The terms BICS and CALP were coined by Professor Jim Cummins in 1979, a leader in language and literacy development.
BICS breaks down into ‘basic interpersonal communicative skills.’ This is what we tend to call the ‘language of the playground.’ When I walk into work and exchange small talk with clients that is BICS. BICS is used primarily when there are contextual supports that facilitate understanding with non-verbal cues. When I am having a conversation with friends even if you cannot understand what I am saying verbally you can make judgements about the conversation based on my facial expressions, hand motions, tone of voice, and other non-verbal cues.
CALP on the other hand stands for cognitive/academic language proficiency. CALP occurs in context reduced situations where there is little or no non-verbal cues to aid in comprehension. If I read a chemistry textbook or ask my brother to explain coding in C++ that is an example of CALP. CALP usually is required for understanding academic language. Whenever we lead a class discussion on Shakespeare, talk about fractions, or “cognitive/academic language proficiency occurs in context reduced academic situations. Language is ‘disembedded’ from meaningful, supportive text in CALP and has little to no cues to help aid in understanding.
The distinction that Cummins makes can help mainstream teachers understand why some students appear to be successful socially with their peers but still struggle with academic tasks such as paper writing or class discussions. There are some potential downfalls of the BICS/CALP distinction however. Even though there may be a difference between BICS and CALP one should not be valued more highly than the other. Both social and academic literacy skills are essential for success in society. BICS, in addition, is not easier than CALP and one does not necessarily follow the other. While many students may develop BICS first, some may develop CALP first. Indeed, both skills may develop equally fast as one is not wholly dependent on the other.
For more information you can check out the following:
Baker, Colin (2011-08-22). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Channel View Publications. Kindle Edition.