Second Language Acquisition & Culture by Kristi McGrath https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1 Explain why you think it takes longer to acquire CALP when learning a second language. en-us 2017-06-28 02:30:35 UTC 2026-03-01 08:04:38 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Lightdecrease.png Karen Roebuck https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/331927845 After reading through the power point, I definitely understand why it takes longer to acquire CALP than SLA.  As I understand it, CALP is the technical language.  This is what is spoken during direct instruction in school.  All other times of the day (bus, lunch, recess, in between classes, greetings, etc.) students will use the less formal form of the second language.  We have students who speak English as a first language who have difficulty with learning new vocabulary and with learning content specific vocabulary.  I definitely understand why someone who is learning English as a second language has difficulty.  It is not heard as often throughout the day and is usually heard in isolation of a specific subject.  I the student is speaking in English outside of school, these technical words/definitions most likely will not come up in conversation.  Parents, who may also be learning English as a second language would also most likely not be using the same technical content specific vocabulary as the student and therefore, would not be exposing their child to it outside of the school day.  When I began to learn a second language, the first year was mostly conversational language, not content specific.
 ]]> 2019-02-15 22:12:43 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/331927845 Sunmy Brown https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/331999821 CALP takes longer to acquire when learning a second language because it's the content specific terminology that is used in an academic setting as opposed to an informal setting outside of the school environment. BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) is acquired in less time because it's language commonly used within social interactions each day. Content specific vocabulary and language is not readily used across every content area so it will take longer for students to apply these terms in an academic setting. In addition, there are various factors that play a role in SLA development impacting a student's ability in acquiring CALP such as cultural background, first language development, age, motivation, quality of instruction, and access to language. In my personal experience learning a second language, I vividly remember that the words and phrases taught in the beginning were for conversation and social interactions. Inherently, CALP will take longer to acquire because it's not words and phrases you need to use unless you are in the academic setting. ]]> 2019-02-16 14:17:34 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/331999821 Rachel Pratt https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332037507 CALP is when a person masters formal academic language needed to be successful in a school setting.  Before students can master this, they need to master basic interpersonal communicative skills.  It usually takes 2 years to be proficient with social language.  Contextual factors also come into play when becoming proficient in a language.  It is based on individual needs of the student.  The student’s background is also important when acquiring CALP.   Are they proficient in reading and writing in their native language?  What age did they start speaking the second language?  How motivated are they to succeed?  The answer to these questions can help educators guide students accordingly.  If they have a strong foundation and a good support system, they will be able to acquire CALP more efficiently.   Students also need to think critically in a second language in order to acquire these skills.  This is a challenging skill for anyone learning a second language.  Educators can help motivate students by providing a friendly and safe environment.  Consistency and personalized instruction will increase knowledge.

When I was a young child, my parents moved to Germany.  My parents put me in a German preschool school.  I walked into a warm environment where I felt comfortable.  The classroom was set up to help me succeed.  I enjoyed learning a second language.  The educators made it easy for me, because I was very young and they used effective strategies to help me prosper in that language.  Even though I was immersed in German for several years, I feel I did not acquire CALP.  It takes time and consistency to move students to use formal language and think critically in a second language. 
]]> 2019-02-16 20:30:39 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332037507 Julia Page julia_page1 https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332106804 CALP takes longer to learn because it is much more complex than BICS. Students can more easily access and master BICS because they have more opportunities to observe it in every day life, social media, and television. Nearly every student has well developed BICs in their native language, so it is much more easily transferred to their second language. CALP, on the other hand, consists of much more complex and difficult concepts than BICs. Many of our students have not had the opportunity to develop CALP in their first language due to  interrupted schooling.  In my experience, CALP is largely dependent on a student's prior education. Many of my students have interrupted education and they have not had the opportunity to develop CALP in their first language.  I notice that many of my students are really learning how to learn for the first time in our classes.  ]]> 2019-02-17 13:48:23 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332106804 Laura Smith laura_smith25 https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332129205 Calp takes much longer to learn due to its difficulty compared to BICS. Also repetition of BICS and familiarity factor in as well.  English language learners have more exposure to basic social language on the internet, tv, popular music, peers, etc. During CALP instruction there is so much going on for many students it makes it even more challenging to master. My ELL husband has a mastery of BICS but his calp is very poor. And being an adult the only academic language supports he gets are from closed captions on movies or from myself. His English classes in school were many moons ago. 
