Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, assessment E-Book

Collective

• Herausgeber: Conseil de l'Europe
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 563

Beschreibung

The CEFR Companion volume broadens the scope of language education. It reflects academic and societal developments since the publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and updates the 2001 version. It owes much to the contributions of members of the language teaching profession across Europe and beyond. This volume contains: ► an explanation of the key aspects of the CEFR for teaching and learning; ► a complete set of updated CEFR descriptors that replaces the 2001 set with: - modality-inclusive and gender-neutral descriptors; - added detail on listening and reading; - a new Pre–A1 level, plus enriched description at A1 and C levels; - a replacement scale for phonological competence; - new scales for mediation, online interaction and plurilingual/pluricultural competence; - new scales for sign language competence; ► a short report on the four-year development, validation and consultation processes. The CEFR Companion volume represents another step in a process of engagement with language education that has been pursued by the Council of Europe since 1971 and which seeks to: ► promote and support the learning and teaching of modern languages; ► enhance intercultural dialogue, and thus mutual understanding, social cohesion and democracy; ► protect linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe; and ► promote the right to quality education for all.

Leseprobe

COMMON EUROPEANFRAMEWORKOF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES:

LEARNING, TEACHING, ASSESSMENT

Companion volume

This publication updates the CEFR 2001,

the conceptual framework of which remains valid.

www.coe.int/lang-cefr

Language Policy Programme

Education Policy Division

Education Department

Council of Europe

A preliminary version of this update to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment was published online in English and French in 2018 as “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment: Companion Volume with New Descriptors”and “Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues: apprendre, enseigner, évaluer : Volume complémentaire avec de nouveaux descripteurs”,respectively.

This volume presents the key messages of the CEFR in a user-friendly form and contains all CEFR illustrative descriptors. For pedagogical use of the CEFR for learning, teaching and assessment, teachers and teacher educators will find it easier to access the CEFR Companion volume as the updated framework. The Companion volume provides the links and references to also consult the chapters of the 2001 edition, where necessary. Researchers wishing to interrogate the underlying concepts and guidance in CEFR chapters about specific areas should access the 2001 edition, which remains valid.

French edition:Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues : apprendre, enseigner, évaluer – Volume complémentaire

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Directorate of Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]).

Cover design and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP), Council of Europe

Paper ISBN 978-92-871-8621-8

© Council of Europe, April 2020

Printed at the Council of EuropeFacebook.com/CouncilOfEuropePublications

Citation reference: Council of Europe (2020), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment – Companion volume, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at www.coe.int/lang-cefr.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface with acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. Summary of changes to the illustrative descriptors

Chapter 2: Key aspects of the CEFR for teaching and learning

2.1. Aims of the CEFR

2.2. Implementing the action-oriented approach

2.3. Plurilingual and pluricultural competence

2.4. The CEFR descriptive scheme

2.5. Mediation

2.6. The CEFR Common Reference Levels

2.7. CEFR profiles

2.8. The CEFR illustrative descriptors

2.9. Using the CEFR illustrative descriptors

2.10. Some useful resources for CEFR implementation

2.10.1. Web resources

2.10.2. Books

Chapter 3: The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales: communicative language activities and strategies

3.1. Reception

3.1.1. Reception activities

3.1.1.1. Oral comprehension

Overall oral comprehension

Understanding conversation between other people

Understanding as a member of a live audience

Understanding announcements and instructions

Understanding audio (or signed) media and recordings

3.1.1.2. Audio-visual comprehension

Watching TV, film and video

3.1.1.3. Reading comprehension

Overall reading comprehension

Reading correspondence

Reading for orientation

Reading for information and argument

Reading instructions

Reading as a leisure activity

3.1.2. Reception strategies

Identifying cues and inferring (spoken, signed and written)

3.2. Production

3.2.1. Production activities

3.2.1.1. Oral production

Overall oral production

Sustained monologue: describing experience

Sustained monologue: giving information

Sustained monologue: putting a case (e.g. in a debate)

Public announcements

Addressing audiences

3.2.1.2. Written production

Overall written production

Creative writing

Reports and essays

3.2.2. Production strategies

Planning

Compensating

Monitoring and repair

3.3. Interaction

3.3.1. Interaction activities

3.3.1.1. Oral interaction

Overall oral interaction

Understanding an interlocutor

Conversation

Informal discussion (with friends)

Formal discussion (meetings)

Goal-oriented co-operation

Obtaining goods and services

Information exchange

Interviewing and being interviewed

Using telecommunications

3.3.1.2. Written interaction

Overall written interaction

Correspondence

Notes, messages and forms

3.3.1.3. Online interaction

Online conversation and discussion

Goal-oriented online transactions and collaboration

3.3.2. Interaction strategies

Turntaking

Co-operating

Asking for clarification

3.4. Mediation

3.4.1. Mediation activities

Overall mediation

3.4.1.1. Mediating a text

Relaying specific information

Explaining data

Processing text

Translating a written text

Note-taking (lectures, seminars, meetings, etc.)

