The development of specifications for item development and classification within The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment: Reading and Listening: Final report of The Dutch CEF Construct Project .

The Common European Framework (CEF) is intended as a reference document for curriculum and syllabus development, textbook writing, teacher training, and for assessment. However, the CEF in its present form may not provide sufficient theoretical and practical guidance to enable test specifications to be drawn up for each level of the CEF. The Project described in this Report therefore addressed the following research questions: ! Do we have in the CEF an instrument to help us construct reading and listening items and tests based on the CEF? ! If the CEF scales, together with the detailed description of language use contained in the document, are not sufficient, what is needed to develop such an instrument, and what should the document be like? The methodology of the Project involved gathering expert judgments on the usability of the CEF for test construction, identifying what might be missing from the CEF, developing a frame for analysis of tests and specifications, and then examining a range of test specifications, guidelines to item writers, and sample test tasks at the six levels of the CEF. Outcomes included a critical review of the CEF, a set of compilations of CEF scales and of test specifications at the different levels of the CEF, and a series of frameworks or classification systems, which led to a Worldwide web mounted instrument, based on the CEF, to enable the characterisation of tests and items in relation to the CEF. Analyses of the application of earlier versions of the Grid to sample test items and texts showed that inter-analyst agreement was quite promising, but needs to be improved by training and discussion before decisions are made. The relation between the dimensions in the Grid, and individual CEF levels was not (yet) very obvious. Relatively few dimensions showed any significant association with the six CEF levels. However, the collection of much more extensive data using the Grid is recommended before solid conclusions can be reached about the relationship, or lack of it, between the dimensions of the Grid and CEF levels. It is concluded that the Grid is a useful instrument for the description of test items and tasks in terms of the CEF. A series of recommendations are made for revision and development of the Grid and associated guidance and training materials, and for further research using the revised Grid. The Report concludes that the identification of separate levels in the …