The current influence of the CEFR in secondary education: teachers’ perceptions

Abstract

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) began to have an influence on language teaching some 20 years ago. However, in spite of the title referring to learning, teaching and assessment of languages, the CEFR has had a far more pronounced impact on language testing than on any other aspect of language learning/teaching. In contrast, this article focuses on the impact of the CEFR on teachers by analysing the beliefs about and perceptions of the CEFR held by a group of Spanish teachers about to take a Masters course module on the CEFR. A 35-item questionnaire was administered to these in-service teachers online to analyse their familiarity with the CEFR, their perceptions of the impact of the CEFR and their knowledge of the contents of the CEFR. The analysis shows that teachers' degree of familiarity with the CEFR as a whole was superficial. They reported a high degree of familiarity with levels of competences, but limited knowledge of changes that the CEFR proposes, despite the fact that they perceived the general impact of the CEFR on syllabi, curricula and methods to be substantial. There are clear implications for teacher education to ensure more thorough understanding of the CEFR.

Insights into CEFR and Its Implementation through the Lens of Preservice English Teachers in Thailand

“…Overall, the qualitative findings indicated that preservice teachers had little knowledge of the CEFR as a teaching and learning aid. Thus, the current results are partially consistent with previous studies that Thai English teachers' understanding of CEFR is lacking, particularly in knowledge related to the learning and teaching aspect (Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2019;Franz & Teo, 2017;Kanchai, 2019).…”

“…Another study investigating Uzbekistani teachers' perceptions regarding the usefulness and impact of the CEFR found that, overall, these teachers had positive perceptions of implementing the CEFR in Uzbekistan (Musoeva, 2019). A similar study by Díez-Bedmar & Byram (2019) assessed Spanish teachers' beliefs and perceptions toward the CEFR. It was found that while most of the participants had positive perceptions regarding the impact of the CEFR, some teachers also had limited knowledge of the CEFR (Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2019).…”

“…A similar study by Díez-Bedmar & Byram (2019) assessed Spanish teachers' beliefs and perceptions toward the CEFR. It was found that while most of the participants had positive perceptions regarding the impact of the CEFR, some teachers also had limited knowledge of the CEFR (Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2019). A recent study by Tosun & Glover (2020) studied eight Turkish teachers' knowledge of the CEFR and looked at how teachers apply the CEFR and ELP in Turkey.…”

Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR): A Review on Teachers’ Perception & Plurilingualism

“…On the other hand, developing new materials for teaching and assessments was found to be very time consuming, hence many teachers resorted to using the textbook as it is guaranteed to be CEFR aligned. Many teachers simply followed the instruction by the Ministry of Education without having a proper understanding on how CEFR should be utilized in the classroom, thus could become a hindrance for both parties in achieving the learning objectives (Alih et al, 2020 (Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2019). This further supports the fact that teachers' knowledge and understanding of CEFR implementation is superficial.…”

“…). The fact that many teachers didn't know the aims and objectives of CEFR validates the need for intensive training on CEFR implementation.In Spain, it is revealed that teachers' understanding on the implementation of CEFR was on the façade(Díez-Bedmar & Byram, 2019). Majority of the teachers were able to relate to CEFR in terms of the levels, competences and assessments as what they have experienced as a student and from the CEFR training.…”