Expressing a personal response to creative texts (including literature)

Analysis and criticism of creative texts (including literature)

3.4.1.2. Mediating concepts

Facilitating collaborative interaction with peers

Collaborating to construct meaning

Managing interaction

Encouraging conceptual talk

3.4.1.3. Mediating communication

Facilitating pluricultural space

Acting as an intermediary in informal situations (with friends and colleagues)

Facilitating communication in delicate situations and disagreements

3.4.2. Mediation strategies

3.4.2.1. Strategies to explain a new concept

Linking to previous knowledge

Adapting language

Breaking down complicated information

3.4.2.2. Strategies to simplify a text

Amplifying a dense text

Streamlining a text

Chapter 4: The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales: plurilingual and pluricultural competence

Building on pluricultural repertoire

Plurilingual comprehension

Building on plurilingual repertoire

Chapter 5: The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales: Communicative language competences

5.1. Linguistic competence

General linguistic range

Vocabulary range

Grammatical accuracy

Vocabulary control

Phonological control

Orthographic control

5.2. Sociolinguistic competence

Sociolinguistic appropriateness

5.3. Pragmatic competence

Flexibility

Turntaking

Thematic development

Coherence and cohesion

Propositional precision

Fluency

Chapter 6: The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales: Signing competences

6.1. Linguistic competence

Sign language repertoire

Diagrammatical accuracy

6.2. Sociolinguistic competence

Sociolinguistic appropriateness and cultural repertoire

6.3. Pragmatic competence

Sign text structure

Setting and perspectives

Language awareness and interpretation

Presence and effect

Processing speed

Signing fluency

Appendices

Appendix 1: Salient features of the CEFR levels

Appendix 2: Self-assessment grid (expanded with online interaction and mediation)

Appendix 3: Qualitative features of spoken language (expanded with phonology)

Appendix 4: Written assessment grid

Appendix 5: Examples of use in different domains for descriptors of online interaction and mediation activities

Appendix 6: Development and validation of the extended illustrative descriptors

Appendix 7: Substantive changes to specific descriptors published in 2001

Appendix 8: Supplementary descriptors

Appendix 9: Sources for new descriptors

Appendix 10: Online resources

List of tables and figures

List of figures

Figure 1 – The structure of the CEFR descriptive scheme

Figure 2 – The relationship between reception, production, interaction and mediation

Figure 3 – CEFR Common Reference Levels

Figure 4 – A rainbow

Figure 5 – The conventional six colours

Figure 6 – A fictional profile of needs in an additional language – lower secondary CLIL

Figure 7 – A profile of needs in an additional language – postgraduate natural sciences (fictional)

Figure 8 – A plurilingual proficiency profile with fewer categories

Figure 9 – A proficiency profile – overall proficiency in one language

Figure 10 – A plurilingual proficiency profile – Oral comprehension across languages

Figure 11 – Reception activities and strategies

Figure 12 – Production activities and strategies

Figure 13 – Interaction activities and strategies

Figure 14 – Mediation activities and strategies

Figure 15 – Plurilingual and pluricultural competence

Figure 16 – Communicative language competences

Figure 17 – Signing competences

Figure 18 – Development design of Young Learner Project

Figure 19 – Multimethod developmental research design

Figure 20 – The phases of the sign language project

List of tables

Table 1 – The CEFR descriptive scheme and illustrative descriptors: updates and additions

Table 2 – Summary of changes to the illustrative descriptors

Table 3 – Macro-functional basis of CEFR categories for communicative language activities

Table 4 – Communicative language strategies in the CEFR

Table 5 – The different purposes of descriptors

Foreword

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment(CEFR)1 is one of the best-known and most used Council of Europe policy instruments. Through the European Cultural Convention 50 European countries commit to encouraging “the study by its own nationals of the languages, history and civilisation” of other European countries. The CEFR has played and continues to play an important role in making this vision of Europe a reality.

Since its launch in 2001, the CEFR, together with its related instrument for learners, the European Language Portfolio (ELP),2 has been a central feature of the Council of Europe’s intergovernmental programmes in the field of education, including their initiatives to promote the right to quality education for all. Language education contributes to Council of Europe’s core mission “to achieve a greater unity between its members” and is fundamental to the effective enjoyment of the right to education and other individual human rights and the rights of minorities as well as, more broadly, to developing and maintaining a culture of democracy.

The CEFR is intended to promote quality plurilingual education, facilitate greater social mobility and stimulate reflection and exchange between language professionals for curriculum development and in teacher education. Furthermore the CEFR provides a metalanguage for discussing the complexity of language proficiency for all citizens in a multilingual and intercultural Europe, and for education policy makers to reflect on learning objectives and outcomes that should be coherent and transparent. It has never been the intention that the CEFR should be used to justify a gate-keeping function of assessment instruments.

The Council of Europe hopes that the development in this publication of areas such as mediation, plurilingual/pluricultural competence and signing competences will contribute to quality inclusive education for all, and to the promotion of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism.

Snežana Samardžić-Marković

Council of Europe

Director General for Democracy

1. www.coe.int/lang-cefr.

2. www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio.

Preface with acknowledgements

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) was published in 2001 (the European Year of Languages) after a comprehensive process of drafting, piloting and consultation. The CEFR has contributed to the implementation of the Council of Europe’s language education principles, including the promotion of reflective learning and learner autonomy.

A comprehensive set of resources has been developed around the CEFR since its publication in order to support implementation and, like the CEFR itself, these resources are presented on the Council of Europe’s CEFR website.3 Building on the success of the CEFR and other projects a number of policy documents and resources that further develop the underlying educational principles and objectives of the CEFR are also available, not only for foreign/second languages but also for the languages of schooling and the development of curricula to promote plurilingual and intercultural education. Many of these are available on the Platform of resources and references for plurilingual and intercultural education,4 for example:

►Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education;5

►A handbook for curriculum development and teacher education: the language dimension in all subjects;6

►“From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education: guide for the development of language education policies in Europe”;7

Others are available separately:

►policy guidelines and resources for the linguistic integration of adult migrants;8

►guidelines for intercultural education and an autobiography of intercultural encounters;9

►Reference framework of competences for democratic culture.10

However, regardless of all this further material provided, the Council of Europe frequently received requests to continue to develop aspects of the CEFR, particularly the illustrative descriptors of second/foreign language proficiency. Requests were made asking the Council of Europe to complement the illustrative scales published in 2001 with descriptors for mediation, reactions to literature and online interaction, to produce versions for young learners and for signing competences, and to develop more detailed coverage in the descriptors for A1 and C levels.

