I’ve discussed this on the list before and Susie Gross has written on her use of this term of art. My own understanding came, I believe, from John DeMado, where he clearly referred NOT to someone who acquired/learned the language but to someone who made it all the way through to fourth or fifth year with straight As and could nail a pluperfect subjunctive at 20 yards but couldn’t get a taco in Nogales. I would be very interested to see OPIs given to fourth year A students in h.s. throughout the country to see if they indeed had learned to communicate in the TL, let alone acquired it to any extent (not that all legacy teachers claim they have).
Pat’s Polemics
On-going brilliance
