While learning about the language acquisition process, the wugs example helped me rethink how students learn language. Instead of having to learn the rules of each individual word, students make generalizations based on what they hear and store that into their linguistic repertoire. I noticed a connection between the wugs example can and the term Discrete Language Skills because students are learning the morphological meaning being words. Interestingly, Lippi-Green’s (2012) Sound House analogy could describe a linguistic repertoire. While reading Cummins’ (2013) definition about BICS and CALP, I was thinking about how Cummins would reflect on the Sound House analogy. I wondered if Cummins would refute Lippi-Green’s analogy for not taking into account the different types of language fluency that can be portrayed.
I found BICS/CALP to be an intriguing way to analyze the progression of emergent bilinguals. From the beginning, I thought this format dichotomized the plethora of language practices students utilize. I think the distinction between BICS and CALP can be helpful in understanding the process of language acquisition but I do agree with many of Flores’ (2020) concerns about the colonist inequalities this framework could lead to. Flores(2020) details the harmful effects of this framework: “[It] overlook[s] the vast amount of linguistic knowledge that racialized students bring to the classroom”. Flores highlights the monoglossic nature of BICS and CALP curriculum by noting the absence of other linguistic practices and languages. Additionally, this framework creates an environment where teachers will target linguistic practices that do not align with the white gaze in order to improve the CALP. This will ultimately fuel rasciolinguistic ideologies because due to the colonist and racist framework of education, student’s cultural and racial linguistic practices will be seen as inferior.
The BICS/CALP discussion reminded me of my field work experiences. Students used an online resource in which they had to reach a certain quota of completed lessons. In this classroom, students were forced to complete activities that aligned with Standard American English. This resource did not take into account the student’s linguistic abilities to aid in their learning. That reminded me of the CALP rebuttal from Flores (2020) that it fails to take into account the student’s home language and treats it as non-academic even though there are plenty of authors who utilize similar linguistics structures in academic writings.
From this week’s readings, I understood the fluidity of language acquisition