The Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): Approach, status, function and use

Abstract

The Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is rapidly becoming a powerful instrument for shaping language education policies in Europe and beyond. The task of relating language policies, language curricula, teacher education and training, textbook and course design and content, examinations and certification systems to the CEFR is currently being undertaken by a growing number of public and private stakeholders in all European states. Most of these stakeholders recognise the real reference value of the document and apply the principles on which it was based most appropriately. There are instances of use, however, that indicate that reference may be made to the CEFR as a Council of Europe document merely for the purpose of recognition on "the educational market" without real application of its basic values and concepts. In some other cases the CEFR may be referred to in an attempt to introduce one normative curriculum for uniform language education in Europe -contrary to the intention of the authoring team and to Council of Europe principles, and indeed to the very nature and content of the CEFR itself.The purpose of this article is to clarify the value and the status of the CEFR by referring to related tools and instruments offered by the Council of Europe, among them the Recommendation

L1-Didactics and the global pressure from Anglo-Saxon New Literacies

“…L1 may refer to a person's first, main and/or home language through early childhood, spoken and/or written. In addition, for a country or a state, it even refers to the prime school subject as well as its possible role as language of schooling for a national majority (COE, n.d.;Martyniuk, 2007). In so-called nation-states, cultural and linguistic homogeneous countries such as Iceland and Albania, these aspects, conditions, or references tend to coincide.…”

Morsmålsdidaktisk forskning og profesjonalisert lærerutdanning: Fem nordiske beretninger om 50 års utvikling og kamp

“…Europarådets prosjekt «Plurilingual and intercultural education» involverte mer enn 30 europeiske land. Det varte fra 2005 til 2016, men synes å ha satt få spor (Martyniuk, 2007;Beacco et al, 2016). I disse prosjektene satt jeg sentralt.…”

A study on self-assessment of current language skills: The case of Turkish teachers of English

“…Council of Europe has developed the mostly-cited references of framework to evaluate language skills in Europe. Martyniuk (2005) remarks that language education activities carried out in accordance with the Council of Europe education policies emphasize the importance of plurilingualism, linguistic diversity, mutual understanding, democratic citizenship and social cohesion. Mirici (2007) states that the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe developed The European Language Portfolio (ELP) to promote plurilingualism in language learning process.…”