BTLPT BTLPT Pragmatics and Language Functions 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In bilingual classrooms, 'academic language functions' include all of the following EXCEPT:
- Analyzing and evaluating
- Comparing and contrasting
- Chatting informally with friends (Correct answer)
- Explaining and describing
Correct answer: Chatting informally with friends
Academic language functions are those used for instructional purposes — chatting informally is social language, not an academic function.
Question 2: What is 'BICS' as it relates to BTLPT and bilingual education?
- Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills — social language used in everyday conversation (Correct answer)
- A standardized bilingual test
- Bilingual Instructional Content Standards
- Basic Instructional Classroom Spanish
Correct answer: Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills — social language used in everyday conversation
BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) refers to the conversational language proficiency students develop for social interaction.
Question 3: How does 'CALP' differ from 'BICS' in the context of BTLPT bilingual education standards?
- CALP is faster to develop than BICS
- CALP refers to Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency — the decontextualized academic language needed for school success (Correct answer)
- CALP and BICS are the same concept
- CALP only applies to oral skills, BICS only to writing
Correct answer: CALP refers to Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency — the decontextualized academic language needed for school success
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) refers to the higher-order language skills needed for academic tasks, which takes 5–7 years for ELLs to fully develop.
Question 4: In a BTLPT scenario, a student can converse fluently in Spanish but struggles with written academic tasks. This gap illustrates:
- A reading disability
- The BICS-CALP distinction — conversational fluency does not equal academic proficiency (Correct answer)
- Subtractive bilingualism in action
- A hearing impairment
Correct answer: The BICS-CALP distinction — conversational fluency does not equal academic proficiency
The BICS-CALP gap explains why students who seem conversationally fluent still struggle with academic tasks — different skills are required.
Question 5: What does 'register' mean in the context of language functions on the BTLPT?
- The official list of certified bilingual teachers
- A variety of language adjusted for the social situation, purpose, and audience (Correct answer)
- The volume at which a teacher speaks
- A type of grammar test
Correct answer: A variety of language adjusted for the social situation, purpose, and audience
Register refers to how speakers adjust their language (vocabulary, syntax, tone) based on the context, purpose, and audience of communication.
Question 6: Which instructional language function is demonstrated when a bilingual teacher says, 'Notice how the character's mood changes when it starts raining. What does this tell us?'
- Describing
- Directing behavior
- Prompting higher-order inference and analysis (Correct answer)
- Listing facts
Correct answer: Prompting higher-order inference and analysis
The teacher is using language to prompt students to make inferences and analyze — higher-order cognitive language functions used in academic instruction.
BTLPT BTLPT Pragmatics and Language Functions 2
In bilingual classrooms, 'academic language functions' include all of the following EXCEPT: