8/9/2019 Teacher Resource: Summary of the Basic Principles of Second Language Acquisition

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StateEducationReso

urceCenter

SERC

2009

Summary of the Basic Principles of

Second Language Acquisition

Stages of Second Language Acquisition

Stages of SecondLanguage

Acquisition

LAS Links(first used in CT

in 2005-2006)

LAS Oral(last used in

CT in 2004-

2005)

CSDE ELLFramework

(as of 2004-

2005)

NationalTESOL

(as of March

2006)

Pre-production Level 1Beginning ELL

Oral level 1 NES

(Non-English

Speaker)

Beginning Level 1 Starting

Early Production Level 2Early Intermediate

ELL

Oral level 2 LES

(Limited EnglishSpeaker)

Level 2 Emerging

Speech Emergence

Level 3

Intermediate ELL

Oral Level 3

LES

(Limited EnglishSpeaker)

Intermediate Level 3

DevelopingIntermediateFluency

Level 4

Proficient ELL

Oral Level 4

FES

(Fluent English

Speaker)

Level 4

Expanding

Fluency

Advanced

Level 5

Above ProficientELL

Oral Level 5

FES(Fluent English

Speaker)

Level 5

Bridging

(SERC 2009)

Acquisition vs. Learning (Krashen)

Acquisition Learning

Natural,developmental,

subconscious

process Informal situations Focus is on

communication

Conscious process Formal situations Focus is on the

forms and structureof the language

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StateEducationReso

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SERC

2009

Comprehensible Input (Krashen)

Messages and information in the second language that the student understands. Language is acquired when the student receives comprehensible input. Krashen recommends that the comprehensible input be a little ahead of the

students level of proficiency.

Ways to make language comprehensible include:

o visual aidso manipulativeso realiao gestureso slow, clear speecho simple sentenceso repetition, restating

Affective Filter (Krashen)

The mental block to learning that occurs when a student is in an uncomfortable, stressful

situation. In order for language to be acquired, the affective filter must be low.

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) (Cummins)

The skills needed to understand and use the everyday language used to communicate in

informal, social settings. It takes 2 - 3 years for a non-native speaker to acquire BICS.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) (Cummins)

The skills needed to understand and use the language of the classroom, of academic texts,

and of literature. It takes 5 -7 years for a non-native speaker to acquire CALP.

Common Underlying Proficiency (CUP) (Cummins)

This theory states that knowledge/proficiency acquired in one language transfers to thesecond language. Knowing how to read and write in one language helps you to read and

write in a second language. Knowing science concepts in one language means you do not

need to relearn the concepts, you just need to know the vocabulary in the new languagewhich applies to the concepts.

L1 L2

CUP

BICS

CALP

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SERC

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Four Quadrants (Cummins)

The Four Quadrants illustrates how activities can be cognitively demanding or

undemanding and context embedded or reduced. These quadrants can help teachers

evaluate the tasks they assign their students in order to ensure they are providingappropriate instruction.

Following directions Face-to-face conversations Buying lunch at school Content classes (art, music) Reading a map Survival vocabulary Watching a movie

Telephone conversations Note on the refrigerator Written directions, instructions

(no diagrams or illustrations)

Oral presentation Reading and writing for

personal purposes

Demonstrations, experiments Lessons supported by visuals Basic math computations Plane geometry Projects and activities Making models, charts, and

graphs

Standardized tests Math word problems Textbooks Lecture with few visuals Reading/writing in content

areas

Explanations of new abstractconcepts

A C

B D

ContextEmbedded

(Clues)

ContextReduced

(Fewc

lues)

Cognitively Undemanding (BICS)

(Easy)

Cognitively Demanding (CALP)

(Difficult)