Motivation also factors into learning. My young students are very motivated to learn. They also like when I in turn try to learn from them basic Spanish translations to help newcomers. My husband, on the other hand, is 40 years old and not as eager to learn. He SHOULD be using fun apps like duo lingo to increase his skills on the regular. (but to be fair I should be doing the same learning Greek but the letters are harrrddddd.... )]]> 2019-02-17 16:35:40 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332129205 Renata Pereira https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332365365 To master a formal academic language take long and very hard work from students and teachers. Most of our students have not reach  it in his first language.  I'm an EL student and from my understand some students need to have at least one year of English before start any other HS class, I believe it take long to understand and be able to writing/speaking, may they are able to understand the basic english BICS, but they may do not have the  educational background to develop the english CALP skill as fast as needed to perform well on tests, science and math assignments. Understand content area request an elaborate language skills CALP they can not develop if they have no educational background. I had a college and master degree when I come to US and I had my first contact with English here.  It take a long to be able to understand and express myself,  so I believe it is very hard to some of my students to understand and be able to perform well if they are not able to read/writing and speaking English.

]]> 2019-02-18 15:15:52 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332365365 Vicky Carmona https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332503488 It takes about three times as long to learn CALP than BICS.   Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills is social survival language and it takes about 2 years to acquire proficiency.  Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, on the other hand, takes 5-7 years to acquire on average and can take as long as 10 years to master.   CALP is the language of school and can be broken down further into general academic vocabulary (tier 2) such as calculate, develop, persuade, etc.  and content specific vocabulary (tier 3) such as urban, quotient, volume, etc.  It takes so much longer for EL students to acquire academic language because they're only learning it when they are engaged at school.  When EL students go home at the end of the day, the weekend, and the summer they are immersed again in their first language.  If they do speak English at home to some family members or friends it is BICS not CALP.  Another factor that can make CALP harder to acquire is the amount and quality of schooling in the students' first language.  Concepts in math or science for example that were learned in the first language will transfer much faster to the second language.  Whereas students who arrive from their home country with little formal schooling have a bigger hurdle to climb because the academic concepts and the language are both foreign.  In my experience as an EL teacher this is the more common scenario.


]]> 2019-02-19 01:13:26 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332503488 Jen Lacy https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332683270 CALP takes students longer to acquire/learn vs. BICS because it is more complex, in nature. Development of BICS is less cognitively demanding, is predominantly context based, and the language required is less specialized. CALP is highly cognitively demanding, requires various means of representation (speaking, writing, listening, reading), and it requires more than just understanding the concept presented. To also generalize this concept, as a special education teacher, I have many native English speaking students who struggle with the complexities of academic language, without a language barrier. ]]> 2019-02-19 14:12:48 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/332683270 Amy Nelson https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333345785
Students that develop more in BICS, which is more conversational fluency, may not be strong in CALP because it is more academic and requires more cognitive skills. For them to master CALP they have to be able to learn how to listen, speak, read and write their second langue which is why it takes longer. CALP is essential in learning and students need this to be successful in school. They have to learn over time to gain proficiency in specific academic studies that are prerequisites of passing a grade. It takes five to seven years to learn CALP or longer if a child does not have a teacher and parent support or previous schooling in the development of the language they are trying to learn in. Catching up with their peers in a classroom setting might be more difficult than socializing using BICS. 
