Text 2-17. CLARIFYING JIM CUMMINS’ ICEBERG MODEL

(Based on the selection from resources of the Illinois Resource Center in www.thecenterweb.org)

The terms BICS and CALP tend to be imprecise, value-laden, simplified, and misused to stereotype English language learners. BICS describes social, conversational language used for oral communication. English language learners can comprehend social language by:

· 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 which are present;

· asking for statements to be repeated, and/or clarified.

CALPis the context-reduced language of the academic classroom. It takes five to seven years for English language learners to become proficient in the language of the classroom because:

· non-verbal clues are absent;

· there is less face-to-face interaction;

· academic language is often abstract;

· literacy demands are high (narrative and expository texts and academic texts are written beyond the language proficiency of the students); and cultural/linguistic knowledge is often needed to comprehend fully.

Cummins (1984) addressed this problem through a theoretical framework which embeds the CALP language proficiency concept within a larger theory of Common Underlying Proficiency(CUP).

Cummins’ common underlying proficiency model of bilingualism can be pictorially represented in the form of two icebergs. The two icebergs are separate above the surface. That is, two languages are visibly different in outward conversation. Underneath the surface, the two icebergs are fused such that the two languages do not function separately. Both languages operate through the same central processing system.

Language proficiency alone will not determine when English language learners are prepared to use their second language (L₂) to learn with their grade level monolingual English-speaking peers.

Social Language

L₁ L₂

Surface level

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Guidelines for extensive reading of texts on the use of ESP in European transnational education	\|	Common Underlying Proficiency

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