There are two types of languages in English. One type of language is called Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and the other is called Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). What is the difference between the two?
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) is a term that means social language or conversational English. This kind of language is simple or basic. BICS is used in casual settings such as the playground, cafeteria, or school bus.
BICS vocabulary words are simple. They usually contain one or two syllables and are concrete. Examples of BICS vocabulary words include book, pencil, marker, cup, plate, apple, banana, shirt, pants, hat, coat, car, plane, eye, nose, or mouth. These words are called tier one words. Tier one words fall under the category of BICS and are common words used in everyday speech.
BICS grammar is also simple. Sentences are usually short and basic. Examples of BICS grammar include, “I like apples”, “I can read”, “I have a pencil”. Some examples of BICS questions are “Do you like pizza?”, “Did you go to the birthday party?”, “Do you want to play?”
Reading and writing skills are also basic. Books include short and easy to understand sentences. Examples of text that would fall under BICS is “I like apples”, “I like bananas”, “I like carrots”, etc. Or “I can walk”, “I can run”, “I can read”, etc. Writing skills would be the same as the above.
BICS is easier to learn than CALP because the vocabulary words and grammar are simple or basic. BICS is language that is less cognitively demanding than CALP. Because BICS is easier to develop, it usually takes ESL students one to three years until they are proficient in BICS.
All cultures have BICS or social language.
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency(CALP) is a term that describes academic language used in the classroom. CALP is more difficult because the language itself is more complex, abstract, and sophisticated making CALP more cognitively demanding.
Vocabulary words are multisyllabic and may be composed of prefixes, suffixes, and roots (words like construct, combine, observe). These words are called tier two words. Tier two words are academic words that are frequently used in the classroom. Examples of CALP tier two vocabulary words are camouflage, migrate, hibernate, abolish, dispute, alliance, or melancholy.
Examples of students using CALP are labeling the parts of the cell and explaining their functions, explaining the similarities and differences between the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan cultures, or using similes and metaphors in a poem. This is much more difficult language than BICS!
Tier three words also belong under CALP. Tier three words are words that are specific to a subject or field of study. They are low frequency words and are used less than tier two words. Examples of tier three words are “exponent”, “hyperbole”, and “adjacent”.
Not all cultures have CALP. CALP is used only in literacy cultures. Because CALP is more difficult to acquire than BICS, it usually takes ELL students five to seven years (or more) until proficient in CALP.
If a student is strong in their first language and has strong literacy skills, then it will take five to seven years to achieve fluency in CALP. If a student has not fully developed their first language and does not have strong literacy skills in their first language, then it may take seven to ten years to achieve fluency.
Important Points About BICS and CALP:
It typically takes ESL students five to seven years to develop CALP, but this does not mean that they will receive ESL services for this long. ESL students may test out of an ESL program after two to three years of services. It is important to note that just because these students no longer receive ESL services does not mean that they are no longer learning academic English or need English support in their classrooms.
Students may be fluent in BICS, but will most likely be still developing their CALP skills. Classroom teachers may feel confused when their ESL students "sound proficient", but do not perform as well academically. Students who “sound” competent in English may struggle with academic demands of English language instruction in the classroom. If you are an ESL teacher, it may be beneficial to mention this to their classroom teacher. Just because a student “sounds” proficient in English does not mean they do not need ESL services, are not learning academic English, or need extra support learning academic English in the classroom. The goal for any ESL student is to achieve advanced fluency in social and academic settings.
Why is knowing about BICS and CALP important?
As an ESL teacher, it is beneficial to know about BICS and CALP because it is important to know the stages of English language development. When you have a beginner student, you need to know what to teach that student in order for effective language acquisition. In this case, your goal as a teacher would be to develop their BICS language skills before moving on to CALP. This is also true if you have intermediate students. As a teacher, you know that these students have already acquired their BICS language skills and to focus on developing their academic language skills.
If you know the pattern of how ESL students typically learn English, then it will be easier to detect ESL students who do not follow this pattern. Students who do not follow the typical pattern of English language acquisition usually have difficulty learning English. It is these students who you monitor and who may need special education services. If you are certain that your ESL student has a disability after a year or two of ESL services, and a response from a staff member is, "Doesn't it take at least five to seven years before ESL students acquire English? It takes a long time for ESL students to learn English, so why are you concerned about this student having a learning disability already?" Your response could validate this staff member's knowledge that yes, it does take five to seven years until an ESL student acquires CALP skills, but because of this student's slow progress due to this student exhibiting much more difficulty learning English than a typical ESL student, it may take much longer for this student to acquire English. Therefore, this student may need additional services to support their English learning while shortening the time it will take for this student to fully develop their English skills.