Question

1. Compare and contrast BICS and CALP. Name one point that you think teachers should know about second language acquisition.

Answer 1

Explanation:

BICS is social language. CALP is academic language. BICS needs shorter time to acquire than CALP. BICS can be learned from students’ daily lives, like family, classmates, and playmates.CALP can be learned from textbooks, assigned materials, and specific disciplines.

It believed that teachers should know that BICS and CALP could be taught simultaneously. The reason it takes longer time for students to learn CALP than BICS, so teachers need to teach students both of them together. Teachers can let students talk in groups, with peers, and with teachers to improve their BICS in school. Teachers also can give students appropriate difficulty reading, which is focus on specific area, to read. Thus, students’ CALP can be improved.