Much work done by other institutions and professional bodies since the publication of the CEFR has confirmed the validity of the initial research conducted under a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) research project by Brian North and Günther Schneider. To respond to the requests received and in keeping with the open, dynamic character of the CEFR, the Education Policy Division (Language Policy Programme) therefore resolved to build on the widespread adoption and use of the CEFR to produce an extended version of the illustrative descriptors that replaces the ones contained in the body of the CEFR 2001 text. For this purpose, validated and calibrated descriptors were generously offered to the Council of Europe by a number of institutions in the field of language education.

For mediation, an important concept introduced in the CEFR that has assumed even greater importance with the increasing linguistic and cultural diversity of our societies, however, no validated and calibrated descriptors existed. The development of descriptors for mediation was, therefore, the longest and most complex part of the project. Descriptor scales are here provided for mediating a text, for mediating concepts and for mediating communication, as well as for the related mediation strategies and plurilingual/pluricultural competences.

As part of the process of further developing the descriptors, an effort was made to make them modality-inclusive. The adaptation of the descriptors in this way is informed by the ECML’s pioneering PRO-Sign project. In addition, illustrative descriptor scales specifically for signing competences are provided, again informed by SNSF research project No. 100015_156592.

First published online in 2018 as the “CEFR Companion Volume with New Descriptors”, this update to the CEFR therefore represents another step in a process that has been pursued by the Council of Europe since 1964. In particular, the descriptors for new areas represent an enrichment of the original descriptive apparatus. Those responsible for curriculum planning for foreign languages and languages of schooling will find further guidance on promoting plurilingual and intercultural education in the guides mentioned above. In addition to the extended illustrative descriptors, this publication contains a user-friendly explanation of the aims and main principles of the CEFR, which the Council of Europe hopes will help increase awareness of the CEFR’s messages, particularly in teacher education. For ease of consultation, this publication contains links and references to the 2001 edition, which remains a valid reference for its detailed chapters.

The fact that this edition of the CEFR descriptors takes them beyond the area of modern language learning to encompass aspects relevant to language education across the curriculum was overwhelmingly welcomed in the extensive consultation process undertaken in 2016-17. This reflects the increasing awareness of the need for an integrated approach to language education across the curriculum. Language teaching practitioners particularly welcomed descriptors concerned with online interaction, collaborative learning and mediating text. The consultation also confirmed the importance that policy makers attach to the provision of descriptors for plurilingualism/pluriculturalism. This is reflected in the Council of Europe’s recent initiative to develop competences for democratic culture,11 such as valuing cultural diversity and openness to cultural otherness and to other beliefs, worldviews and practices.

This publication owes much to the contributions of members of the language teaching profession across Europe and beyond. It was authored by Brian North, Tim Goodier (Eurocentres Foundation) and Enrica Piccardo (University of Toronto/Université Grenoble-Alpes). The chapter on signing competences was produced by Jörg Keller (Zurich University of Applied Sciences).

Publication has been assisted by a project follow-up advisory group consisting of: Marisa Cavalli, Mirjam Egli Cuenat, Neus Figueras Casanovas, Francis Goullier, David Little, Günther Schneider and Joseph Sheils.

In order to ensure complete coherence and continuity with the CEFR scales published in 2001, the Council of Europe asked the Eurocentres Foundation to once again take on responsibility for co-ordinating the further development of the CEFR descriptors, with Brian North co-ordinating the work. The Council of Europe wishes to express its gratitude to Eurocentres for the professionalism and reliability with which the work has been carried out.

The entire process of updating and extending the illustrative descriptors took place in five stages or sub-projects:

Stage 1: Filling gaps in the illustrative descriptor scales published in 2001with materials then available (2014-15)

Authoring Group: Brian North, Tunde Szabo, Tim Goodier (Eurocentres Foundation)

Sounding Board: Gilles Breton, Hanan Khalifa, Christine Tagliante, Sauli Takala

Consultants: Coreen Docherty, Daniela Fasoglio, Neil Jones, Peter Lenz, David Little, Enrica Piccardo, Günther Schneider, Barbara Spinelli, Maria Stathopoulou, Bertrand Vittecoq

Stage 2: Developing descriptor scales for areas missing in the 2001 set, in particular for mediation (2014-16)

Authoring Group: Brian North, Tim Goodier, Enrica Piccardo, Maria Stathopoulou

Sounding Board: Gilles Breton, Coreen Docherty, Hanan Khalifa, Ángeles Ortega, Christine Tagliante, Sauli Takala

Consultants (at meetings in June 2014, June 2015 and/or June 2016): Marisa Cavalli, Daniel Coste, Mirjam Egli Ceunat, Gudrun Erickson, Daniela Fasoglio, Vincent Folny, Manuela Ferreira Pinto, Glyn Jones, Neil Jones, Peter Lenz, David Little, Gerda Piribauer, Günther Schneider, Joseph Sheils, Belinda Steinhuber, Barbara Spinelli, Bertrand Vittecoq

Consultants (at a meeting in June 2016 only): Sarah Breslin, Mike Byram, Michel Candelier, Neus Figueras Casanovas, Francis Goullier, Hanna Komorowska, Terry Lamb, Nick Saville, Maria Stoicheva, Luca Tomasi

Stage 3: Developing a new scale for phonological control (2015-16)

Authoring Group: Enrica Piccardo, Tim Goodier

Sounding Board: Brian North, Coreen Docherty

Consultants: Sophie Deabreu, Dan Frost, David Horner, Thalia Isaacs, Murray Munro

