Levels of Communication

1. Symbols
   
   1. arbitrary substitutes for objects, ideas, actions, relationhips
      
   2. used one at a time (e.g., monkey cry of alarm)
      
   3. used by many animals and all normal humans
      
2. Protolanguage
   
   1. more than one symbol used in an utterance
      
   2. relationship among symbols provided by receiver and context
      
   3. used by certain animals (e.g., chimpanzees, bees) and all normal humans, including young children
      
3. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)
   
   1. "basic" human language
      
   2. universal human ability
      
   3. required for normal human interaction
      
   4. used by all normal humans and no other animals?
      
   5. robust
      
   6. little variation
      
   7. context embedded
      
   8. cogntively undemanding
      
   9. uses spoken or signed language (not written)
      
   10. part of common human biological endowment
       
   11. requires normal human interaction, but not explicit instruction
       
4. Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
   
   1. uses spoken, signed and written language
      
   2. not a universal human ability
      
   3. much variation; not acquired by all chidren with normal BICS
      
   4. cognitively demanding
      
   5. context-reduced
      
   6. not robust
      
      1. requires special environment and perhaps explicit instruction for some aspects (reading and writing)
         
   7. required for formal schooling and professional careers