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What does BICS stand for in language acquisition theory?
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills
Basic Instructional Communicative Skills
Broad Interconnected Communicative Skills
Bilingual Interpersonal Communication Skills
The correct answer is: Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills
BICS stands for Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills, which refers to the language skills necessary for everyday social interactions. This concept, introduced by researcher Jim Cummins, emphasizes the understanding and use of language in casual, conversational settings. BICS typically involves communicative competence that individuals develop in informal contexts, such as chatting with friends or participating in social activities, where language is used to establish social relationships and navigate day-to-day interactions. This distinction is important for educators and language learners because BICS is often acquired much more quickly than the skills needed for academic language proficiency, known as CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Understanding BICS allows educators to better support English Language Learners (ELLs) as they develop their conversational language skills, which can serve as a foundation for more complex academic language tasks.