Stage 4: Developing descriptors for signing competences (2015-19)

Authoring Group: Jörg Keller, Petrea Bürgin, Aline Meili, Dawei Ni

Sounding Board: Brian North, Curtis Gautschi, Jean-Louis Brugeille, Kristin Snoddon

Consultants: Patty Shores, Tobias Haug, Lorraine Leeson, Christian Rathmann, Beppie van den Bogaerde

Stage 5: Collating descriptors for young learners (2014-16)

Authoring Group: Tunde Szabo (Eurocentres Foundation)

Sounding Board: Coreen Docherty, Tim Goodier, Brian North

Consultants: Angela Hasselgreen, Eli Moe

The Council of Europe wishes to thank the following institutions and projects for kindly making their validated descriptors available:

►ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe)

Can do statements

►AMKKIA project (Finland)

Descriptors for grammar and vocabulary

►Cambridge Assessment English

BULATS Summary of Typical Candidate Abilities

Common Scales for Speaking and for Writing

Assessment Scales for Speaking and for Writing

►CEFR-J project

Descriptors for secondary school learners

►Eaquals

Eaquals bank of CEFR-related descriptors

►English Profile

Descriptors for the C level

►Lingualevel/IEF (Swiss) project

Descriptors for secondary school learners

►Pearson Education

Global Scale of English (GSE)

The Council of Europe would also like to thank:

Pearson Education for kindly validating some 50 descriptors that were included from non-calibrated sources, principally from the Eaquals’ bank and the late John Trim’s translation of descriptors for the C levels in Profile Deutsch.

The Research Centre for Language Teaching, Testing and Assessment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (RCeL) for making available descriptors from the Greek Integrated Foreign Languages Curriculum.

Cambridge Assessment English, in particular Coreen Docherty, for the logistical support offered over a period of six months to the project, without which large-scale data collection and analysis would not have been feasible. The Council of Europe also wishes to gratefully acknowledge the support from the institutions listed at the end of this section, who took part in the three phases of validation for the new descriptors, especially all those who also assisted with piloting them.

Cambridge Assessment English and the European Language Portfolio authors for making their descriptors available for the collation of descriptors for young learners.

The Swiss National Science Foundation and the Max Bircher Stiftung for funding the research and development of the descriptors for signing competences.12

The PRO-Sign project team (European Centre for Modern Languages, ECML) for their assistance in finalising the descriptors for signing competences and in adapting the other descriptors for modality inclusiveness.13

The Department of Deaf Studies and Sign Language Interpreting at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for undertaking the translation of the whole document, including all the illustrative descriptors, into International Sign.

The following readers, whose comments on an early version of the text on key aspects of the CEFR for learning, teaching and assessment greatly helped to structure it appropriately for readers with different degrees of familiarity with the CEFR: Sezen Arslan, Danielle Freitas, Angelica Galante, İsmail Hakkı Mirici, Nurdan Kavalki, Jean-Claude Lasnier, Laura Muresan, Funda Ölmez.

Organisations, in alphabetical order, that facilitated the recruitment of institutes for the validation of the descriptors for mediation, online interaction, reactions to literature and plurilingual/pluricultural competence:

►Cambridge Assessment English

►CERCLES: European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education

►CIEP: Centre international d’études pédagogiques

►EALTA: European Association for Language Testing and Assessment

►Eaquals: Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services

►FIPLV: International Federation of Language Teaching Associations

►Instituto Cervantes

►NILE (Norwich Institute for Language Education)

►UNIcert

Institutes (organised in alphabetical order by country) that participated between February and November 2015 in the validation of the descriptors for mediation, online interaction, reactions to literature and plurilingual/pluricultural competence, and/or assisted in initial piloting. The Council of Europe also wishes to thank the many individual participants, all of whose institutes could not be included here.

Algeria

Institut Français d’Alger

Argentina

Academia Argüello, Córdoba

St Patrick’s School, Córdoba

La Asociación de Ex Alumnos del Profesorado en Lenguas Vivas Juan R. Fernández

Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata

National University of Córdoba

Austria

BBS (Berufsbildende Schule), Rohrbach

Institut Français d’Autriche-Vienne

BG/BRG (Bundesgymnasium/Bundesrealgymnasium), Hallein

International Language Centre of the University of Innsbruck

CEBS (Center für berufsbezogene Sprachen des bmbf), Vienna

LTRGI (Language Testing Research Group Innsbruck), School of Education, University of Innsbruck

Federal Institute for Education Research (BIFIE), Vienna

Language Centre of the University of Salzburg

HBLW Linz-Landwiedstraße

Pädagogische Hochschule Niederösterreich

HLW (Höhere Lehranstalt für wirtschaftliche Berufe) Ferrarischule, Innsbruck

Bolivia

Alliance Française de La Paz

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Anglia V Language School, Bijeljina

Institut Français de Bosnie-Herzégovine

Brazil

Alliance Française

Instituto Cervantes do Recife

Alliance Française de Curitiba

Bulgaria

AVO Language and Examination Centre, Sofia

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Cameroon

Alliance Française de Bamenda

Institut Français du Cameroun, Yaoundé

Canada

OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), University of Toronto

Chile

Alliance Française de La Serena

China

Alliance Française de Chine

Heilongjiang University

China Language Assessment, Beijing Foreign Studies University

The Language Training and Testing Center, Taipei

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, School of Interpreting and Translation Studies

Tianjin Nankai University

Colombia

Alliance Française de Bogota

Universidad Surcolombiana

Croatia

University of Split

X. Gimnazija “Ivan Supek”

Croatian Defence Academy, Zagreb

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports

Cyprus

Cyprus University of Technology

University of Cyprus

Czech Republic

Charles University, Prague (Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies)

