Language Proficiency

Language Proficiency as Defined by Research Communities

Research communities interested in the definition of language proficiency include those of linguists and teachers of English. Linguists often define language proficiency in terms of performance across language's fundamental properties, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Phonology refers to the sounds of a language—phonics or phonemics—while morphology refers to word formation or grammar. The way linguistic elements such as words or phrases are put together to create meaning is referred to as syntax, and semantics is the study of meaning at the word or phrase level. Pragmatics is the study of how language creates meaning in specific contexts, or the relationship between sentences and the environment in which they occur.

Psycholinguists within the bilingualism research community have tended to focus on how one gains proficiency in an additional language, how, from a cognitive perspective, proficiency in one language affects proficiency in an additional language, and the amount of time needed to gain language proficiency in an additional language. Psycholinguists have also identified broad categories of language proficiency, such as “playground language,” or basic interpersonal cognitive skills (BICS), as compared to “academic language,” or cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). While the BICS versus CALP dichotomy has been criticized, the idea still holds sway in the K–12 educational community as well as the bilingual education community.

In contrast, many sociolinguists have focused specifically on notions of language, language varieties, and power, and have explored the way that certain definitions of language proficiency are used [Page 1334]to further the interests of specific communities. The research community among teachers of English has argued, likewise, that the notion of language proficiency can be understood only when it is examined as a construct that is nested within multiple societal literacies and those literacies' relationship to power in our society.

Language Proficiency as Defined by Communities of Professional Practice

The main communities of practice involved in the defining of language proficiency are the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)—an organization focused on English instruction worldwide, the mainstream English teaching profession including the English as a second language (ESL) K–12 profession, state departments of education, and the bilingual education community.

...