Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

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The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,{{cite book |last1=Council of Europe |year=2001 |title=Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment|publisher=Council of Europe|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages}} abbreviated in English as CEFR, CEF, or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries. The CEFR is also intended to make it easier for educational institutions and employers to evaluate the language qualifications of candidates for education admission or employment. Its main aim is to provide a method of teaching, and assessing that applies to all languages in Europe.

The CEFR was established by the Council of Europe between 1986 and 1989 as part of the "Language Learning for European Citizenship" project. In November 2001, a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. The six reference levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) are becoming widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual's language proficiency.

As of 2024, "localized" versions of the CEFR exist in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and Canada. "CEFR is a suitable and credible benchmark for English standards in Malaysia." This is how, for example, the Malaysian government wrote about it.{{Cite web |date=May 27, 2019 |title=What The Cefr Is And Isn't |url=https://www.moe.gov.my/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924105057/https://www.moe.gov.my/en/menumedia/printed-media/newspaper-clippings/what-the-CEFR-is-and-isn-t-free-malaysia-today-27-mei-2019 |archive-date=September 24, 2020 |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Free Malaysia Today}}

Development

An intergovernmental symposium in 1991 titled "Transparency and Coherence in Language Learning in Europe: Objectives, Evaluation, Certification" held by the Swiss Federal Authorities in the Swiss municipality of Rüschlikon found the need for a common European framework for languages to improve the recognition of language qualifications and help teachers co-operate. A project followed to develop language-level classifications for certification to be recognised across Europe.{{sfn|Jean-Claude|2010|p=73}}

A preliminary version of the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was published in 2003. This draft version was piloted in a number of projects, which included linking a single test to the CEFR, linking suites of exams at different levels and national studies by exam boards and research institutes. Practitioners and academics shared their experiences at a colloquium in Cambridge in 2007 and the pilot case studies and findings were published in Studies in Language Testing (SiLT).{{Citation | title = Studies in Language Testing | volume = 33 | place = UK | type = book description | isbn=9780521176842 | last1 = Martyniuk | first1 = Waldemar | date = 11 November 2010 }}. The findings from the pilot projects then informed the Manual revision project from 2008 to 2009.

The Council of Europe's authoring team emphasized that the CEFR was not written primarily as a framework for assessment and test development."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." (Council of Europe 2020: 289). Similarly, linguists such as Alderson, Quetz and others criticized the lack of system in the descriptors and the context-free nature of these. Other critics invoked the danger of a rigid "pan-European" language testing system. Brian North, one of the authors of the CEFR team, addressed such criticisms in a Guardian article in 2004:

{{Blockquote|text=The Council of Europe (COE) fully respects the diversity of educational and assessment systems in its 45 member states. It does not and could not promote "a shared language testing system", as one misguided commentator was cited as claiming in Dr Fulcher's article.|title=The Guardian, 15 April 2004}}

Theoretical background

The CEFR divides general competences in knowledge, skills, and existential competence with particular communicative competences in linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence and pragmatic competence. This division does not exactly match previously well-known notions of communicative competence, but correspondences among them can be made.{{cite book |first1=Jimenez |last1=Carlos César |year=2011 |title=El Marco Europeo Común de Referencia para las Lenguas y la comprensión teórica del conocimiento del lenguaje: exploración de una normatividad flexible para emprender acciones educativas |type=Essay |publisher=Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |url=http://www.juegosdelenguaje.com/papers/mecrl.pdf |page=11 |access-date=30 July 2011 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805133204/http://www.juegosdelenguaje.com/papers/mecrl.pdf |url-status=usurped }}

The CEFR has three principal dimensions: language activities, the domains in which the language activities occur, and the competencies on which a person draws when they engage in them.{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/elp/elp-reg/cefr_EN.asp|title=The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR)|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=2015-09-18}}

= Language activities =

The CEFR distinguishes four kinds of language activities: reception (listening and reading), production (spoken and written), interaction (spoken and written) and mediation (translating and interpreting).

= Domains =

General and particular communicative competencies are developed by producing or receiving texts in various contexts under various conditions and constraints. These contexts correspond to various sectors of social life that the CEFR calls domains. Four broad domains are distinguished: educational, occupational, public and personal. These largely correspond to register.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

= Competencies =

A language user can develop various degrees of competence in each of these domains and to help describe them, the CEFR has provided a set of six Common Reference Levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Shannon |date=June 7, 2023 |title=CEFR Levels: What They Are and How to Test Yourself |url=https://www.fluentin3months.com/cefr-levels/#top |access-date=June 28, 2024 |website=Fluent in 3 Months}}

Common reference levels

The Common European Framework divides learners into three broad divisions that can each be further divided into two levels; for each level, it describes what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing. The following table indicates these levels.{{cite web|title=European language levels – Self Assessment Grid|url=https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/resources/european-language-levels-cefr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128100545/http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/resources/european-language-levels-cefr|archive-date=28 January 2017|url-status=live}} [https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/sites/default/files/cefr-en.pdf Also available as PDF.]

class="wikitable"
Level group ! Level ! Description
rowspan=2 \| A Basic user ! A1 Breakthrough \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce themselves to others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
A2 Waystage \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of their background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
rowspan=2 \| B Independent user ! B1 Threshold \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
B2 Vantage \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
rowspan=2 \| C Proficient user ! C1 Advanced \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses and recognise implicit meaning. Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
C2 Mastery \| style="vertical-align:top" \| Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.

class="wikitable"

Level group

! Level

! Description

rowspan=2 | A
Basic user

! A1
Breakthrough