The Common European

Framework of
Reference (CEFR) - 1

M.C. Rizzardi - Didattica della lingua inglese – October 9th, 2012

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 OVERVIEW
1. Council of Europe policy
2. The CEFR
3. The CEFR – aims and principles
4. The content of the CEFR
5. The CEFR’s Action-oriented approach
6. The common reference levels of second/foreign
language proficiency
7. What are the Common Reference Scales
8. Characteristics of good descriptors
 Council of Europe policy

• The Council of Europe was established to defend human

rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law
• In pursuit of that goal it promotes awareness of a European
identity that is based on shared values
• It also attaches great importance to language learning as a
means of
– preserving linguistic and cultural identity
– improving communication and mutual understanding
– combating intolerance and xenophobia

Curriculum Framework for Romani, Council of Europe, 31

May−1 June 2007
 Council of Europe policy

• The Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages (CEFR) was developed to support Council
of Europe policy by providing
“a common basis for the elaboration of language
syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks,
etc. across Europe” (CEFR, p.1)

Curriculum Framework for Romani, Council of Europe, 31 May−1

June 2007
 The Common European Framework
is published by Cambridge University Press

You can download it:

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Fra
mework_EN.pdf 5
 Council of Europe policy 1

• The Council of Europe was established to defend human

rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law
• In pursuit of that goal it promotes awareness of a European
identity that is based on shared values
• It also attaches great importance to language learning as a
means of
– preserving linguistic and cultural identity
– improving communication and mutual understanding
– combating intolerance and xenophobia

Curriculum Framework for Romani, Council of Europe, 31 May−1 June 2007

 Council of Europe policy 2

The Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages (CEFR) was developed to support Council of
Europe policy by providing

“a common basis for the elaboration of

language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines,
examinations, textbooks, etc. across
Europe” (CEFR, p.1)

Curriculum Framework for Romani, Council of Europe, 31 May−1 June 2007

 The CEFR - The result of 30 year’s work

• 1971 – “a unit-credit scheme for Europe”

– Functions and notions / Threshold levels / Needs
analyses / Learner autonomy / Communicative
methodology
• 1991 – “coherence and transparency in
language learning and teaching”
– A Common Framework of Reference / A European
Language Portfolio

Frank Heyworth 8
 The CEFR - Milestones
• 1997 – “Education for democratic citizenship”
– Declaration of language rights
– Promotion of labour mobility
– Adoption of first draft of Framework
– Pilot projects for European Language Portfolios

• 2000 – “Towards a plurilingual, pluricultural society”

– European Year of Languages 2001
– Launch of Portfolios and revised Framework
– A Guide for setting language policies

Frank Heyworth 9
 The CEFR – aims

• To make it easier for practitioners to tell each other

and their clientele what they wish to help learners to
achieve and how they attempt to do so.

• To reflect on what we can do to help ourselves and

other people to learn a language better

Frank Heyworth 10
 The CEFR - Principles

• It’s not prescriptive:

– “we do not set out to tell practitioners what to do, or how
to do it”
• It’s not neutral:
– The CEF “supports methods which help learners build up
attitudes, knowledge and skills they need to:
• Become more independent in thought and action
• Be more responsible and co-operative in relation to other people”

Frank Heyworth 11
The contents of the CEFR 1

A definition of communication
= reception / production / interaction / mediation

A strategic definition of communicative competence

= being able to carry out activities and processes for the
production and reception of texts
= being able to construct discourse to fulfil tasks in the
domain of social existence

Frank Heyworth 12
A definition of communication

What elements do we find in a

communicative context?

Context refers to the constellation of events

and situational factors (physical and others),
both internal and external to a person, in
which acts of communication are embedded.
(p. 9)

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A definition of
communication

Various elements work together to

achieve a desired outcome as
communication takes place.
What are these elements? Try to
describe the communication process
schematically.
 A definition of communication

Roman Osipovich Jakobson (Russian Рома́н О́сипович Якобсо́н)

(October 10, 1896, Moscow – July 18, 1982, Cambridge,
Massachusetts) was a Russian linguist and literary theorist.
 THE COMMUNICATIVE PROCESS

DOMAIN - SFERA D’AZIONE

CONTENT CODE
THEME
T T
A A
S S
K K

C SENDER LINGUISTIC-
MESSAGE RECEIVER C
O COMMUNICATIVE O
M ACTIVITY / TEXT
M
P P
I I
T T
O O

SPACE AND TIME CHANNEL

(COORDINATE / NOISE
SPAZIO-TEMPORALI)

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A strategic definition of communicative
competence
= being able to carry out activities and
processes for the production and reception of
texts
= being able to construct discourse to fulfil
tasks in the domain of social existence
A strategic definition of communicative competence

• When you think somebody can speak English,

what can this person do in / with English?

