What does BICS stand for?

BICS stands for Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills. This concept, introduced by Jim Cummins, refers to the social language proficiency that individuals, particularly children, develop to engage in everyday conversational exchanges. These skills are crucial for interacting in social situations and are often acquired relatively quickly by language learners and young children.

BICS includes skills used in casual conversations, such as greetings, small talk, and basic requests. It typically emerges within the first few years of language acquisition and is relatively surface-level compared to the academic language of the language being learned. Understanding BICS is important for educators, as it highlights the difference between conversational fluency and the more complex language skills needed for academic success, which are referred to as CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency).