The distinction becomes clearer when we recognize that students have the ability to converse in English without needing strong academic language skills, English learners appear to speak English well in hallways, on playing fields, and in small talk before a lesson a begins, but struggle to use English well in classroom assignments or on tests. This situation occurs because they have not yet acquired a high level of academic language, which is cognitively demanding and highly decontextualized (Cummins, 1984)