Clarifying Jim Cummins’ Iceberg model
Text 2.17
Clarifying Jim Cummins’ Iceberg model
· Author: Based on the selection from resources of the Illinois ResourceCenter inwww.thecenterweb.org
· Topic: The usefulness of the Iceberg model for bilingual students
· Main idea: Instruction within a strong bilingual program should provide a Focus on Message,a Focus on Language, and a Focus on Use in both languages.
· Main purpose: If students are made tooperate in the classroom in a poorly developed second language, the quality and quantity ofwhat they learn from complex materials and produce in oral and written form may berelatively weak.
· Patterns of text organization:
Ø Description
Ø Analogy (Cummins’ common underlying proficiency model of bilingualism can be pictoriallyrepresented in the form of two icebergs. The two icebergs are separate above the surface. Thatis, two languages are visibly different in outward conversation. Underneath the surface, the twoicebergs are fused such that the two languages do not function separately. Both languagesoperate through the same central processing system.)
Ø Explanation
Ø Analysis + contrast and comparison (comparing mainstream and bilingual programs)
· Key-facts:
o The conceptual distinction between BICS and CALP highlighted misconceptions about thenature of language proficiency that were contributing directly to the creation of academic failureamong bilingual students.
o Both nativeEnglish-speaking and immigrant children usually reach a plateau in the development of nativelike phonology and fluency after several years of acquisition but CALP continues to developthroughout schooling.
o An instructional program in bilingual, ESL or "mainstream" classes designed to promotebilingual students' CALP should address the three components of the construct:
Ø Cognitive the instruction should be cognitively challenging and require students to usehigher-order thinking abilities rather than the low-level memorization and application skills thatare tapped by typical worksheets or drill-and-practice computer programs;
Ø Academic content (science, math, social studies, art etc.) should be integrated withlanguage instruction as in content-based ESL programs.
Ø Language - the development of critical language awareness should be fostered throughoutthe program by encouraging students to compare and contrast their languages (e.g. phonicsconventions, grammar, etc.) and by providing students with extensive opportunities to carry outprojects investigating theirown and their community's language use, practices, and assumptions(e.g. in relation to the status of different varieties).
· Key-words: Iceberg model, BICS, CALP, Jim Cummins, transnational education, bilingualism
· Synonyms:
Concept – model – theory – pattern
Attainment – achievement – acquisition
Central engine – central processor – central processing system
Complex – difficult – complicated – challenging
Ability – skill
Support – help
Data – materials
To compare – to contrast
To converse – to speak – to talk
· Tone and attitude of the author: The author is using neutral tone, has a balanced view of the subject. Their points and conclusions are rational. Writer has formal and objective attitude, concentrating on facts, expressing no emotions.Author is using lots of abbreviations.
· Thematic groups:
Ø Linguistics:social language, conversational language, context-reduced language, linguistic knowledge, bilingualism, monolingual, first\second language, multilingualism, monolingual channel, language channels, vocabulary, phonology, phonological skills, native language, vocabulary knowledge, sociolinguistics, linguistic issues, sociolinguistic interaction, phonics conventions, grammar.
Ø Education and science: academic classroom, academic language, literacy demands\skills, narrative\expository\academic texts, proficiency, students, theoretical framework, theory, common underlying proficiency model, academic knowledge, educational attainment, cognitive functioning\challenges\system, school achievement, complex materials, cognitive academic language proficiency.
Ø Communication: basic interpersonal communicative skills, oral communication, face-to-face interaction, speaking, oral verbal ability, communicative situations, conversational interactions.
Ø Non-verbal behaviour: gestures, facial expressions, eye actions.
· Stylistic devices:
Various: enumerations(science, math, social studies, art etc.),
Lots of parenthesis in brackets,
italics and bold type,
simile (To suggest that the BICS/CALP distinction is invalidbecause it does not account for subtleties of sociolinguistic interaction or discourse styles is likesaying:"This apple is no good because it doesn't taste like an orange.")
allegory (icebergs as languages),
metaphor (central engine, central processor, central processing system)
· Lexis: The author is using scientific lexicon, specifically linguistic. Article has formal style with neutral words. Sentences are mostly extended and complex.