National Institute of Education

Masaryk University Language Centre, Brno

University of South Bohemia

Egypt

Institut Français d’Egypt

Instituto Cervantes de El Cairo

Estonia

Foundation Innove, Tallinn

Finland

Aalto University

Tampere University of Applied Sciences

Häme University of Applied Sciences

Turku University

Language Centre, University of Tampere

University of Eastern Finland

Matriculation Examination Board

University of Helsinki Language Centre

National Board of Education

University of Jyväskylä

France

Alliance Française

Crea-langues, France

Alliance Française de Nice

Eurocentres Paris

Alliance française Paris Ile-de-France

France Langue

British Council, Lyon

French in Normandy

CAVILAM (Centre d’Approches Vivantes des Langues et des Médias) – Alliance Française

ILCF (Institut de Langue et de Culture Françaises), Lyon

CIDEF (Centre international d’études françaises), Université catholique de l’Ouest

INFREP (Institute National Formation Recherche Education Permanente)

CIEP (Centre international d’études pédagogiques)

International House Nice

CLV (Centre de langues vivantes), Université Grenoble-Alpes

ISEFE (Institut Savoisien d’Études Françaises pour Étrangers)

Collège International de Cannes

Université de Franche-Comté

Germany

Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Englisch an Gesamtschulen

Technische Hochschule Wildau

elc-European Language Competence, Frankfurt

Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig (Sprachenzentrum)

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Technische Universität Darmstadt

Fremdsprachenzentrum der Hochschulen im Land Bremen, Bremen University

Technische Universität München (Sprachenzentrum)

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Zentrale Einrichtung für Sprachen und Schlüsselqualifikationen)

telc gGmbH Frankfurt

Goethe-Institut München

Universität Freiburg (Sprachlehrinstitut)

Institut français d’Allemagne

Universität Hohenheim (Sprachenzentrum)

Language Centre, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences (HNU)

Universität Leipzig (Sprachenzentrum)

Instituto Cervantes de Munich

Universität Passau (Sprachenzentrum)

Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Universität Regensburg (Zentrum für Sprache und Kommunikation)

Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen (Zentrum für fremdsprachliche und berufsfeldorientierte Kompetenzen)

Universität Rostock (Sprachenzentrum)

Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg

Universität des Saarlandes (Sprachenzentrum)

Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe

University Language Centers in Berlin and Brandenburg

Ruhr-Universität Bochum, ZFA (Zentrum für Fremdsprachenausbildung )

VHS Siegburg

Sprachenzentrum, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Greece

Bourtsoukli Language Centre

RCeL: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Hellenic American University in Athens

Vagionia Junior High School, Crete

Hungary

ELTE ONYC

ECL Examinations, University of Pécs

Eötvös Lorand University

Tanárok Európai Egyyesülete, AEDE

Euroexam

University of Debrecen

Budapest Business School

University of Pannonia

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

India

ELT Consultants

Fluency Center, Coimbatore

Ireland

Alpha College, Dublin

NUI Galway

Galway Cultural Institute

Trinity College Dublin

Italy

Accento, Martina Franca, Apulia

International House, Palermo

AISLi (Associazione Italiana Scuola di Lingue)

Istituto Comprensivo di Campli

Alliance Française

Istituto Monti, Asti

Bennett Languages, Civitavecchia

Liceo Scientifico “Giorgio Spezia”, Domodossola

British School of Trieste

Padova University Language Centre

British School of Udine

Pisa University Language Centre

Centro Lingue Estere Arma dei Carabinieri

Servizio Linguistico di Ateneo, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano

Centro Linguistio di Ateneo – Università di Bologna

Università degli Studi Roma Tre

Centro Linguistico di Ateneo di Trieste

Università degli Studi di Napoli “Parthenope”/I.C. “Nino Cortese”, Casoria, Naples

CVCL (Centro per la Valutazione e le Certificazioni linguistiche) – Università per Stranieri di Perugia

Università degli Studi di Parma

Free University of Bolzano, Language Study Unit

University of Bologna

Globally Speaking, Rome

Centro Linguistico di Ateneo, Università della Calabria

Institut Français de Milan

University of Brescia

Institute for Educational Research/LUMSA University, Rome

Università per Stranieri di Siena

Japan

Alliance Française du Japon

Japan School of Foreign Studies, Osaka University

Institut Français du Japon

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan

Latvia

Baltic International Academy, Department of Translation and Interpreting

University of Latvia

Lebanon

Institut Français du Liban

Lithuania

Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences

Vilnius University

Ministry of Education and Science

Luxembourg

Ministry of Education, Children and Youth

University of Luxembourg

Mexico

University of Guadalajara

Morocco

Institut Français de Maroc

Netherlands

Institut Français des Pays-Bas

SLO (Netherlands Institute for curriculum development)

Cito

University of Groningen, Language Centre

New Zealand

LSI (Language Studies International)

Worldwide School of English

North Macedonia

AAB University

Language Center, South East European University

Elokventa Language Centre

MAQS (Macedonian Association for Quality Language Services), Queen Language School

Norway

Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo

Vox – Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning

University of Bergen

Peru

Alliance Française au Peru

USIL (Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola)

Poland

British Council, Warsaw

Jagiellonian Language Center, Jagiellonian University, Kraków

Educational Research Institute, Warsaw

LANG LTC Teacher Training Centre, Warsaw

Gama College, Kraków

Poznan University of Technology, Poland

Instituto Cervantes, Kraków

SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland

Portugal

British Council, Lisbon

IPG (Instituto Politécnico da Guarda)

Camões, Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua

ISCAP – Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto, Instituto Politécnico do Porto

