What is CEFR?

• Benchmark for a learner’s language ability

• Can be used for any language
• Assessed based on communicative tasks
• Learner autonomy & learner-centred via self-assessment

It was developed to help immigrants to assimilate and participate in a democratic

society. These are adult learners in an immersion setting. It has been applied in
Europe as well as other continents and available in 39 languages. CEFR is a
reference for describing a learner’s ability in any language. It can be used for
English, French, German, etc.

The CEFR attempts to characterise & structure the communicative acts of

competent language users. The competences are categorised into levels with
descriptors of what they can do. There are 6 levels: A1 & A2 (Basic user), B1 & B2
(Independent user), C1 & C2 (Proficient user). A1 is on survival communicative
language. A2 & B1 are on social communicative language. Learners have to be
able to perform certain communicative tasks to achieve a level.

It seeks to promote learner autonomy via self-assessment. They found that

students are usually reactive learners who wait for the teachers instructions
before the engage in learning activities. When teaching stops, so does learning.
Therefore, ‘learning to learn’ is regarded as an integral part of language learning.
This is done via self-management of learning or self-assessment based on a set of
‘can-do’ descriptors stating what students of a certain level can do. Self-
assessment is based on a self-assessment grid.

Furthermore, it should be regarded as merely a reference. It does not advocate

any particular approach nor does it have powerful pedagogic implications. We can
still decide the curriculum, pedagogies & assessment methods albeit some
considerations; i.e. the descriptors within the levels can be used to specify a
learning target, develop learning activities & guide the design of assessment
tasks.

Summary of CEFR levels:

• A1: Learners can interact in a simple way rather than relying purely on words
and phrases.
• A2: Learners can cope with a basic range of social interaction and make simple
transactions in shops, post offices & banks.
• B1: Learners can maintain interaction in a range of contexts and cope flexibly
with problems in everyday life.
• B2: Learners can engage in sustained and effective argument and have an
enhanced language awareness.
• C1: Learners have good access to a broad range of language that allows fluent,
spontaneous communication.
• C2: Learners can communicate with a high degree of precision, appropriateness
and ease.

Implications on Curricula:
• Reflects learner needs & accommodate learner initiative & control of the
learning process
• Regards spontaneous & authentic use of target language is a precondition of
effective learning.
• Foster Learners managing their own learning/autonomy
• 4 domains of language use: personal, public, occupational, educational
• Learners focus on the here-and-now of their own learning, not on the as-if
communication in the ‘real world’ outside the classroom.
Common reference levels
The Common European Framework divides learners into three broad divisions that can be divided
into six levels; for each level, it describes what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading,
listening, speaking and writing. The following table gives an indication of these levels. A more
thorough description of each level, with criteria for listening, reading, speaking, and writing, is
available on the Internet.

Level Level group

Level Level name Description
group name

 Can understand and use familiar

everyday expressions and very basic
phrases aimed at the satisfaction of
needs of a concrete type.
 Can introduce themselves and others
Breakthrough or and can ask and answer questions
A1
beginner about personal details such as where
he/she lives, people they know and
things they have.
 Can interact in a simple way provided
the other person talks slowly and clearly
and is prepared to help.

A Basic user  Can understand sentences and

frequently used expressions related to
areas of most immediate relevance (e.g.
very basic personal and family
information, shopping, local geography,
employment).
Waystage or  Can communicate in simple and routine
A2
elementary tasks requiring a simple and direct
exchange of information on familiar and
routine matters.
 Can describe in simple terms aspects of
their background, immediate
environment and matters in areas of
immediate need.
 Can understand the main points of clear
standard input on familiar matters
regularly encountered in work, school,
leisure, etc.
 Can deal with most situations likely to
arise while travelling in an area where
Independent Threshold or the language is spoken.
B B1
user intermediate  Can produce simple connected text on
topics that are familiar or of personal
interest.
 Can describe experiences and events,
dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly
give reasons and explanations for
opinions and plans.
  Can understand the main ideas of
complex text on both concrete and
abstract topics, including technical
discussions in their field of
specialization.
 Can interact with a degree of fluency
Vantage or upper and spontaneity that makes regular
B2
intermediate interaction with native speakers quite
possible without strain for either party.
 Can produce clear, detailed text on a
wide range of subjects and explain a
viewpoint on a topical issue giving the
advantages and disadvantages of
various options.
 Can understand a wide range of
demanding, longer clauses, and
recognize implicit meaning.
 Can express ideas fluently and
spontaneously without much obvious
Effective searching for expressions.
operational  Can use language flexibly and
C1
proficiency or effectively for social, academic and
advanced professional purposes.
 Can produce clear, well-structured,
Proficient detailed text on complex subjects,
C
user showing controlled use of organizational
patterns, connectors and cohesive
devices.
 Can understand with ease virtually
everything heard or read.
 Can summarize information from
Mastery or
C2 different spoken and written sources,
proficiency reconstructing arguments and accounts
in a coherent presentation.
 Can express themselves spontaneous