KEY CONCEPTS IN ELT The Common European Framework (original) (raw)
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Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade
Following the Systemic Functional Linguistics based theory and methodology of Positive Discourse Analysis, this paper discusses some of the political, cultural and educational propositions motivating the Council of Europe’s document Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A close reading of the text clearly shows that while attempting to promote a plurilingual approach to the learning of languages in Europe, the document also calls for a change in teaching practices aiming at a transformation in the dynamics of language relations in Europe. Some of the issues focused upon in the paper derive directly from the document’s stated objectives, namely questions of levelling, standardization, democracy and hegemony, on the one hand, and questions of plurality, independence, empowerment and difference, on the other.
Language Testing, 2005
Learner-centred approaches to language teaching, especially those that seek to develop learner autonomy, require the learner to take decisions concerning the goals, content and methods of learning; they also assign a central role to self-assessment. Although the logic of learner-centredness demands that learner self-assessment should somehow be integrated with other forms of assessment, to date this has been only a minority concern, usually in relation to one or another form of portfolio learning. The recent publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the increasingly widespread adoption of its companion piece, the European Language Portfolio (ELP), renew the challenge to develop a culture of assessment that both facilitates and takes full account of learner selfassessment. This article begins by briefly considering the importance and limitations of self-assessment in second language (L2) learning. It goes on to address issues of principle raised in turn by the CEFR and the ELP, and then reports on a project that: • has drawn on the CEFR to define an ESL curriculum for non-Englishspeaking pupils attending Irish primary schools; • has developed a version of the ELP as the foundation of teaching and learning; and • is currently elaborating assessment and reporting procedures in which learner self-assessment plays a central role. I Introduction: learner-centredness and learner self-assessment There are three reasons for engaging learners in self-assessment and taking account of the results. First, as a matter of principle, a learnercentred curriculum-defined by Nunan (1988: 2) as 'a collaborative effort between teachers and learners'-falls short of its definition if
The Common European Framework provides a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It 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. The description also covers the cultural context in which language is set. The Framework also defines levels of proficiency which allow learners' progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a lifelong basis. The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers to communication among professionals working in the field of modern languages arising from the different educational systems in Europe. It provides the means for educational administrators , course designers, teachers, teacher trainers, examining bodies, etc., to reflect on their current practice, with a view to situating and coordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible. By providing a common basis for the explicit description of objectives, content and methods, the Framework will enhance the transparency of courses, syllabuses and qualifications , thus promoting international cooperation in the field of modern languages. The provision of objective criteria for describing language proficiency will facilitate the mutual recognition of qualifications gained in different learning contexts, and accordingly will aid European mobility. The taxonomic nature of the Framework inevitably means trying to handle the great complexity of human language by breaking language competence down into separate components. This confronts us with psychological and pedagogical problems of some depth. Communication calls upon the whole human being. The competences separated and classified below interact in complex ways in the development of each unique human personality. As a social agent, each individual forms relationships with a widening cluster of overlapping social groups, which together define identity. In an intercultural approach, it is a central objective of language education to promote the favourable development of the learner's whole personality and sense of identity in response to the enriching experience of otherness in language and culture. It must be left to teachers and the learners themselves to reintegrate the many parts into a healthily developing whole. The Framework includes the description of 'partial' qualifications, appropriate when only a more restricted knowledge of a language is required (e.g. for understanding rather than speaking), or when a limited amount of time is available for the learning of a third or fourth language and more useful results can perhaps be attained by aiming
Education, Language and Sociology Research, 2022
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR), introduced by the Council of Europe (CoE) in 2001, is intended to function as an instrument for developing educational policy and practice. However, in reality, there is a mismatch between the Council's mission to promote plurilingualism and the project's underlying neoliberal logic to impose its monolingual perspectives in reference to language learning, teaching, and assessment. Despite containing a much valuable taxonomy for describing language proficiency, the CEFR has been globally used as a standardisation tool that aims to measure the language competence of immigrants, asylum seekers, and test-takers. In doing so, the Framework acts as a gatekeeping mechanism of inclusion or exclusion. Considering CEFR's contradictory nature, the article seeks to explore its complexity and uncover its problematic character. Viewing the CEFR as an instrument of power, the author utilises Bourdieu's notion of linguistic capital to examine who the policy disadvantages and whose ideological agenda it serves.
