"BICS are cool, but CALPS rule." I wish I could properly give credit to the much-wiser-than-me lady who said this regarding ESL, but I cannot remember her name off the top of my head. My apologies. I believe her name was Lilly.
Teaching English as a second language in a mainstream English class is a challenge. I'm trying to make sure my Spanish speakers are learning the CONTENT so I try to translate everything I can teach into broken (intermediate level) Spanish. Lectures, tests, notes, the daily quote -- everything. However, if these kids don't pass the state-mandated course, given only in English, before they graduate, they'll not graduate. No diploma.
Therefore I have a GENIOUS 17 yr-old freshman from Mexico this year. He'd blow the top off that test if he could take it in Spanish. I'm talking about gifted and talented. His brother too. But he's facing four years of schooling and he's 17 because he needs to have multiple chances to take this test. Why does he need so many? you might ask.
You see, you can learn to speak a language with decent proficiency in about a year of immersion. Two will make you quite knowlegeable indeed. However, there's another half of the language you have to learn: academic language. You're immersed in conversational English. We don't often use academic language in our daily lives -- unless you enjoy a good political or theological debate. I've noticed few high schoolers are into that sort of thing and almost no one is on a daily -living basis. Where are these kids going to learn the vocabulary it takes to understand the language used on standardized tests? Even if they know English, academic language may as well be Greek.
For instance, while one says "guess" in everyday usage (as in "I guess so,") a mathematics test would ask you to estimate. A science test would ask you to hypothosize. A social studies test would ask you to speculate. See what I mean? Everyday language is called "Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills" or BICS. These come rather rapidly on a need basis. I'm decent at this in Spanish myself. CALPS stands for "Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills." (So how many of those words did you have to pause a split-moment longer on to comprehend fully?) I think that speaks for itself.
I passed out a sheet of paper that has a word from one area with three blanks for the other disciplines, entering a word from each discipline in different rows with adjacent blanks. I told my ESL kids to go to their teachers in other disciplines and ask for them to help them fill in two or three words from their disciplines in the boxes that correspond with the academic or basic English word I gave them. I then emailed all the kids' teachers and told them to ask them about it. You see, these kids won't say 2 words in your class. You have to pursue them because they are so worried about their English. Perhaps that's why I make it such a big deal to use my horrid Spanish with them -- they laugh and I laugh and they teach me and they see it's okay. (Guadelupe will speak -- but only in Spanish to me!)
For anyone teaching or working with someone who is learning English, don't forget about the academic langauge they need for success in education and on the job. I've got to get these kids to pass that test. They're too smart to make a low grade because of a language barrier.