BICS and CALP: Implications for SLA

The BICS/CALP dichotomy, proposed by Cummins, has attracted the attention of many educators, syllabus designers, and various educational systems involved in the education of minority migrant children. Though not immune to criticism, this distinction has solved some of the enigmas concerning the education of such children. Nevertheless, its relationship with SLA on the whole is rather underresearched. To meet such an end the researchers of this paper, following Kumaravadivelu’s (2006, p. xiii) suggestion concerning creating a “pattern which connects”, have tried to investigate the status of this dichotomy in the SLA literature.