02/03/2022
Let's talk about second language learners 🗣
South Africa has 11 official languages.
The language policies state that learners shall be taught in their mother tongue language for the first 3 to 4 years of school.
There-after, English holds the position as the ‘language of learning and teaching’ for the majority of grade 4 learners.
How do these second language learners acquire language?
BICS and CALP are both acronyms that refer to the amount of time it requires new language learners to develop necessary conversational and academic skills.
BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) are language skills that people need in social situations. BICS usually takes 6 months to two years to develop.
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) refers to a student’s formal academic learning. CALP could take between 5 to 7 years to develop.
Watch out!
- Don’t mistake good social skills for language proficiency. CALP takes a lot longer to acquire than BICS.
- Don’t mistake second language learners with children who have a ‘language disorder.’ A speech therapist will be able to make this distinction.
How can parents help?
- Explain new concepts in your home language.
- Create opportunities for children to listen and interact in their second language.
- Interacting with children who speak the second language
- Read to children in the second language.
The role of speech therapists
- Differentiate between a second language delay and language disorder.
- Assist learners with any difficulty in language acquisition.
- Assist teachers.
- Pre-teach vocabulary needed for class work beforehand.