FCSH, NOVA University of Lisbon

University of Aveiro

Romania

ASE (Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti)

Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti

Institut Français de Roumanie

Universitatea Aurel Vlaicu din Arad

LINGUA Language Centre of Babeș-Bolyai, University Cluj-Napoca

Russia

Globus International Language Centres

Nizhny Novgorod Linguistics University

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Samara State University

MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations)

St Petersburg State University

National Research University Higher Schools of Economics, Moscow

Saudi Arabia

ELC (English Language Center ), Taibah University, Madinah

National Center for Assessment in Higher Education, Riyadh

Senegal

Institut Français de Dakar

Serbia

Centre Jules Verne

University of Belgrade

Institut Français de Belgrade

Slovakia

Trnava University

Slovenia

Državni izpitni center

Spain

Alliance Française en Espagne

EOI de Villanueva-Don Benito, Extremadura

British Council, Madrid

ILM (Instituto de Lenguas Modernas), Caceres

British Institute of Seville

Institut Français d’Espagne

Centro de Lenguas, Universitat Politècnica de València

Instituto Britanico de Sevilla S.A.

Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Andalucía

Instituto de Lenguas Modernas de la Universidad de Extremadura

Departament d’Ensenyament- Generalitat de Catalunya

Lacunza International House, San Sebastián

EOI de Albacete

Net Languages, Barcelona

EOI de Badajoz, Extremadura

Universidad Antonio de Nebrija

EOI de Catalunya

Universidad Europea de Madrid

EOI de Granada

Universidad Internacional de La Rioja

EOI de La Coruña, Galicia

Universidad Católica de València

EOI de Málaga, Málaga

Universidad de Cantabria

EOI de Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Universidad de Jaén

EOI de Santander

Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla

EOI de Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

Universidad Ramon Llull, Barcelona

EOI (Escola Oficial de Idiomas) de Vigo

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Sweden

Instituto Cervantes Stockholm

University of Gothenburg

Switzerland

Bell Switzerland

UNIL (Université de Lausanne), EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)

Eurocentres Lausanne

Universität Fribourg

Sprachenzentrum der Universität Basel

ZHAW (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften), Winterthu

TLC (The Language Company) Internationa House Zurich-Baden

Thailand

Alliance Française Bangkok

Turkey

Çağ University, Mersin

ID Bilkent University, Ankara

Ege University

Middle East Technical University, Ankara

Hacettepe University, Ankara

Sabancı University, Istanbul

Uganda

Alliance Française de Kampala

Ukraine

Institute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Sumy State University, Institute for Business Technologies

Odessa National Mechnikov University

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

United Arab Emirates

Higher Colleges of Technology

United Kingdom

Anglia Examinations, Chichester College

Pearson Education

Cambridge Assessment English

School of Modern Languages and Culture, University of Warwick

Eurocentres, Bournemouth

Southampton Solent University, School of Business and Law

Eurocentres, Brighton

St Giles International London Central

Eurocentres, London

Trinity College London

Experience English

University of Exeter

Instituto Cervantes de Mánchester

University of Hull

International Study and Language Institute, University of Reading

University of Liverpool

Kaplan International College, London

University of Westminster

NILE (Norwich Institute for Language Education)

Westminster Professional Language Centre

United States of America

Alliance Française de Porto Rico

ETS (Educational Testing Service)

Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments

Purdue University

Columbia University, New York

University of Michigan

Eastern Michigan University

Uruguay

Centro Educativo Rowan, Montevideo

3. www.coe.int/lang-cefr.

4. www.coe.int/lang-platform.

5. Beacco J.-C. et al. (2016a), Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at https://rm.coe.int/16806ae621.

6. Beacco J.-C. et al. (2016b), A handbook for curriculum development and teacher education: the language dimension in all subjects, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at https://rm.coe.int/16806af387.

7. Beacco J.-C. and Byram M. (2007), “From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education: guide for the development of language education policies in Europe”, Language Policy Division, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, available athttps://rm.coe.int/16802fc1c4.

8. www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/officials-texts-and-guidelines.

9. www.coe.int/t/dg4/autobiography/default_en.asp.

10. Council of Europe (2018), Reference framework of competences for democratic culture, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at https://go.coe.int/mWYUH, accessed 6 March 2020.

11. https://go.coe.int/mWYUH

12. SNSF research project 100015_156592: Gemeinsamer Europäischer Referenzrahmen für Gebärdensprachen: Empirie-basierte Grundlagen für grammatische, pragmatische und soziolinguistische Deskriptoren in Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache, conducted at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW, Winterthur). The SNSF provided some €385 000 for this research into signing competences.

13. See www.ecml.at/ECML-Programme/Programme2012-2015/ProSign/tabid/1752/Default.aspx. Project team: Tobias Haug, Lorraine Leeson, Christian Rathmann, Beppie van den Bogaerde.

Chapter 2

Key aspects of the CEFR for teaching and learning

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) presents a comprehensive descriptive scheme of language proficiency and a set of Common Reference Levels (A1 to C2) defined in illustrative descriptor scales, plus options for curriculum design promoting plurilingual and intercultural education, further elaborated in the Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education (Beacco et al. 2016a).

One of the main principles of the CEFR is the promotion of the positive formulation of educational aims and outcomes at all levels. Its “can do” definition of aspects of proficiency provides a clear, shared roadmap for learning, and a far more nuanced instrument to gauge progress than an exclusive focus on scores in tests and examinations. This principle is based on the CEFR view of language as a vehicle for opportunity and success in social, educational and professional domains. This key feature contributes to the Council of Europe’s goal of quality inclusive education as a right of all citizens. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers recommends the “use of the CEFR as a tool for coherent, transparent and effective plurilingual education in such a way as to promote democratic citizenship, social cohesion and intercultural dialogue”.21

Background to the CEFR

The CEFR was developed as a continuation of the Council of Europe’s work in language education during the 1970s and 1980s. The CEFR “action-oriented approach” builds on and goes beyond the communicative approach proposed in the mid-1970s in the publication “The Threshold Level”, the first functional/notional specification of language needs.

