Over the past few years, the author has often been invited to speak to various audiences on topics related to the development of English-language proficiency. The audience response and the kinds of questions asked led her to share the framework that she has adopted, some visual representations that illustrate the key concepts embedded in the framework, and some research that supports the use of this framework as helpful in explaining the development of English-language proficiency. This article is a brief introduction for some and a review for others. The author has adopted Cummins' (1982) metaphor of an iceberg to illustrate the Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills-Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (BICS-CALP) continuum, and she has adapted Cummins' original framework to fit better with the iceberg metaphor and the available research. (Contains 3 figures.)