Taking into account the impact of the CEFR (2001) worldwide in language education, and considering how the Manual for Relating Examinations to the CEFR (2009) has also been used widely in linking assessments in multiple languages to the CEFR, it is surprising that very few research reports are available on the implementation of these documents in languages other than English (Deygers,B., 2018; Tschirner, E., 2012).
The publication of the CEFR Companion Volume with new descriptors (Council of Europe 2020) has caused quite a stir in the field of language education and prompted renewed interest in the content and applicability of the CEFR thus opening new grounds for further research into the applicability of common standards in different – and/or multilingual - contexts and scenarios. This should be seen as an opportunity, not only to encourage research into the use of a standard like the CEFR in languages other than English but into comparative studies across languages to find out whether professionals in those language interpret the scales, their descriptors, and even the recommendations in a similar manner.
The Council of Europe itself in the Foreword to the CEFR Companion volume highlights that the
"CEFR is intended to promote quality plurilingual education, facilitate greater social mobility and stimulate reflection and exchange between language professionals for curriculum development and teacher education. Furthermore the CEFR provides a metalanguage for discussing the complexity of language proficiency for all citizens in a multilingual and intercultural Europe…" (2020:11)
More than one hundred professionals coming from different countries in Europe and also from the USA and Japan attending the EALTA-UKALTA Symposium hosted by the British Council in London in February 2020 (O'Dwyer, Hunke and Schmidt 2020, Little and Figueras 2022) focused on the potential impact of the CEFR CV on language and on its implications for language education in general. Discussion at this event suggested possible ways to increase transparency and collaboration in aligning different components of language education to the CEFR in different contexts and pointed to the need for continued work in supporting alignment(s) with the greatly expanded descriptive scheme of the CEFR CV in multilingual contexts. Although this will surely evidence differences across languages in terms of values and principles re. education as they may attach different importance to the issues involved in designing or improving curricula and assessments, it will also provide a richer picture for further study in the field of language education.
British Council, UKALTA, EALTA and ALTE (2022). Aligning language education with the CEFR: A handbook. Available at http://www.ealta.eu.org/documents/resources/CEFR%20alignment%20handbook.pdf
Deygers, B. , Van Gorp, K. & Demeester, T. (2018): The B2 Level and the Dream of a Common Standard, Language Assessment Quarterly, DOI: 10.1080/15434303.2017.1421955
Little, D. and Figueras, N. (eds) (2022) Reflecting on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and its Companion Volume. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
O'Dwyer, F., Hunke, M., and Schmidt, G. (2020) The EALTA UKALTA 'Roadmap' conference. Available at https://cefrjapan.net/images/PDF/Newsletter/CEFRJournal-vol2.pdf#page=91
Tschirner, E. (ed.) (2012). Aligning frameworks of reference in language testing: The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and the Common European Framework of Reference, Tübingen: Stauffenburg
