CLAD Culture and Academic Achievement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Cummins' distinction between BICS and CALP predicts that ELL students typically develop conversational fluency in approximately how many years, while academic language proficiency takes:
- 1-2 years conversational; 3-4 years academic
- 2-3 years conversational; 5-7 years academic (Correct answer)
- 4-5 years conversational; 8-10 years academic
- 6 months conversational; 2 years academic
Correct answer: 2-3 years conversational; 5-7 years academic
Research consistently shows ELLs develop BICS in 2–3 years but require 5–7 years to achieve the CALP needed to perform at grade level in academic settings.
Question 2: Which instructional strategy BEST addresses the cultural mismatch between home discourse patterns and school discourse expectations?
- Requiring students to abandon home language patterns immediately
- Using culturally familiar discourse patterns as bridges to academic discourse (Correct answer)
- Avoiding discussion of culture in academic settings
- Assigning additional grammar drills to accelerate adjustment
Correct answer: Using culturally familiar discourse patterns as bridges to academic discourse
Bridging familiar home discourse patterns to academic discourse respects students' cultural identities while explicitly teaching the new discourse norms required for academic success.
Question 3: The 'subtractive bilingualism' model describes a situation where:
- Students lose their home language as they acquire English, often resulting in cognitive and cultural losses (Correct answer)
- Students use two languages equally across all domains
- Bilingual education subtracts costs from district budgets
- Students subtract incorrect grammar patterns from their writing
Correct answer: Students lose their home language as they acquire English, often resulting in cognitive and cultural losses
Subtractive bilingualism occurs when the acquisition of a second language replaces rather than adds to the first language, often leading to loss of heritage culture and cognitive resources.
Question 4: Which assessment accommodation is MOST appropriate for an ELL student who is being evaluated for a potential learning disability?
- Conducting all assessments in English only to ensure validity
- Using assessments in the student's home language and English to distinguish language difference from disability (Correct answer)
- Exempting the student from assessment until fluent in English
- Relying solely on teacher observation rather than standardized tools
Correct answer: Using assessments in the student's home language and English to distinguish language difference from disability
Assessing in both languages helps determine whether difficulties stem from a genuine learning disability or from the normal process of second language acquisition.
Question 5: How does 'funds of knowledge' theory, developed by Moll and colleagues, inform culturally responsive teaching?
- It emphasizes that families should fund school programs
- It identifies household knowledge and practices as valuable academic resources teachers should incorporate (Correct answer)
- It argues that schools should replace home knowledge with academic knowledge
- It focuses exclusively on financial literacy instruction
Correct answer: It identifies household knowledge and practices as valuable academic resources teachers should incorporate
Funds of knowledge theory holds that all families have accumulated culturally developed knowledge and skills that teachers can draw on to make academic content meaningful and relevant.
Question 6: A student who recently immigrated shows high performance in mathematics but struggles in language arts. Which explanation is MOST consistent with CLAD research?
- The student has a specific learning disability in reading
- Mathematics relies less on language proficiency, while language arts requires advanced CALP (Correct answer)
- The student was not taught mathematics correctly in their home country
- Mathematics ability is genetically determined and independent of schooling
Correct answer: Mathematics relies less on language proficiency, while language arts requires advanced CALP
Mathematical procedures can often be demonstrated with less language dependence, while language arts demands the high levels of academic English proficiency (CALP) that newer ELLs have not yet developed.
Question 7: The concept of 'third space' in culturally responsive pedagogy refers to:
- A physical classroom area designated for ELL students
- A hybrid space where home culture and school culture intersect to create new, shared meaning (Correct answer)
- The third period of language acquisition in Krashen's model
- Federally funded supplemental education time outside school hours
Correct answer: A hybrid space where home culture and school culture intersect to create new, shared meaning
Third space theory describes the productive intellectual zone created when students' home cultural knowledge merges with school academic knowledge, fostering deeper engagement and learning.
CLAD Culture and Academic Achievement 3
Cummins' distinction between BICS and CALP predicts that ELL students typically develop conversational fluency in approximately how many years, while academic language proficiency takes: