Stages of Language Acquisition for ELs

Stages of Language Acquisition for ELs

English learners will come into your class with varying levels of English

proficiency. It is important to understand where your student is in the process of learning

English and be sensitive to his/her educational needs. Individual students may progress

at different rates, but the following chart provides a guideline of what may be expected

from an EL at a given stage, and teaching strategies you can implement to help your

students be successful academically.

Developmental Stage

Silent/Receptive/PreProduction

Characteristics

?

?

Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills

(BICS)

Lasts 10 hours to 6

months

?

?

?

Early Production

?

?

Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills

(BICS)

?

Can last up to 6 months

after the silent stage

?

?

?

Hesitant, often

confused and unsure.

Limited

comprehension that

is indicated

nonverbally through

gestures and actions.

Student begins to

associate sound and

meaning.

Student begins to

develop listening

skills.

Students have about

500 words that they

understand, but do

not feel comfortable

using.

Yes/No Responses

One word verbal

responses advancing

to groupings of 2 or 3

words

Focus is on key

words and contextual

clues

Improving

comprehension skills

Relates words to

environment

1,000 word

receptive/expressive

vocabulary

Teaching Strategies

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

90% teacher talk

Total Physical

Response (act it

out!)

Modeling

Active student

involvement (BUT

do not force the

student to speak)

Allow students to

answer nonverbally

(pointing to the

correct answer)

Yes/No questions

Use pictures

Use props and

hands on

Simplify language

50-60% teacher

talk

Total Physical

Response with

verbal and nonverbal responses

Who, what, where,

and either/or

questions ¨C accept

1 word answers

Role playing

Sentence frames

and cloze activities

Questions to be

answered with

phrases (Where¡­?

In the house.)

?

Speech Emergence

?

Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills

(BICS)

?

?

Can last the next 1-2

years of acquisition

?

Transition from short

phrases to simple

sentences

Errors of omission

and in grammar

Continuing

mispronunciation

3,000 word

vocabulary

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Intermediate Fluency

?

Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills

(BICS)

?

Can last the next 1-2

years of language

acquisition

?

?

?

?

Transition to more

complex sentences

Students engage in

conversation and

produce connected

vocabulary

Errors more common

as student uses

language for more

purposes

Grammar is not

firmly acquired

Extensive vocabulary

development

May seem fluent, but

needs to expand

vocabulary

?

?

?

?

?

?

Labeling (older

learners)

40% teacher talk

Scaffolding and

expansion

Poetry, songs and

chants

Predicting

Comparing

Describing

Organize

information on

various types of

graphic organizers

Social interaction

(cooperative

learning with

information gaps)

How and why

questions

Language

Experience

Approach (write as

students dictate)

Problem Solving

Grade on meaning;

do not mark down

for grammatical

errors.

10% teacher talk

Essay writing

Analyzing charts

and graphs

More complex

problem solving

and evaluating

Continuing with

how and why

questions ¨C

research and

support answers

Pre-writing

activities ¨C writing

process, peer

critiquing, etc.

Demonstrate use of

outlines, graphic

organizers, etc.

?

Advanced Fluency

Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills

(BICS) transitioning to

Cognitive Academic

Language Proficiency

(CALP)

?

?

Can take 5-7 years to

reach this stage

?

6,000 word

vocabulary

Student can interact

extensively with

native speakers.

Student has higher

levels of

comprehension,

though not advanced

enough for

cognitivelychallenging academic

tasks.

Few errors in

grammar

?

Literary analysis

?

Continued use of

appropriate

accommodations

Adapted from Krashen & Terrell, 1983; Project Talk: A Title VI Academic Excellence Program,

Aurora Public Schools, Colorado; ¡°Overview of Second Language Acquisition¡± REL Northwest)

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