CALP also requires being familiar with vocabulary and skills that include classification, comparison, evaluation and making inference. A textbook is used to teach the student and academic language is necessary for CALP. As the student gets older the tasks for academic context becomes more reduced. The more context reduced the academic language becomes, the more demand there will be for cognitive learning. ]]> 2019-02-20 19:16:46 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333345785 Kate Best https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333385373 Of course CALP takes much longer to acquire, not only because it is more complex but because it's not part of everyday language a student is surrounded with. When they're developing language as infants/toddlers/small children, the academic language is not generally part of everyday conversation with small children. When you relate that to a student learning a second language, they're in some ways starting over in their language development. BICS will be more prevalent in student to student conversation, while CALP is very context based and is probably used most by the teacher in an elementary setting. The academic language from one language to another may not translate the same either. BICS is something they'd hear not only from other students but also from the internet, TV, music, etc. ]]> 2019-02-20 20:37:28 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333385373 Laura Connelly https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333628873 It takes longer to acquire CALP because it is more complex and not "everyday" language. CALP is academic language that takes years to develop. For this to happen, though, BICS must be in place. I remember learning German in high school, of which I took four years. At that point, I was just getting to moving past BICS--it takes so long, and it requires so much repetition. I wish I would have continued in college because another 2-3 year would have made me proficient. ]]> 2019-02-21 14:10:38 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333628873 Kaitlyn Donovan https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333695498 I believe it takes longer to acquire CALP versus BICS due to the fact that CALP requires not only the basic communication skilss required for a language, but also an understanding of the required curriculum in order to apply their knowledge. This makes CALP much more complex because it requires a great deal of rigor in terms of language application. BICS seems to be much more of a 'surface level' understanding, or what you would learn in a '101' language class; basics such as verbs, nouns, etc. CALP utilizes more of the higher level Bloom's tasks. ]]> 2019-02-21 15:59:08 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/333695498 Karalee Nagel karalee_nagel https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/334000315 CALP is so much more complex than BICS and students must first have a foundation in BICS before they can even begin to tackle CALP. I thought the double iceberg model from the presentation was very helpful in illustrating the relationship between CALP and BICS. Cognitively, BICS only requires knowledge, comprehension, and application. CALP, however, requires the cognitive skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation—things that are much more complex for someone even in their native language let alone a second language.  ]]> 2019-02-22 03:00:34 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/334000315 Name??? (asked by KM) Everyday, our EL students are exposed to BICS. The time that is spent conversing with other people in the student's environment, utilizing basics interpersonal communication skills far exceeds the time spent learning the academic language. In fact, BICS is necessary to communicate the cognitive academic language. It reminds me of the needs hierarchy. It is critical for survival to learn basic interpersonal communication skills. On the other hand, while the brain is working so hard to learn the language, we interject language that is not repetitively used or even heard or a daily basis. I remember a little girl whose first day in the country was spent with me. She kept saying, "bano," which I was able to figure out fortunately. When she said, "bano," I would reply, "yes, bathroom." So, she used the bathroom often because she could say that to me. She truly wanted to talk to me, but could only say the one word. She progressed through school, and even with this being her first exposure in third grade, in fifth grade, I was given a graded assignment from her teacher as the person who meant the most to her during her two years at the school. She was very fluent in English. She was continuing to work on her academic language, but with her basic communication skills' foundation strong, I'm sure she will be able to continue to acquire her academic language. (She left actually exceeding expectations!) Finally, what we are teaching all of our students is being learned at the grade level expectation. In order to understand many new and abstract concepts, the brain must first process what it already knows and lay that foundation, acquire the new academic language and build into existing schema, which do not exist in the language being learned. Honestly, with a diverse population in my school, I don't know how the students do as well as they do. I try to learn Spanish and it is so hard! It makes me appreciate their hard work even more! teresa_meggitt https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/334616878 2019-02-24 20:04:43 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/334616878 Victoria Cramer victoria_cramer https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/337320705 CALP takes longer to acquire when learning a second language because of the complexities of it. CALP cannot be learned if BICS has not been acquired. BICS is the basics of communication, which must be achieved before the cognitive skills can be learned for CALP. CALP requires specific academic language to be learned. ]]> 2019-03-04 02:33:24 UTC https://padlet.com/kristi_mcgrath1/lblfxljdo7a1/wish/337320705