BICS-level language can be acquired in about two years regardless of age on arrival and first language¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2006 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2011: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? ESL learners acquire BICS-level language in about two years for all ages on arrival and various L1s, in incremental steps after the silent period. → Roessingh 2006

Evidence¶

Roessingh 2006¶

Roessingh, H. (2006). BICS-CALP: An Introduction for Some, a Review for Others. TESL Canada Journal/Revue TESL du Canada, 23(2), Spring 2006. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v23i2.57

q2 · i? · review · r1

The author reports, as a matter of general agreement in the field, that "BICS-level language (above the surface) can be acquired in about two years" regardless of arrival age or L1. No study design or effect size is printed for this statement.

"There is general agreement that BICS-level language (above the surface) can be acquired in about two years for all ages on arrival and various L1."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Immigrant children acquire peer-appropriate conversational fluency in English within about 2 years but require considerably longer (5-10 years) to catch up academically in English — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Older-arriving ESL learners transfer L1 knowledge efficiently, but learning slows once they outgrow their L1 — related
• Youngest-arriving ESL learners risk acquiring neither L1 nor L2 at the level school demands — related
• The BICS-before-CALP sequence is typical for immigrant children but not universal: high L2 CALP can precede fluent L2 BICS in certain situations — related