Language Proficiency in Native and Non-native Speakers

This book, written for both seasoned and novice researchers, presents a theory of what is called Basic and Higher Language Cognition (BLC and HLC), a theory aimed at making some fundamental issues concerning first and second language learning and bilingualism (more) empirical. The first part of the book provides background for and explication of the theory as well as an agenda for future research, while the second part reports on selected studies of language proficiency in native speakers, as well as non-native speakers, and studies of the relationship between literacy in a first and second language. Conceptual and methodological problems in measuring language proficiency in research on second language acquisition and bilingualism are also discussed. Further, the notion of levels of language proficiency, as rendered by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), is critically examined, suggesting ways of empirically investigating a number of questions that the CEFR raises but is not capable of answering.

Noriko Iwashita, University of Queensland, in Language Testing 2017 doi: 10.1177/026553221770468:
The book provides an excellent introduction to a theory of language proficiency. The concepts of BLC [Basic Language Cognition] and HLC [Higher Language Cognition] discussed extensively in this book are accessible to teachers and non-academics, as well as graduate students and researchers. Although the BLC-HLC is well thought out and grounded in the author’s own research, he humbly accepts that it is not the endpoint of the theory, stating, “I hope that empirical research will bring about an early ‘expiration date’ of BLC-HLC Theory” (p. 158). On the whole, the book reads well with a comprehensive overview of the theories, definitions of key concepts, detailed explanations of the related models, and comparisons with earlier models. The author is very thorough in the description of his own theory, clarifying the differences from the earlier models proposed by other researchers and his own models that are based on his earlier work. In other words, he clearly positions the BLC-HLC theory in the current theoretical discussions on language acquisition. His careful attempt to guide the reader through the chapters toward his own theory indicates his scholarship, which he has devoted to the enquiry of unveiling native and non-native proficiency for many years.