ENG505 Treasure

(CUP) model was introduced by Cummins and Swain (1986) as common underlying proficiency model. According to Cummins and Swain, people who are learning second language follows a framework of language structures and functions driven from a person’s knowledge of one language to help him or her learn the second or additional language known as CUP.

The CUP model is represented with the ‘dual iceberg metaphor’ and is the basis of the hypothesis called the ‘Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis’ according to which the first language has a relationship with other languages which is different form the surface but interdependent internally. The relationship is based on Separate Underlying Proficiency (SUP) vs. Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP). ‘Additive bilingualism’ and ‘subtractive bilingualism’ were also proposed by the model for determining the proficiency.

According to Cummins, Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are considered to be not very demanding as they are the language skills needed in social situations. Being engaged in day-today language process, these skills require social interaction which is usually context driven. According to Baker (2006), ‘BICS is said to occur when there are contextual supports and props for language delivery. Face-to-face ‘context embedded’ situations provide, for example, non-verbal support to secure understanding. Actions with eyes and hands, instant feedback, cues, and clues support verbal language.’

Some of the examples of BICS are:

•  Observing speakers’ non-verbal behavior (gestures, facial expressions and eye actions)
•  Observing others’ reactions
•  Using voice cues such as phrasing, intonations, and stress
•  Observing pictures, concrete objects, and other contextual cues

BICS are primarily concerned with conversational fluency (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) in the second language; whereas, CALP relates to the use of language in decontextualized academic situations (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency).

Cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) is a term proposed by Jim Cummins which refers to the stage of learning that learners go through after they have mastered social language communication skills. It is the stage where the development of academic language proficiency takes place in context reduced academic situations. ‘Where language is disembedded the situation is often referred to as context reduced’ (Baker, 2006, p. 174). In CALP, development of academic language is often abstract, and non-verbal clues are absent. One’s cultural/linguistic knowledge is often required for complete comprehension. Cummins argues that ‘teachers are unaware of the need for explicit teaching of academic language.’

The comparison between BICS and CALP has been drawn based on the suggested activities.

CALP: Suggested Activities

•  Writing story innovations
•  Holding book reviews
•  Enacting plays
•  Discussing what you have read
•  Collecting words
•  Conducting debates
•  Selecting role-plays
•  Presenting thematic viewpoints (Chandy, 2012)

BICS: Suggested Activities

BICS is about the language skills that students need to get through the day in face-to-face situations (Chandy, 2012).

•  Visuals: pictures, books and magazines with pictures, photos, objects, maps, charts, graphic organizers, drawings, role-playing, games, etc.
•  Simplified language and texts, translations, summaries of texts by peers
•  Gestures, pantomimes, experiences, demonstrations, hands-on activities
•  Samples, exemplars, models

Goal of language learning research has been a matter of deliberations among researchers for a long time. Long (2005) discourages the concept of language for no purpose and advocates language for specific purposes. According to him, ‘General (language for no purpose) courses at any proficiency level almost always teach too much, e.g., vocabulary, skills, registers or styles, some learners do not need, and too little, e.g., omitting lexis and genres that they do. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, it is more defensible to view every course as involving specific purposes. . . .’ (Long, 2005, p. 19).

Knowledge is constructed in the context of the environment in which it is encountered through the social and collaborative process (Kanuka & Anderson, 1999). The teacher in the contemporary scenario is viewed as a consultant whose role is not to only impart knowledge but also negotiate with students for effective outcomes. The following factors are vital for bridging language learning research and language education:

1. Needs analysis: Needs Analysis calls for ‘situations where the student has some specific reasons to learn a language’ (Harmer, 1983, p. 1).
2. Determining methodologies include:

•  Grammar Translation
•  Direct Method
•  Audio-Lingual Method
•  Situational Language Learning
•  Suggestopedia
•  The Silent Way

3. Evaluation includes:

•  Placement assessment
•  Observation of learning
•  Short-term achievement assessment
•  Diagnostic achievement assessment
•  Proficiency assessment

The term ‘Applied Linguistics’ has been defined by many researchers, some of them are:

Grabe (2002, p. 10) defines applied linguistics as a ‘practice-driven discipline that addresses language-based problems in real-world contexts.’ Schmitt and Celce-Murcia (2002): applied linguistics is using what we know about language, how it is learned, and how it is used, in order to achieve some purpose or solve some problem in the real world. Applied linguistics covers eighteen topic areas. These are: language and its acquisition, language and culture, language and cognition, language and the brain, language and media, language and assessment, language and interaction, language and ideology, language and listening, language and instruction, language and reading, language and policy, language and writing, language and speaking, language and society, language and research methodology, language and technology, and language and translation/interpretation. Out of these areas, the dominant area has been second/foreign language acquisition and teaching.