Enriching 21st century language education: The CEFR Companion Volume, examples from practice. , 2022
This volume of case studies will interest all those who aim to develop language education in order to promote and support Europe's rich linguistic and cultural diversity, thus fostering a culture of democracy and social justice in a time in which these values are increasingly under threat. This situation calls for a new vision of language education in which the development of mediation and plurilingual/pluricultural competence are crucial. These case studies report on experience in a wide variety of contexts with the concepts and descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment-Companion volume (CEFR Companion volume), which broadens the vision of the CEFR 2001, enriching the CEFR model in the areas of plurilingualism and mediation.
The European Union—a supra state enriched with language and culture—endeavours to ‘unite’ its citizens in a diversity both linguistic and cultural. In anticipation of such accomplishment, a number of policies and guidelines have been published over recent decades with a common goal to increase individual multilingualism throughout the EU. A firm foundation upon which would be built many subsequent policies, the Presidency Conclusions of the Barcelona Council in 2002 recommended that all EU citizens achieve ‘basic mastery’ of two languages alongside their mother tongue. Fifteen years on, they are far from that goal. The confidence with which I make such statement propels from an extensive period of statistical analysis, data of which obtained primarily from both the 2012 and 2017 editions of the European Commission’s Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe. Taking a Romance-specific cross-section of the EU for what will anticipatingly serve as a language family-specific solution, I highlight the strengths and weaknesses alike of all Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, and Romania with regards to foreign language education at school. Despite steadily improving rates of pupils learning two foreign languages since 2005, a collective shortfall creates an opportune space for reform. Considering the many influencing variables in a foreign language learning process, it becomes clear that ‘new solutions’ must be found in order to provide equal learning opportunities to pupils of both stronger and weaker aptitudes, as well as continued promotional efforts on the part of the EU. Consulting many previous studies and alluding to appropriate theory throughout, it is the works of S. P. Corder (1979), J. K. Gundel and E. Tarone (1992), and Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada (1993) that most support my hypothetical language learning ‘solution’—an initiative based on the intercomprehension of languages. Conducting a large-scale ‘measuring’ of Romance interrelatedness, it becomes clear that the major Romance languages are more linguistically alike than meets the eye, opening up areas of potential within which my hypothetical ‘solution’ could be effectuated. With supporting theory from J. K. Chambers and Peter Trudgill (1983) and Michael Cysouw (2013) that highlights geography and genealogy as the most influential determiners of linguistic distance, a 1993 study by A. Sorace confirms increased success and more native-like competences as a result of learning a foreign language more linguistically related to one’s native tongue. Applying the more theoretical findings to the issue in question will conclude in a well-rounded, critical evaluation of my hypothetical ‘solution’, addressing its aptness for targeting many of the EU’s foreign language learning ‘challenges’—and not just the original ‘mother tongue plus two’ mentality associated with the 2002 Barcelona Objective. An intertwining of all relevant theory and fact as gathered throughout this dissertation will ultimately serve to support the feasibility of my initiative—one that will prove to hold much potential to facilitate multilingualism for all. This Research Dissertation was graded to Distinction level at 72%.
2011
The situation facing European countries after World War II provided the social and political context in which the Council of Europe began its deliberations on language and culture, deliberations that eventually led (in 2001) to the release of the current version of The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). Since then, the influence of the CEFR has increased steadily both within and outside of Europe. Following an introduction to the research and the rationale for it (Chapter 1), an outline of the CEFR and the political and social context out of which it emerged (Chapter 2) and a critical review of selected critiques of the CEFR (Chapter 3), this thesis reports on a questionnaire-based survey of responses to the CEFR of a sample of language teachers (Chapter 4) and an analysis of the impact of the CEFR in the area of curriculum design in two different contexts (Chapters 5 and 6), ending with and an overview of the research findings (Chapter 7).