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CTET 1 Mar 2026 Paper 1 English, Question 142

Topic: Language acquisition

Q142

Given below are two statements, one marked as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R). Read the statements and choose the correct option.
Assertion (A) : Learners of second language take more time to develop basic interpersonal communicative skills than cognitive academic language proficiency.
Reason (R) : Conversational proficiency is more context-embedded than academic proficiency.

  1. (1) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
  2. (2) (R) is true, but (A) is false.
  3. (3) (A) is true, but (R) is false.Correct answer
  4. (4) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Solution.

CBSE answer: (3)

Answer: (3) (A) is true, but (R) is false.

  1. This option holds that second language learners need longer for everyday conversation (BICS) than for academic language (CALP), and that conversation is not the more context-embedded of the two.
  2. Cummins's own timeline runs the other way: BICS usually comes in about 1 to 3 years, CALP takes about 5 to 7 years.
  3. R matches Cummins: conversation is context-embedded, with gestures, faces and the situation helping meaning, while academic language is abstract and context-reduced.
Our note

Note: on Cummins's model A is false and R is true, so option (2) is our reading.