Common European Framework of Reference

This entry focuses on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR), which, in the words of a non-European observer, is “one of the most ambitious examples of the gradual formation, shaping and … implementation of language education policies” (Byrnes, 2007, p. 641). The CEFR was designed by the Council of Europe (CoE), a pan-European organization that promotes human rights, mutual understanding, parliamentary democracy, and the rule of law. It advocates linguistic rights and language learning as a way of enhancing mutual understanding, and plurilingualism—an individual's ability to use more than one language—is a key concept in CoE language policy (see CoE, 2008). Keywords: language policy; language teaching; assessment; multilingualism

[1]  Ari Huhta,et al.  The development of a suite of computer-based diagnostic tests based on the Common European Framework , 2005 .

[2]  David Little.  The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Content, purpose, origin, reception and impact , 2006, Language Teaching.

[3]  Brian North,et al.  The CEFR Illustrative Descriptor Scales , 2007 .

[4]  Cyril J. Weir,et al.  Limitations of the Common European Framework for developing comparable examinations and tests , 2005 .

[5]  G. Bonnet.  The CEFR and Education Policies in Europe , 2007 .

[6]  Jan H. Hulstijn,et al.  The shaky ground beneath the CEFR: Quantitative and qualitative dimensions of language proficiency , 2007 .

[7]  Glenn Fulcher,et al.  Deluded by Artifices? The Common European Framework and Harmonization , 2004 .

[8]  N. Saville,et al.  EUROPEAN LANGUAGE POLICY: ASSESSMENT, LEARNING, AND THE CEFR , 2009, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

[9]  J. Charles Alderson,et al.  The CEFR and the Need for More Research , 2007 .

[10]  N. Saville.  INTERVIEW: An Interview With John Trim at 80 , 2005 .

[11]  J. Charles Alderson,et al.  Analysing Tests of Reading and Listening in Relation to the Common European Framework of Reference: The Experience of The Dutch CEFR Construct Project , 2006 .

[12]  David Little,et al.  The Common European Framework and the European Language Portfolio: involving learners and their judgements in the assessment process , 2005 .

[13]  David Little,et al.  The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Perspectives on the Making of Supranational Language Education Policy , 2007 .