The CEFR and the related European Language Portfolio (ELP) that accompanied it were recommended by an intergovernmental symposium held in Switzerland in 1991. As its subtitle suggests, the CEFR is concerned principally with learning and teaching. It aims to facilitate transparency and coherence between the curriculum, teaching and assessment within an institution and transparency and coherence between institutions, educational sectors, regions and countries.

The CEFR was piloted in provisional versions in 1996 and 1998 before being published in English (Cambridge University Press).

As well as being used as a reference tool by almost all member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union, the CEFR has also had – and continues to have – considerable influence beyond Europe. In fact, the CEFR is being used not only to provide transparency and clear reference points for assessment purposes but also, increasingly, to inform curriculum reform and pedagogy. This development reflects the forward-looking conceptual underpinning of the CEFR and has paved the way for a new phase of work around the CEFR, leading to the extension of the illustrative descriptors published in this edition. Before presenting the illustrative descriptors, however, a reminder of the purpose and nature of the CEFR is outlined. First, we consider the aims of the CEFR, its descriptive scheme and the action-oriented approach, then the Common Reference Levels and creation of profiles in relation to them, plus the illustrative descriptors themselves, and finally the concepts of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism and mediation that were introduced to language education by the CEFR.

2.1. Aims of the CEFR

The CEFR seeks to continue the impetus that Council of Europe projects have given to educational reform. The CEFR aims to help language professionals further improve the quality and effectiveness of language learning and teaching. The CEFR is not focused on assessment, as the word order in its subtitle – Learning, teaching, assessment – makes clear.

In addition to promoting the teaching and learning of languages as a means of communication, the CEFR brings a new, empowering vision of the learner. The CEFR presents the language user/learner as a “social agent”, acting in the social world and exerting agency in the learning process. This implies a real paradigm shift in both course planning and teaching by promoting learner engagement and autonomy.

The CEFR’s action-oriented approach represents a shift away from syllabuses based on a linear progression through language structures, or a pre-determined set of notions and functions, towards syllabuses based on needs analysis, oriented towards real-life tasks and constructed around purposefully selected notions and functions. This promotes a “proficiency” perspective guided by “can do” descriptors rather than a “deficiency” perspective focusing on what the learners have not yet acquired. The idea is to design curricula and courses based on real-world communicative needs, organised around real-life tasks and accompanied by “can do” descriptors that communicate aims to learners. Fundamentally, the CEFR is a tool to assist the planning of curricula, courses and examinations by working backwards from what the users/learners need to be able to do in the language. The provision of a comprehensive descriptive scheme containing illustrative “can do” descriptor scales for as many aspects of the scheme as proves feasible (CEFR 2001 Chapters 4 and 5), plus associated content specifications published separately for different languages (Reference Level Descriptions – RLDs)22 is intended to provide a basis for such planning.

Priorities of the CEFR

The provision of common reference points is subsidiary to the CEFR’s main aim of facilitating quality in language education and promoting a Europe of open-minded plurilingual citizens. This was clearly confirmed at the Intergovernmental Language Policy Forum that reviewed progress with the CEFR in 2007, as well as in several recommendations from the Committee of Ministers. This main focus is emphasised yet again in the Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education (Beacco et al. 2016a). However, the Language Policy Forum also underlined the need for responsible use of the CEFR levels and exploitation of the methodologies and resources provided for developing examinations, and then relating them to the CEFR.

As the subtitle “learning, teaching, assessment” makes clear, the CEFR is not just an assessment project. CEFR 2001 Chapter 9 outlines many different approaches to assessment, most of which are alternatives to standardised tests. It explains ways in which the CEFR in general, and its illustrative descriptors in particular, can be helpful to the teacher in the assessment process, but there is no focus on language testing and no mention at all of test items.

In general, the Language Policy Forum emphasised the need for international networking and exchange of expertise in relation to the CEFR through bodies such as the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) (www.alte.org), the European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) (www.ealta.eu.org) and Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services (Eaquals) (www.eaquals.org).

These aims were expressed in the CEFR 2001 as follows:

The stated aims of the CEFR are to:

►promote and facilitate co-operation among educational institutions in different countries;

►provide a sound basis for the mutual recognition of language qualifications;

►assist learners, teachers, course designers, examining bodies and educational administrators to situate and co-ordinate their efforts.

(CEFR 2001 Section 1.4)

To further promote and facilitate co-operation, the CEFR also provides Common Reference Levels A1 to C2, defined by the illustrative descriptors. The Common Reference Levels were introduced in CEFR 2001 Chapter 3 and used for the descriptor scales distributed throughout CEFR 2001 Chapters 4 and 5. The provision of a common descriptive scheme, Common Reference Levels, and illustrative descriptors defining aspects of the scheme at the different levels, is intended to provide a common metalanguage for the language education profession in order to facilitate communication, networking, mobility and the recognition of courses taken and examinations passed. In relation to examinations, the Council of Europe’s Language Policy Division has published a manual for relating language examinations to the CEFR,23 now accompanied by a toolkit of accompanying material and a volume of case studies published by Cambridge University Press, together with a manual for language test development and examining.24 The Council of Europe’s ECML has also produced Relating language examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) – Highlights from the Manual25and provides capacity building to member states through its RELANG initiative.26

