbs versus proficiency in expressing higher level abstract and intangible concepts and ideas. The limitation in expression is not for lack of intelligence, as you can do so quite eloquently in English. It is the lack of development in that foreign language, the lack of vocabulary most fundamentally, that eludes you. It is the difference between proficiency in BICS and CALP. An ELL needs time to develop language skills and learning strategies that take him from “How are you?” to “How are vertebrates and invertebrates different?”; from “book”, “pencil”, “sit”, “walk” to “democracy”, “environment”, “hibernate”, “evaporate”.

The difference, or gap in the timing between well developed BICS and developing CALP, are often prematurely mislabeled as learning problems in the ELL. Proficiency in social, conversational skills precedes mastery of the demands of academic language. The BICS:CALP gap is recognized as a natural phenomenon of second language learning. We will revisit this issue in Part III, as it applies to distinguishing between learning difficulties and language differences.

Within the BICS/CALP distinction, the complex process of second language learning moves from receptive to expressive language skill development. Initially there is little comprehension and minimal oral expression, as the language learner first begins to listen to the similarities and differences between the two languages. Frequently, the language learner remains silent during this time, when the focus is on listening and understanding context, and not on speaking. Basic oral expression emerges, which further develops into more complex utterances with expanded vocabulary and concept knowledge. Reading and writing skills follow, so that by around the end of the 4th year of English exposure, the ELL is able to meet classroom demands. The timing of any particular stage or sequence of stages is related to presenting affective variables, which can be social, emotional, or environmental, and prevent, impede, delay or otherwise negatively impact progression through SLA.

As we look at SLA Stages, Stages I-III generally describe BICS, while stages IV-VII describe CALP. SLA stages are sometimes referred to:

By number- various sources citing between four and seven stages, seven will be described here
By descriptors- labels which may vary across sources, which indicate most prevalent features of that stage
By time range- describing the amount of English exposure, not chronological age

For instructional purpose, all descriptors will be included here, with the major defining receptive and expressive characteristics for each stage listed.

Stage I: Preproduction: 0-6 Months

Receptive Skills: Minimal comprehension
Expressive Skills: No verbalizations, may unreliably nod ‘yes’ and ‘no’, points, gestures, draws

Stage II: Early Production: 6 Months-1 Year

Receptive Skills: Limited comprehension
Expressive Skills: One or two word responses, uses familiar social phrases, present tense

Stage III: Speech Emergence: 1-3 Years

Receptive Skills: Good comprehension of social language and routines, may misunderstand humor, slang
Expressive Skills: Simplified conversation, syntax and pronunciation

Stage IV: Intermediate Fluency: 3-5 Years

Receptive Skills: Excellent comprehension of social language
Expressive Skills: Complex sentences, fewer syntactic errors

Stage V: High Intermediate: 5-7 Years

Receptive Skills: High level of comprehension
Expressive Skills: Extensive use of English for interactions

Stage VI: Transitional: 7-9/10+ Years

Receptive Skills: Comfort and ease with social language and academic language
Expressive Skill: Few errors, seeks assistance for corrections

As we have noted previously, there are parallels between first language development and second language learning. We can expand on these similarities by taking a look at a familiar learning model. Although revised over the years, the basic Bloom’s Taxonomy reflects BICS/CALP, as the successive levels of learning in Bloom’s cognitive domain reflect language development from concrete to abstract, as illustrated in Figure A, Appendix B. Bloom’s five levels of learning in the affective domain (i.e., receiving, responding, valuing, organizing, internalizing), also correspond to SLA developmental stages. We will revisit this concept in Part IV, as it applies to classroom support.