Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.4, No.8, 2013 214 Correlation of Academic Excellence and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency at University Level Dr. Deepika Nelson 1* , Dr. Julia Devardhi 1 and Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi 2 1. School of College of Social Sciences and Humanities, School of Foreign Language Studies, Department of English, Haramaya University, Ethiopia 2. College of Education and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Educational Planning and Management, Haramaya University, Ethiopia *E-mail of the corresponding author: dr.deepikanelson@gmail.com Abstract In recent years, many second and foreign language programs have recognized the importance of Academic language proficiency and consider it to be a central goal of language teaching programs. Students need to use their second language for demanding tasks, for business, science, politics, and in all aspects of their lives. This calls for a focus on identifying and measuring the linguistic knowledge and skills that students will need in order to meet the heavy demands that life places on them. English literacy is considered to be correlated with academic performance for both the foreign language learner and the second language learner. Language proficiency had been thought as one of the influential attribute of academic excellence in schools and colleges. Students with good knowledge of English were considered to be better equipped with deep understanding of the content subjects. The majority of them are well settled in the global market because of their superior thinking and communicative competence. Considerable research has been conducted on the relationship of English language proficiency and academic performance among non-native English speakers around the globe. Through a descriptive method, this paper, titled, “Correlation of Academic Excellence and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency at University Level” presents a set of assumptions and hypotheses premeditated to intensify the perceptive of academic proficiency in relation to academic performance. Keywords: Academic language proficiency, academic performance, communicative competence, correlation. 1. Introduction In higher education English is the most important language and it spreads its wings in all dimensions of work. Vinke and Jochems (1993) indicated that lower the level of English proficiency, the more important it becomes in defining academic achievements, while Barker (1988) indicates that while students may be able to speak English, they still do not operate at maximum capacity because of the language barrier. Bachman and Palmer (1981) debated whether learning languages involved a unitary set of skills and abilities. In response to Oller’s ( 1979) claim that language was a unitary construct, Cummins( 1979) said that two constructs were associated with language learning in schools Basic interpersonal communication skills ( BICS) and cognitive language proficiency (CALP). Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) is a construct developed by linguists that distinguishes everyday. He also reported that everyone is able to acquire basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) in a first language regardless of IQ, or academic aptitude. BICS, then, can be described as a language’s surface fluency, which is not cognitively demanding. CALP, on the other hand, is the cognitive linguistic competence which is closely related to academic ability and literacy skills Romaine, (1995). In light of such evidence, investigators have hypothesized that the cognitive academic aspects of a first language and the second language are interdependent, and as a result, the development in the proficiency of the second language is partially a function of the level of proficiency of the first language (Cummins, 1979a; Skutnabb-Kangas & Toukomaa, 1979). Considerable research has been conducted on the relationship of English language proficiency and academic performance among non-native English speakers around the globe. The relationship of language proficiency to academic achievement must be considered with a view to construct a bridge between the two. Thus, this paper outlines a set of assumptions and hypotheses premeditated to intensify our perceptive of academic proficiency in relation to academic performance. Gottlieb (2003), Cummins (1992), expressed that there is a continuum of interrelated connections between language and cognition, moving from the development of ‘social language proficiency’ to ‘academic language proficiency’ and then to academic achievement. It is essential to ensure that the language education policy and its implementation take students along this continuum. The current language education policy in Ethiopia, which