CLAD Factors Affecting Language Acquisition 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Cummins' distinction between BICS and CALP is important for ELL teachers because:
- Students may be conversationally fluent but still lack academic language proficiency needed for grade-level work (Correct answer)
- BICS develops more slowly than CALP in most ELL students
- CALP skills transfer less readily across languages than BICS
- Students with strong BICS never develop strong CALP
Correct answer: Students may be conversationally fluent but still lack academic language proficiency needed for grade-level work
BICS (social language) develops in 1–3 years while CALP (academic language) can take 5–7 years, so conversational fluency is not a reliable indicator of academic readiness.
Question 2: A teacher notices that an ELL student uses correct English in structured writing but makes many errors in spontaneous speech. This pattern is most consistent with:
- The monitor hypothesis — the student over-monitors in writing but cannot monitor in real-time speech (Correct answer)
- The affective filter — the student is more anxious in writing tasks
- Subtractive bilingualism affecting oral skills
- Interlanguage regression
Correct answer: The monitor hypothesis — the student over-monitors in writing but cannot monitor in real-time speech
Krashen's monitor hypothesis predicts that the Monitor is most effective when learners have time to plan and focus on form, as in writing.
Question 3: Which variable is most associated with 'integrative motivation' in second language acquisition research?
- Desire to connect with and be accepted by speakers of the target language (Correct answer)
- Need to meet a school graduation requirement
- Parental encouragement to learn the language
- Financial incentive tied to language proficiency
Correct answer: Desire to connect with and be accepted by speakers of the target language
Integrative motivation, identified by Gardner and Lambert, involves wanting to belong to or identify with the target language community.
Question 4: A newcomer ELL student from a war-torn region shows difficulty concentrating and limited progress in English acquisition. The MOST likely contributing factor is:
- Trauma and high affective filter interfering with language processing (Correct answer)
- Lack of prior schooling in any language
- Incompatible learning style with the teacher's instruction
- Resistance to English for cultural reasons
Correct answer: Trauma and high affective filter interfering with language processing
Trauma elevates stress responses and raises the affective filter, significantly impairing a learner's ability to acquire new language.
Question 5: Transfer errors in a student's English writing that reflect the grammatical structure of the home language are called:
- Negative transfer or interference (Correct answer)
- Overgeneralization errors
- Developmental errors
- Fossilization
Correct answer: Negative transfer or interference
Negative transfer (interference) occurs when L1 structures are incorrectly mapped onto the L2, producing non-target-like forms.
Question 6: Which of the following best supports the idea that prior literacy in L1 facilitates L2 academic language development?
- Cummins' common underlying proficiency (CUP) model (Correct answer)
- Krashen's natural order hypothesis
- Selinker's interlanguage theory
- Chomsky's universal grammar
Correct answer: Cummins' common underlying proficiency (CUP) model
The CUP model holds that literacy skills, concepts, and cognitive strategies developed in L1 transfer to support L2 academic development.
Question 7: An ELL student who was an above-grade-level reader in their home country is MOST likely to:
- Develop English academic language more rapidly than a peer with limited L1 literacy (Correct answer)
- Develop English at the same rate regardless of L1 literacy
- Experience more interference because of strong L1 literacy
- Struggle with English because L1 reading habits conflict with English conventions
Correct answer: Develop English academic language more rapidly than a peer with limited L1 literacy
Strong L1 literacy provides transferable reading strategies, background knowledge, and metacognitive skills that accelerate English academic language acquisition.
CLAD Factors Affecting Language Acquisition 3
Cummins' distinction between BICS and CALP is important for ELL teachers because: