Ashley Kunkle

Language and Language Development

Professor LaQua
Amelia Bedelia BICS and CALP Analysis
Amelia Bedelia Multiple Contextual Meanings Chart:
Quote
Two tires definitely
said Suzanne (10)
Brakes? said
Suzanne (10)
A bike that special
must cost an arm and
a leg (16)

Actual Meaning
Tires on a bike

AB* Meaning
Tired as in exhausted

Brakes on a bike

Earn the money for

at least half of it (17)
In business, when
you agree to do
something, you shake
the other persons
hand (19)
I am very
shorthanded today
(24)
Ill show you the
ropes (28).

Pay for half the cost of

the bike
Hand shake

Sometimes my bike
breaks
I would never pay
that much you need
both your arms to
steer a bike and both
legs to pedal
She would buy the
front or back half
Grabs his wrist and
shakes his hand.

Thats a piece of
cake/easy as pie.
(35)
Just being me a piece
of cherry pieand
step on it! (37).
Youve cleaned out
that entire flower
bed! (44).
My boss just gave
me a pink slip (47)

A job easily done

The bike must cost a

lot

Few people working

Waitress hand are

short in length

Show someone new

how to do a job

What kind of ropes

could Doris show her?
Cowboy lassos?
Mountain climbing
ropes? (28)
Thinking the man
ordered cake!

To move quickly

Actually stepped on
the pie!

Picked all the flowers

No there is still
plenty of dirt--actually clean it`
A slip that goes under
your dressMy mom
likes white slips with
lacey stuff on the top

The woman is fired

 I know you love

lemonade, sweetie.
Thats why you should
make a stand for it
(57).

Sell lemonade

Think big (62)

Think outside of what

you already know or
would typically do
Making a pastry

You can make lemon

squares, lemon
marmalade, lemon
tarts (85)
Its on the house
(98)
My brownies are a
dime a dozen (99)
I think you make one
mean lemon tart
(132)
*AB = Amelia Bedelia

The food is free

You can find brownies
like that in many
places
The lemon tart is very
good

(48)
Is someone trying to
get rid of lemonade?
Take a stand on an
issue
This is more like a
lemonade sit than a
stand (69)
How can I?... My
brain is only one
size.
Lemons are already
tart, they are born tart
Whose house? On
your house?
A dime for a dozen?
Thats a good deal!
I didnt make it to be
mean, I made it to
apologize (132)

Amelia Bedelia and EL Comparison:

When learning a language, there are many different components
to master. For any language learner, acquiring a language with all the
intricacies, multiple meanings, accents, and inflections languages can
be quite confusing! Parishs Amelia Bedelia books are a great reflection
of how ELs might feel when it comes to learning a second language.
Parishs books reflect the process of developing a language using Basic
Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS), Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency (CALP), and the theory of Communicative
Competence.

In Amelia Bedelia Mean Business, it is apparent that Amelia

struggles with some of the common sayings in the English language.
For examples, Amelia Bedelia is describing Suzannes, a girl in her
class, new bike. As she describes the bike she express her wish for a
new bike like Suzannes. Her mother replies, a bike that special must
cost an arm and a leg (16). Most people would understand the phrase
meaning that the bike must be very expensive, but for Amelia Bedelia,
she replies, I would never pay that much you need both your arms
to steer a bike and both legs to pedal (16). Amelia interprets the
phrase literally, that someone would actually give an arm and a leg to
have a bike that beautiful. Her reasoning is sound as to WHY she would
not want to LITERALLY pay an arm and a leg, but the literal translation
is FAR more severe than the actual meaning. In this same conversation
with her parents, they decide to pay for half the bike, and Amelia can
earn the other half of the bike. After they discuss, her dad says they
need to shake hands to seal the deal. After this proposition, Amelia
grabs her fathers wrist and vigorously actually shakes his hand back
and forth (19). He father then had to clarify that he meant they should
give each other a hand shake by grasping hands and moving them up
and down together. These misconceptions continue to happen as
Amelia tries to earn her half of the bike. My favorite example is when
Amelia is a waitress in training. A customer is in a hurry and wants a
piece of pie. First Amelia is confused if her wants pie or cake because

when he said he only wanted a slice of pie, the training waitress Doris
says that will be a piece of cake! meaning that task of getting the
customer in and out quickly will be an easy task because all he wants
is a slice of pie. This phrase confuses Amelia and causes her to bring
the gentleman a piece of cake. The customer gets upset and responds
Just being me a piece of cherry pieand step on it! (37). Now, the
customer simply means for Amelia to hurry on the order, by Amelia
sees it a different way. After delivering the pie to the customer, she
climbs on the counter, raises her foot, and literally STEPS on the pie!
Although all of these scenes are quite comical and may be an extreme
depiction in some cases, it is a depiction of some of the struggles EL
students may face when trying to acquire a language.
Throughout the novel, there are apparent miscommunications
frequently present. But, as the novel progressed, I noticed the number
of confusions decreased dramatically. It went from two
miscommunications per page to fifteen pages between each
miscommunication. This parallels an EL students progression from
BICS to CALP. When a student first begins learning a new language,
there can many mistakes when learning new vocabulary and the
common phrases. It takes time to even develop the BICS language.
Using puns and sayings of a language takes time to acquire. I
remember when I was teaching overseas, and I used the phrase Its a
piece of cake one of my students asked me Miss, why cake? Why not

egg? Cake is complicated, egg is easy. The humor in the moment will
never be forgotten but it brings to light how confusing the English
sayings and language can be for EL students. I think the shift in the
novel also portrays how a student first learns the BICS language, but
then over time it develops in to a more refined understanding and
CALP proficiency. The progression of language understanding Amelia
displays as the story progresses is much how an EL would first acquire
BICS and then once they develop more of an understanding of the
language, they can begin to develop the CALP. As stated in The
Amazing English! How-To Handbook BICS is acquired in about two
years and CALP in 5-7 years; as Amelias character grew in
understanding of the puns, she went from having two misconceptions
per page, to one, to one ever 5 pages to one every 15-20 pages. The
longer the story went on, the fewer the language confusions were
present. This is the same with EL acquisition. At first is may be
frustrating and very confusing, but once you can have a full
conversation, you can move in to an academic conversation. This all
takes time and patience.
Amelia Bedelia also relates to the Hymes Communicative
Competence theory of language development. Communicative
Competence explains how students move from the grammatical
competence (sentence level), to the discourse competence
(paragraphs), to sociolinguistic competence (social context), to finally,

the strategic competence (conversation fluency). Amelia Bedelia has

both the grammatical and discourse competence because she is able
to formulate sentences and have paragraph or longer length
conversations, but when it comes to sociolinguistic and strategic
competence, she is still developing the communication competence.
Sociolinguistic competence requires a n understanding of the social
context in which language is used (Hyme, 220). This is where Amelias
misinterpretations of puns and sayings come in. At the beginning of
the story, her competence of this portion of communication is low. As
the story progresses, her competence increases. This is her lowest
level of competence, even lower than strategic competence, in my
opinion. Amelia has some strategic competence throughout the entire
novel because she is able to explain her literal translations and keep
the conversation going or work through the confusion with others. This
shows that she has some strategic competence because even with the
miscommunications due to her lack of sociolinguistic competence, she
is able to keep up with the conversation.
In conclusion, Amelia Bedelia represents some of the realistic
struggles EL students encounter. From trying to figure out sayings and
puns versus their literal meaning, to maintaining the conversation
even thorough the confusion, Amelia shows the various levels of
language acquisition. She transitions from BICS to more of a CALP
understanding and we see Amelia increase her sociolinguistic

competence. Although for Amelia this only take about 150 pages, for
an EL this can take years. Teachers should be aware of the long
process of language acquisition and attempt to help students in all
ways possible to build the bridge towards full language acquisition.

Works Cited
Parish, Herman. Amelia Bedelia Means Business. New York: Harper
Collins, 2013. Print.
Brown. Communicative Competence. Pgs . 218-222. Print.