However, it is important to underline once again that the CEFR is a tool to facilitate educational reform projects, not a standardisation tool. Equally, there is no body monitoring or even co-ordinating its use. The CEFR itself states right at the very beginning:

One thing should be made clear right away. We have NOT set out to tell practitioners what to do, or how to do it. We are raising questions, not answering them. It is not the function of the Common European Framework to lay down the objectives that users should pursue or the methods they should employ. (CEFR 2001, Notes to the User)

2.2. Implementing the action-oriented approach

The CEFR sets out to be comprehensive, in the sense that it is possible to find the main approaches to language education in it, and neutral, in the sense that it raises questions rather than answering them and does not prescribe any particular pedagogic approach. There is, for example, no suggestion that one should stop teaching grammar or literature. There is no “right answer” given to the question of how best to assess a learner’s progress. Nevertheless, the CEFR takes an innovative stance in seeing learners as language users and social agents, and thus seeing language as a vehicle for communication rather than as a subject to study. In so doing, it proposes an analysis of learners’ needs and the use of “can do” descriptors and communicative tasks, on which there is a whole chapter: CEFR 2001 Chapter 7.

The methodological message of the CEFR is that language learning should be directed towards enabling learners to act in real-life situations, expressing themselves and accomplishing tasks of different natures. Thus, the criterion suggested for assessment is communicative ability in real life, in relation to a continuum of ability (Levels A1-C2). This is the original and fundamental meaning of “criterion” in the expression “criterion-referenced assessment”. Descriptors from CEFR 2001 Chapters 4 and 5 provide a basis for the transparent definition of curriculum aims and of standards and criteria for assessment, with Chapter 4 focusing on activities (“the what”) and Chapter 5 focusing on competences (“the how”). This is not educationally neutral. It implies that the teaching and learning process is driven by action, that it is action-oriented. It also clearly suggests planning backwards from learners’ real-life communicative needs, with consequent alignment between curriculum, teaching and assessment.

A reminder of CEFR 2001 chapters

Chapter 1: The Common European Framework in its political and educational context

Chapter 2: Approach adopted

Chapter 3: Common Reference Levels

Chapter 4: Language use and the language user/learner

Chapter 5: The user/learner’s competences

Chapter 6: Language learning and teaching

Chapter 7: Tasks and their role in language teaching

Chapter 8: Linguistic diversification and the curriculum

Chapter 9: Assessment

At the classroom level, there are several implications of implementing the action-oriented approach. Seeing learners as social agents implies involving them in the learning process, possibly with descriptors as a means of communication. It also implies recognising the social nature of language learning and language use, namely the interaction between the social and the individual in the process of learning. Seeing learners as language users implies extensive use of the target language in the classroom – learning to use the language rather than just learning about the language (as a subject). Seeing learners as plurilingual, pluricultural beings means allowing them to use all their linguistic resources when necessary, encouraging them to see similarities and regularities as well as differences between languages and cultures. Above all, the action-oriented approach implies purposeful, collaborative tasks in the classroom, the primary focus of which is not language. If the primary focus of a task is not language, then there must be some other product or outcome (such as planning an outing, making a poster, creating a blog, designing a festival or choosing a candidate). Descriptors can be used to help design such tasks and also to observe and, if desired, to (self-)assess the language use of learners during the task.

Both the CEFR descriptive scheme and the action-oriented approach put the co-construction of meaning (through interaction) at the centre of the learning and teaching process. This has clear implications for the classroom. At times, this interaction will be between teacher and learner(s), but at times, it will be of a collaborative nature, between learners themselves. The precise balance between teacher-centred instruction and such collaborative interaction between learners in small groups is likely to reflect the context, the pedagogic tradition in that context and the proficiency level of the learners concerned. In the reality of today’s increasingly diverse societies, the construction of meaning may take place across languages and draw upon user/learners’ plurilingual and pluricultural repertoires.

2.3. Plurilingual and pluricultural competence

The CEFR distinguishes between multilingualism (the coexistence of different languages at the social or individual level) and plurilingualism (the dynamic and developing linguistic repertoire of an individual user/learner). Plurilingualism is presented in the CEFR as an uneven and changing competence, in which the user/learner’s resources in one language or variety may be very different in nature from their resources in another. However, the fundamental point is that plurilinguals have a single, interrelated, repertoire that they combine with their general competences and various strategies in order to accomplish tasks (CEFR 2001 Section 6.1.3.2).

Plurilingual competence as explained in the CEFR 2001 Section 1.3 involves the ability to call flexibly upon an interrelated, uneven, plurilinguistic repertoire to:

►switch from one language or dialect (or variety) to another;

►express oneself in one language (or dialect, or variety) and understand a person speaking another;

►call upon the knowledge of a number of languages (or dialects, or varieties) to make sense of a text;

►recognise words from a common international store in a new guise;

►mediate between individuals with no common language (or dialect, or variety), even if possessing only a slight knowledge oneself;

►bring the whole of one’s linguistic equipment into play, experimenting with alternative forms of expression;

►exploit paralinguistics (mime, gesture, facial expression, etc.).

The linked concepts of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism and partial competences were introduced to language education for the first time in the second provisional version of the CEFR in 1996.

They were developed as a form of dynamic, creative process of “languaging” across the boundaries of language varieties, as a methodology and as language policy aims. The background to this development was a series of studies in bilingualism in the early 1990s at the research centre CREDIF (Centre de recherche et d’étude pour la diffusion du français) in Paris.

The curriculum examples given in CEFR 2001 Chapter 8 consciously promoted the concepts of plurilingual and pluricultural competence.

These two concepts appeared in a more elaborated form in 1997 in the paper “Plurilingual and pluricultural competence”.