Social Language Analysis

Article Synthesis Reflection:
Chapter 2 How Students Acquire Social and Academic Language The article I chose to reflect upon is one that was both provided by Dr. Scarcelli and one I found to be the most interesting. This article addresses the issues and frequent questions administrators, board members, and classroom teachers have on second-language acquisition skills for ELL students (specifically, social and academic language). The article primarily focuses on statements/questions that are often made or asked concerning the acquisition of these two language skills and responds to said statements/questions in detail.
Researcher Cummins describes social Language informally as "playground" language and formally as Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills or BICS. ELLs apply BICS to more informal/social situations, for example: talking in hallways, classrooms, school buses, and playgrounds (Haynes, 2). Haynes responds true to the prompt, "... it takes at least 1-3 years to fully master social language in the classroom". She uses the example of being able to ask for a drink of water or use the bathroom as social

Some ELLs must be taught how to communicate appropriately in social situations. It seems silly to teach someone interpersonal skills and the effortless skill of greeting a person, but it is not a skill all students acquire naturally. There are many variables that come into play when using social language. ELLs need to understand nonverbal language (i.e. gestures/expressions), use of personal space, voice tones, volume, and language for different school settings (Haynes, 4). Many newcomers do not understand these skills and need to be taught how to apply interpersonal skills accordingly with their setting. Haynes does a wonderful job addressing issues/concerns with social language and continues by introducing academic language and the issues/concerns behind