• What can you do in / with English now that

you could not do at the beginning of your
learning process?

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 The CEF
 describes in a comprehensive way what
language learners have to learn to do in
order to use a language for communication,
and what knowledge and skills they have to
develop so as to be able to act effectively.

 defines levels of proficiency which allow

learners’ progress to be measured at each
stage of learning, and on a life-long basis.
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 Proficiency defined by “can do” descriptors
• It is fundamental to the CEFR’s action-oriented approach that
we use language to do things
• Thus the successive proficiency levels are defined in terms of
what learners can do in the second/foreign language(s) they
know or are learning
• By defining proficiency levels for five different language
activities (listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken
production, writing) the CEFR allows us to take account of
partial competences and the fact that we are usually stronger
in reception than production

Curriculum Framework for

Romani, Council of Europe,
The Contents of the CEFR 2

Chapters
– Action Oriented Approach
– Common Reference Levels
– Language Use and the Language User / Learner
– The User / Learner’s Competences
– Language Learning and Teaching
– Tasks and their role in language teaching
– Language diversification and the curriculum
– Assessment

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Silsis MI - 7.9.07 Maria Cecilia
22
Rizzardi
Silsis MI - 7.9.07 Maria Cecilia
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Rizzardi
The Contents of the CEFR 3
The CEFR provides basic concepts for your
work by giving insights into:

∆ what language proficiency is

(Ch. 3 & 5 The user/learner´s competences)
∆ how languages are used
(Ch. 3 & 4 Language use and the language
user/learner)
∆ how languages are learnt
(Ch. 6 Language learning and teaching)

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∆ principles for planning teaching
(Ch. 7 Tasks and their role in language
teaching & Ch. 8 Linguistic diversification
and the curriculum)
∆ principles for assessing learning outcomes
(Ch. 9 Assessment)

and offers you a tool for describing your own

language proficiency and the performance of
your students in transparent and internationally
intelligible terms.
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An action-oriented approach

Silsis MI - 7.9.07 Maria Cecilia

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Rizzardi
 The CEFR’s action-oriented approach
• We use language to perform communicative acts
which may be external and social (communicating
with other people) or internal and private
(communicating with ourselves)
• When we perform communicative acts we use
strategies to make the most appropriate and effective
use of our linguistic resources
• Language learning is, or should be, a kind of language
use
• The action-oriented approach thus implies a task-
based approach to language teaching and learning
Curriculum Framework for Romani, Council of Europe, 31 May−1 June 2007
The CEFR’s common reference levels
 The CEFR’s common reference levels
The Common Scale of Reference is the core of the
CEFR. It describes user competence at 6 levels
arranged in three bands:
Basic user =
A1 (Breakthrough) A2 (Waystage)

Independent user =
B1 (Threshold) B2 (Vantage)

Proficient user =
C1 (Effective proficiency) C2 (Mastery)
 The CEFR’s common reference levels

We can use these common reference levels as a

starting point for

the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum

guidelines
the design of learning materials and activities
the assessment of learning outcomes

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LIVELLI COMUNI DI RIFERIMENTO – CONSIGLIO D’EUROPA

C2 – MASTERY

C1 – EFFECTIVE PROFICIENCY

B2 – VANTAGE

B1 – THRESHOLD LEVEL

A2 – WAYSTAGE

A1 – BREAKTHROUGH 31
 Livelli di competenza comunicativa interculturale

BASIC USER INDEPENDENT USER PROFICIENT USER

UTILISATEUR UTILISATEUR UTILISATEUR

ELEMENTAIRE INDEPENDANT INDEPENDANT

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
Break Waystage Threshold Vantage Effectiveness Mastery
through
Intermédiaire
Introductif ou survie
Seuil Avancé ou Autonome Maitrise
indépendant
Key Preliminary Certificate in Certificate of
English Test English Test First Certificate in Advanced Proficiency in
Delf 1 : (KET) (PET) English (FCE) English (CAE) English (CPE)
A1
Delf 1 : Delf 1 : Delf 2 : Delf : deux unités Delf complet
A2 A3 + A4 A5+A6 (B1 à B4

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 I LIVELLI IN ITALIANO

 A 1 LINGUA DI CONTATTO
 A 2 LIVELLO DI SOPRAVVIVENZA
 B1LIVELLO SOGLIA
 B2 LIVELLO PROGRESSO
 C1 LIVELLO DELL’EFFICIENZA
 C2 LIVELLO DI PADRONANZA PIENO