Basic English vs Academic English Proficiency: A Case Study of Two Korean Children

Basic English vs Academic English Proficiency: A Case Study of Two Korean Children

This paper examines how two Korean children studying in an American school learned English as a second language. The researcher thickly describes the processes of their learning of basic English and participating in reading class, in particular. The analysis of data supports Cummins (1979, 1980, 1981a, 1981b), who maintains that second language learners can master basic interpersonal communicative skills (basic English) within two years of their life in their host society; they need much more time to acquire cognitive/academic language proficiency (academic English) appropriate at their age/grade levels. The children learned basic English very quickly, while they needed more time to improve their academic English proficiency in order to catch up with the content areas of their subjects, reading in particular. This study implies that second language learners' parents need to help their children to be exposed to diverse speakers of the target language through which they can have opportunities to update their English proficiency which is closely related to achievement in reading.